The Winslow mail., 1922-08-04
BEAUTIES OF CANADA,S
NATIONAL PLAYGROUNDS
Large Tracts in Dominion Reserved
for Parks and Preserves
(By D. NJ. LIE Bourdais)

(By D. NJ. LIE Bourdais)
AS the city park is to the urban
dweller So is the national park To
the people of a country. The one
provides partial breathing spaces by
means of which the individual NAV
Keep up that contact with nature
which is so very essential until such
time as 1t may be more effectually
renewed by sojourn in the other.
In these strenuous days there is a
continual contest between the utili-
tartan and the esthetic And, more
often than not, what is termed the
esthetic is found in the end to be
| much more utilitarian than a great
deal that bears the latter stamp
more obviously Impressed upon it.
There is, therefore, always a tenden-
| cy-strenously opposed by the rela-
lively few of vision-to restrict the
areas set aside or proposed for pur-
poses of recreation and to devote
them to more productive ends.
But in Canada it is possible to com
bine the most utilitarian function
with the pursuit of pleasure and
! health
The great continental watershed
is the Rocky Mountains. A number
OF the largest rivers in the Dominion
1 moving into the Pacific, the Arctic
and Hudson Bay have their rise
l within short distance of each 9TH
er IN the Rockies or the parallel Sell
kirk Range lying to the westward.
owing to Canada's great territor-
al extent, its immense natural re-
sources and its relatively sparse
population there has been practi-
| 2ally no opposition to the reserva-
ZION OF large tracts of territory for
national parks and game preserves.
| Moreover, Canada's mountain area
so ruggedly beautiful and so OBJ
| Ilously suited not only to provide a
| natural playground for many mill
/ ons more than Canada is likely to
1 possess for a long time to come but
o supply the deficiency for the mill
ons whose home lies in lands not
So fortunately circumstanced, that
ler failure to do SO would be no less
han crime. Canada has been fur
tunate in having men at the head of
ler affairs, who, in this respect, at
east, have not been lacking in vi
sion. Hence, as a result the Domin-
square miles of national parks-an
area somewhat in excess of the total
extent of the national parks in the
United States, exclusive of Alaska.
AS long ago as 1885-befoye the
Dominion of Canada, as such, had
been twenty years in existence-the
desirability of providing for the mil
lions yet to come was recognized
since famous hot springs at Banff,
| in the Rocky Mountains, was set
aside. The extent of this park has
been increased from time to time
until at the present moment it COM
prlses 2,751 square miles. This is Of
ticially known as Rocky Mountain
Park, but apopularly known as the
Banff Park because the town of that
name forms it's principal center 1t
lies on the eastern slope of the
Rockies, with the continental divide
as its western boundary and is
roughly wedge-shaped, being about
80 miles long by about so miles
| wide. The main line of the Canad-
ian Pacific cuts through it diagonal
". Banff and Lake Louise, the lat
| ter farther west and at greater al
tltude, are the two pricipal tourist
resorts and contain probably the
best and most extensive accomoda-
tions for travellers to be found in the
Canadian Parks.
Each year the Canadian Rockies
are attracting a greater number of
her sons who love and appreciate
the glories of mountain climbing At
Banff is the headquarters of the Can
adian Alpine Club whose beautifully
situated club house is visited each
summer by alpinists from far and
near including fomous mountaineers
who have served their apprentice
ship in the Alps, Andes or Himalay-
as and amteurs who believe with
Professor Coleman professor of ge-
Ology at Toronto University and an
enthusiastic mountaineer) that noun
tainS can only be seen from a noun
! tain and cannot really be seen from
! the valley. For in the Canadian
Rockies there are mountains to suit
the taste and degree of dexterity of
all classes of climbers from Mount
Rumble right near Banff, which, al
though 1866 feet in height, presents
no difficulties to the amateur, to
Mount Assinibone Q1,86O), farther
south, which has been termed the
Canadian Matterhorn," or to Mount
Robson 1900. in Jasper Park,
neither of which is to be despised by
the most expert climber. And there
are dozens of other peaks still un-
climbed and unnamed to tempt those
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