page_title: Glacier National Park (Canada)
section_title: Glaciers
hierarchical_section_title: Glacier National Park (Canada) / Geography / Glaciers
caption_attribution_description: English: Illecillewaet Glacier in the Glacier National Park at the end off the Glacier Crest Trail Français&#160;: Glacier Illecillewaet dans le parc national des Glaciers à l'extrémité du sentier crête des glaciers
context_page_description: Glacier National Park is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada, and one of seven national parks in British Columbia. Established in 1886, the park encompasses 1,349 km², and includes a portion of the Selkirk Mountains which are part of the larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site.
  The park's history is closely tied to two primary Canadian transportation routes, the Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, and the Trans-Canada Highway, completed in 1963. Rogers Pass in the centre of the park eluded explorers until 1881. The railway brought with it tourism, the establishment of Glacier National Park and the construction of a popular alpine hotel. The heavy winter snows and steep, avalanche-prone valleys of the park have been a major obstacle to transportation, necessitating much railway engineering and avalanche control measures.
  The park contains high peaks, large, active glaciers, and one of Canada's largest cave systems. Its dense forests support populations of large mammals, birds, and alpine species. The region is noted for its heavy snowfall.
context_section_description: The park has 131 glaciers over 0.05 square kilometres (0.019 sq mi) in size, covering 133 square kilometres (51 sq mi) of the park.  Throughout its history, North America has seen cycles of glaciation, where ice sheets advanced and retreated across the terrain.  The last glacial period ended about 12,000 years ago, before which all but the highest peaks of the park were covered in ice.  The movements of these rivers of ice formed the steep-sided, U-shaped valleys of the park.  They also rounded the lesser peaks; ranges in the west of the park show this effect. The glaciers in the park are on whole shrinking and retreating; they are also some of the most studied glaciers in North America.
  The glaciers of the park have been dramatically reduced in size in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.  Precise measurements of glacial areas started with the Vaux family and A.O. Wheeler in the 1900s.  Modern measurements using satellite imagery began with Simon Ommaney's work in the 1980s. Regular inventories of the parks glaciers have been performed since, with the latest collating data up to 2011.  The most recent inventory noted a reduction of 19.4 square kilometres (7.5 sq mi) of glacial surface area from 2000 to 2011.
  Due to its location near the highway and railway, the Illecillewaet Glacier is the most visited and photographed.  Formerly known as the Great Glacier, it was a major tourist attraction during the Glacier House period from 1886 to 1925.  The glacier's terminus, formerly a short walk from the Glacier House site, has retreated far up the mountainside.  The névé of the glacier spreads far to the south, also spawning the Geikie Glacier.  Most of the large glacial features are south of the Trans-Canada corridor.  Other large features include the Deville, Dawson, Asulkan, Bishops, Black, Duncan, Grand, and Avalanche.  The park's glaciers have a variety of appearances, with high altitude features smooth and uniform, cracked and riddled with crevasses on the slopes, and black with debris on the valley bottoms.  In summer, many of the glaciers take on a red tint; this is the result of a variety of snow algae known as watermelon snow.
caption: Illecillewaet Glacier
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