Mount Revelstoke National Park is a protected area in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It lies in the Selkirk mountain range, which is part of the Columbia Mountains Natural Region. The park covers about 64,200 acres (26,000 hectares), including Mount Revelstoke, which rises 6,358 feet (1,938 meters) above sea level. The mountain is famous for its colorful wildflower meadows, which bloom at the summit in late summer.
The park’s landscapes vary with the elevation. They include old growth rain forest, with cedar and hemlock trees more than 500 years old; snowy subalpine forest, featuring fir, hemlock, and spruce trees; subalpine meadowland; and cold alpine regions where trees cannot grow. The park generally has a warm, moist climate, with heavy precipitation and long winters.
Wildlife in the park includes black bears, caribou, coyotes, grizzly bears, mountain goats, wolverines, and several kinds of bats. There are also many species of birds that spend the summer in the park and migrate to warmer places during the winter.
Visitors to Mount Revelstoke come for such activities as cross-country skiing, hiking, mountaineering, ski touring, and snowshoeing. During the summer months, drivers may follow Meadows in the Sky Parkway for about 16 miles (26 kilometers) to the summit of Mount Revelstoke. Another attraction, the Giant Cedars nature trail, takes hikers through an old growth cedar forest. The Skunk Cabbage trail passes through rare wetlands inhabited by beavers, lizards, muskrats, and numerous birds.
The government of Canada established Mount Revelstoke National Park in 1914, at the urging of area residents. The park was once renowned for its ski-jumping competitions, held annually from the early to middle 1900’s. Visitors can learn about these competitions at the Nels Nelsen Historic Ski Jump at the base of Mount Revelstoke.
