Banff National Park

The mountains are made of rock that formed in layers, long ago.

The layers were pushed up high. Then huge rivers of ice, called glaciers, carved them. That made sharp peaks and deep valleys.

Britannica explains that Banff's mountains are made of limestone, shale and other sedimentary rocks, which form in layers. In the Rockies, UNESCO says, these layers were folded, cracked and pushed upward. In the photo of the Valley of the Ten Peaks, you can see stripes of layered rock in the cliffs.

Glaciers did the carving. Moving ice ground away the rock and gave the mountains their sharp, toothlike shapes. Glaciers are still at work today: part of the huge Columbia Icefield lies in the north of the park.

UNESCO describes the Canadian Rockies as a classic representation of significant, ongoing glacial processes along the Continental Divide, acting on highly faulted, folded and uplifted sedimentary rocks, with ice fields, remnant valley glaciers, canyons and exceptional examples of erosion and deposition. Britannica notes that Banff's peaks are composed of limestone, shale and other sedimentary rocks and owe their toothlike appearance to glaciation; the park includes part of the Columbia Icefield.

The same sedimentary sequence records early animal life. Elsewhere in the World Heritage property, in Yoho National Park next door, the Burgess Shale preserves soft-bodied marine animals from soon after the rapid unfolding of animal life about 540 million years ago, which UNESCO calls one of the most significant fossil areas in the world.

Down low, forests and meadows grow. Elk and deer eat there.

Higher up, there are thick forests. At the very top, there are rocks, snow and ice. Mountain goats and bighorn sheep live in the park too.

Parks Canada divides Banff into three zones. The montane, low in the valleys, covers only about 3 percent of the park but is the richest for wildlife: it turns green early in spring and gets less snow, so grazing animals find food. The subalpine, about 53 percent, has thick forests and avalanche paths. The alpine, about 44 percent, is above the trees, mostly rock, ice and glaciers.

Parks Canada counts 53 kinds of mammals, including grizzly bears, wolves, cougars and wolverines, more than 311 kinds of birds and 844 kinds of plants. Britannica adds elk, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, pikas and marmots.

Parks Canada maps wildlife to three ecoregions: the montane (about 3% of the park), the most biologically productive, greening early with less winter snow and easiest to travel for animals and people, home to the town of Banff and Lake Minnewanka; the subalpine (about 53%), with dense forests and avalanche paths, as around Lake Louise; and the alpine (about 44%), largely rock and ice above the trees, with many glaciers along the Continental Divide.

Parks Canada's wildlife page lists 53 mammal species, over 311 bird species, 844 plant species (74 rare), 19 fish (9 introduced), 4 amphibians and 1 reptile; its nature overview gives rounder figures (56 mammals, 300 birds, more than 800 plants). Britannica names Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, aspen and black spruce in the montane and Engelmann spruce, limber pine and willows in the subalpine, and mammals from grizzly and black bears to pikas and marmots.

Long ago, workers building a railway found warm springs in a cave.

Canada protected the place, and that was the start of its national parks. Today special crossings help animals get across a busy highway.

Parks Canada says the Cave and Basin hot springs have been a special place for Indigenous Peoples for more than ten thousand years. In 1883, three railway workers came upon the springs, and that led to the creation of the first national park in Canada in 1885.

Today a busy highway, the Trans-Canada, crosses the park. Roads can split up animal habitats and lead to crashes with wildlife, so since 1981 Parks Canada has widened and rebuilt 83 kilometers of the highway in the park in phases, adding wildlife crossings and other measures to help animals move safely.

Parks Canada describes the Cave and Basin as a place of significance to Indigenous Peoples for over ten thousand years; in 1883 railway workers Frank McCabe and Tom and William McCardell found the thermal springs, setting off events that led to Canada's first national park, founded in 1885. Britannica dates its establishment as a national park to 1887 and says it was created to resolve disputes over the springs. Parks Canada is working with Indigenous groups with longstanding connections to the park.

The Trans-Canada Highway, built through the park in the early 1950s as a two-lane scenic road, became a major trade corridor that fragments the Bow Valley. Since 1981, Parks Canada has upgraded 83 km within the park in phases to a four-lane divided highway with mitigation aimed at reducing wildlife deaths and habitat fragmentation and improving motorist safety, including wildlife crossing structures studied by researchers. Britannica lists high visitation, highway traffic and climate change effects on glaciers and habitats as conservation challenges.

Wild animals in Banff are big. Stay far away from them.

Watch elk and bears from inside the car. Never feed animals. Keep food packed away so bears don't come looking.

Parks Canada asks visitors to stay at least 30 meters, about three bus lengths, from elk and 100 meters, about ten bus lengths, from bears. If you see animals from the road, stay in your vehicle and move on quickly. Keep all food, coolers and even dishwater in your vehicle, because they attract animals.

Check the park's bulletins before you go for warnings and closures. In winter, avalanches are a real danger in the backcountry: thousands happen in the park every year. And remember: flying drones is not allowed anywhere in Banff National Park.

Parks Canada's wildlife guidance sets minimum distances of 30 m from elk and 100 m from bears, asks visitors to remain in vehicles when viewing wildlife from the road and move on, and to store all attractants, from coolers to dishwater and pet food, in vehicles. Its safety pages stress checking bulletins for warnings and closures, carrying proper equipment for water activities, and preparing for the backcountry, where cell coverage is limited and satellite devices are often the only option; thousands of avalanches occur in the park every year.

Recreational drones are prohibited, with fines of up to $25,000. Popular sites such as Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are managed through reservations and transit. Staying informed, keeping distance from wildlife and following park rules protect both visitors and the animals that make Banff special.