Alberta's Rockies
Alberta's Rockiescomprise theCanadian Rocky MountainsinAlberta,Canada. On the southwestern part of theprovincealong theBritish Columbiaborder, theregioncovers all but the south ofCensus Division 15.
The main industry in this region is tourism.[1]
Geography
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Maligne_Lake_at_night.jpg/220px-Maligne_Lake_at_night.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/The_View_from_the_Summit_of_Mount_Weed_on_the_Icefields_Parkway_in_Banff_National_Park.jpg/220px-The_View_from_the_Summit_of_Mount_Weed_on_the_Icefields_Parkway_in_Banff_National_Park.jpg)
This human region is almost identical to theAlberta Mountain forestsecozone. The region contains the Central FrontRangesand theContinental Rangesof the CanadianRocky Mountains,and includes theBanff National ParkandJasper National Park,as well as theKananaskis Countrypark system and theWillmore Wilderness.[2]
The main transportation corridors run through theKicking Horse Passand theYellowhead Passfrom east to west, while theBow ValleyandAthabasca Rivervalley are followed by the longitudinalIcefields Parkway.Another important waterway that crosses this region is theNorth Saskatchewan River.
Tourism
[edit]Some of the bestski resortsof the Rockies are in this region, and are important tourist destinations. They includeFortress Mountain Resort,Lake Louise,Marmot Basin,Mount Norquay,NakiskaandSunshine Village.Other tourist attractions include the glaciers of theColumbia,WaptaandWaputik Icefieldssuch as theAthabasca,Bow,Crowfoot,Hector,Peyto,SaskatchewanandVulture Glaciers.
Glacial lakesline the Icefields Parkway and dot the surrounding valleys. Some of the more spectacular areBow,Hector,Louise,Maligne,Moraine,Peyto,PyramidandVermilionlakes.
Infrastructure
[edit]BanffandJasperare the main communities in the region. The length is defined by theIcefields Parkway,and it is crossed by theTrans-Canada Highwayand theYellowhead Highwayinto British Columbia.David Thompson Highwayleads from the Rockies intocentral AlbertafromSaskatchewan River Crossing,andBanff Windermere Parkwayleads from Castle Junction (south ofLake Louise) through theKootenay National Parkto theColumbia Rivervalley. TheBighorn Highwaydefines most of the eastern limit of the region.
Health care has been the responsibility ofAlberta Health Services,since the province's health regions were amalgamated in 2008. Before then,Calgary Health Regionwas thehealth regionensuring well-being in the south of this region,[3]while the north was supervised by theAspen Regional Health Authority.[4]
Health care centres established in the area are:
- Seton Jasper Healthcare Centre -Jasper
- Hinton Healthcare Centre -Hinton
- Canmore General Hospital -Canmore
- Banff Mineral Springs Hospital -Banff
Politics
[edit]On a provincial level, southern Alberta is represented in theLegislative Assembly of Albertaby MLA's elected in the ridings ofBanff-Cochraneand part ofRocky Mountain HouseandWest Yellowhead.
Communities
[edit]The following communities are in Alberta's Rockies.
- TownsofBanffandCanmore
- Municipality ofJasper(specialized municipality)
- Summer villages ofGhost LakeandWaiparous
- HamletsofLake Louise,Harvie Heights,Exshaw,Dead Man's FlatsandLac des Arcs
- Saskatchewan River Crossing(unincorporated community)
- Kananaskis Village(resort community)
The towns ofGrande CacheandHinton,on the eastern edge of the Rockies, are sometimes considered as part of this region.[5]
The followingrural municipalitiesare in Alberta's Rockies.
- Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8
- Improvement District No. 9(Banff National Park)
- Improvement District No. 12(Jasper National Park)
- Improvement District No. 25 (Willmore Wilderness Park)
- Kananaskis Improvement District
See also
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg/40px-Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg.png)
References
[edit]- ^Travel Alberta.Alberta's RockiesArchived2007-06-18 at theWayback Machine
- ^Alberta Heritage.Alberta RegionsArchivedFebruary 6, 2012, at theWayback Machine
- ^Calgary Health Region."Hospitals".Archived fromthe originalon 18 June 2007.Retrieved2007-06-24.
- ^Aspen Regional Health."Healthcare centres".Retrieved2007-06-24.
- ^AMA."Mountain Parks Region".Archived fromthe originalon 30 June 2007.Retrieved2007-06-24.