Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site

The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site is located in the Canadian Rockies. It consists of four national parks:

Banff

Jasper

Kootenay

Yoho

and three British Columbia provincial parks:

Hamber Provincial Park

Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park

Mount Robson Provincial Park

The parks include mountains, glaciers and hot springs and the headwaters of major North American river systems including:

North Saskatchewan River

Athabasca River

Columbia River

Fraser River

The area is known for its natural beauty and biological diversity. It includes the Burgess Shale site, a World Heritage Site in its own right from 1980 to 1990, when it was included in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks WHS designation.

World Heritage Site

This area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 for the mountain landscapes containing mountain peaks, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, canyons and limestone caves as well as fossils found here (see Burgess Shale).