 Location: Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, the largest in B.C., covers an area of more than 981,000 hectares in the west-central region of the province, 500 kilometres by air northwest of Vancouver. The topography of the area is extremely varied. East of the park near Anahim Lake, the Interior Plateau abruptly gives way, at an elevation of about 1350 m, to the peaks of the Rainbow Range. The range - Tsitsutl in the local dialect, meaning painted mountains - is an enormous dome of eroded lava and fragmented rock that presents to the viewer and astonishing spectrum of reds, oranges, yellows, and lavenders. The higher and more rugged Coast Mountains that mark the western extremity of the park. Vast glaciers sculptured these granite giants, leaving behind serrated peaks still under the erosive attack of alpine ice. Tzeetsaytsul Peaks - so named by the Indians for the rumble and boom of its glacier - and its neighbour, Thunder Mountain, are dominant features of the parks west boundary. Monarch Mountain, 3533 m, at the southwest corner of the park, is the highest mountain in the area. Further evidence of the glacial activity of the past along the park's west side are the deep valleys of the Bella Coola and Atnarko Rivers and ocean fjords like Dean Channel.
History: The park was established in 1938. The park is named after John Buchan, who was Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield. He travelled extensively throughout the park in 1937, and was favorably impressed.
Park Information
Headquarters: Williams Lake, BC
Permits: No permits required. Click for Peak Lister |