Banff National Park is Canada's first national park, established in 1885, in the Canadian Rockies. The park, located 120 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses 6,641 square kilometres of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and icefields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. The Icefields Parkway extends from Lake Louise, connecting to Jasper National Park in the north. Provincial forests and Yoho National Park are neighbours to the west, while Kootenay National Park is located to the south, and Kananaskis Country to the southeast. The main commercial centre of the park is the town of Banff, in the Bow River valley. Millions more pass through the park on the Trans-Canada Highway. As one of the world's most visited national parks, the health of Banff's ecosystem has been threatened. In the mid-1990s, Parks Canada responded by initiating a two-year study, which resulted in management recommendations, and new policies that aim to preserve ecological integrity. (more...)
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