Mount Revelstoke National Park

Stand still for a moment and breathe in. Down in the valley, the air smells of wet cedar and moss. Up on the summit, it smells of cold stone and wildflowers. This national park holds both of those worlds, one stacked on top of the other, and a single winding road connects them. Welcome to Mount Revelstoke, high above the Columbia River in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia.

The park is small by Canadian standards, but it is old. It was established in 1914, which makes it one of the earlier national parks in the country. Its creation did not come from distant officials. It came largely from the people of the town below. Residents of Revelstoke wanted a road to the summit and a protected mountain on their doorstep, and they pushed hard for both. The park, in a real sense, is a gift that a small railway town gave to itself.

That town, and the mountain, carry the name of Lord Revelstoke. He was a British banker from the Baring family, and his firm helped finance the Canadian Pacific Railway in the nineteenth century. The railway is the reason this valley filled with people at all. Trains still run along the river far below you. On a quiet day, you may hear a long horn rise from the valley floor and fade into the trees.

The Selkirks belong to the Columbia Mountains, a range that is older than the Rockies to the east. These peaks catch moisture rolling in from the Pacific. The result is heavy snow in winter and frequent rain in the warmer months. That steady supply of water shapes almost everything you see here, from the size of the trees to the colour of the meadows.

If you drove up, you came on the Meadows in the Sky Parkway. The road climbs in a long series of switchbacks, turning back on itself again and again as it gains height. Building it was slow, hard work through steep forest, and it took years to complete. As you rise, watch the trees change. Tall, dense forest gives way to shorter, scattered trees, and then the ground opens into alpine meadow.

Here is something many visitors miss. On that short drive, you pass through several distinct life zones — the kind of change you might otherwise see by travelling many hundreds of kilometres north. Valley rainforest, mountain forest, subalpine parkland, and alpine tundra all sit on one slope. You are, in effect, driving through a compressed map of the northern landscape.

At the top, the reward is the meadows themselves. Through much of the year they lie under deep snow. Then, for a short window in mid to late summer, they burst into colour. Look for the red and orange of paintbrush, the pale white of valerian, and the yellow of arnica. The season is brief because the snow arrives early and leaves late. Every flower here is in a hurry.

Near the summit, a network of trails leads to small mountain lakes, including Eva Lake, Miller Lake, and the Jade Lakes for those willing to walk farther. Some of these routes are long day hikes, so plan honestly for your energy and the weather. Closer to the summit area, shorter paths wind through the meadows. Please stay on the marked trails. Alpine plants grow slowly, and a single careless footstep can damage a patch for years.

On the summit stands a historic fire lookout. Before satellites and aircraft, people watched over these forests by eye, scanning the valleys for smoke. From up here, you can see why this spot was chosen. The view runs across ridge after ridge of the Selkirks and the nearby Monashee Mountains. On a clear day, the glaciers on distant peaks catch the light and show as bright white lines.

Now for the second surprise. This mountain was once a centre of ski jumping. In the early twentieth century, Norwegian immigrants brought the sport to Revelstoke, and a jump was built on the lower slopes of the mountain. The Norwegian-born jumper Nels Nelsen became the local hero, and long, record-setting jumps were made here in the 1920s. The remains of the historic ski jump still stand in the forest, a reminder that this quiet slope once drew roaring crowds.

If you have time, visit the park's other face, down in the valley beside the Trans-Canada Highway. The Giant Cedars Boardwalk leads through a stand of huge western red cedars, some of them many centuries old. This is inland temperate rainforest, a rare type of forest that grows far from any ocean. Nearby, the Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk crosses a wetland where large green leaves rise from the dark mud in spring and summer.

The park is also home to wildlife that needs space and quiet. Black bears and grizzly bears both live here, and they often feed in the same meadows and berry patches that people enjoy. Marmots whistle from rocky slopes near the summit, and their sharp call carries a long way. Carry bear spray, make noise on the trail, and keep your food sealed. You are a guest in their home.

Before you leave, take one more look around you. Notice the way the light moves across the meadow as clouds pass over. Notice the cold edge on the wind, even in midsummer, and the faint sound of the river far below. The snow will return before long, and these flowers will vanish under it. For now, though, the mountain is open — and you are standing right in the middle of its short, bright season.