Columbia River Attractions

The Columbia River rises in the Kootenay District, in the south-east of British Columbia at the foot of the Kootenays a part of the western edge of the Rocky Mountains. First it flows north along a deeply slashed valley - known as the Rocky Mountains Trench - which was formed as the result of tectonic folding of the earth's crust. As these geological deformations were accompanied by strong volcanic activity many places with hot springs were formed on the edge of the valley, such as Fairmont Hot Springs and Radium Hot Spring.

Initially the Columbia River flows round the Columbia Mountain ranges, which consist of several chains - the Purcell, Selkirk, Cariboo and Monashee Mountains - rising to more than 3000 m (9850 ft) In Glacier National Park they reach heights of 3390 m (11,125 ft). Rogers Pass, 1327 m (4355 ft) up, was an ideal route for the TransCanada Railway and the TransCanada Highway to wind its way over the Columbia Mountains.