Kluane National Park

Administrative unit: Yukon Territory

Kluane National Park, in the south-west corner of Yukon Territory and bordering on Alaska and British Columbia extends over an area of 2,2015 sq. km (8498 sq. mi.). Part of the Haines Road (Highway 3) and the Alaska Highway run along its eastern edge.

The snowcapped mountains of the Kluane (pronounced Klu-ah-nay), Canada's largest park of its kind, which has the world's most massive icefields outside the polar region, was designated a Mountain Park in 1976, and recognized as a United Nations World Heritage site in 1979. Great glaciers at the edges of the ice - up to 1.6 km (1 mi.) thick in places - have swept over the mountain valleys. Many of the close on 4000 glaciers are more than 10 km (6 mi.) across and up to 100 km (60 mi.) long.

The most common conifer in the park's river valleys is white spruce (picea glauca), and the most common deciduous trees are birch (betula) and poplar (populus). The colorful alpine and arctic flora beyond the tree line extend to stunted shrubs, flowers and grasses, whilst on islands in the everlasting ice mosses and lichens defy the harsh winters, forming a vital link in the food chain.