Interior Mountains

The Interior Mountains, also called the Northern Interior Mountains and Interior Ranges, are the semi-official names[1] for a huge area that comprises much of the northern two thirds of the Canadian province of British Columbia and a large area of southern Yukon.

Interior Mountains
Northern Interior Mountains
"Interior Ranges"
Satellite photo of the Spectrum Range
Elevation2,748 m (9,016 ft) 
Dimensions
Area221,310 km2 (85,450 sq mi)
Geography
CountryCanada
Province/TerritoryBritish Columbia and Yukon
Range coordinates57°55′36.8″N 126°50′53.9″W
Parent rangeInterior System

There are four main groupings, the Skeena, Cassiar and Omineca Mountains to the north of the Interior Plateau between the Coast Mountains to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east, and the Hazelton Mountains along the Interior Plateau's northwestern flank against the Coast Mountains, extending from the Bulkley Ranges south to the Bella Coola River. Included within the Interior Mountains system is the Stikine Plateau, which contains a number of sub-plateaus and various mountain ranges and is located west of the Cassiars, north of the Skeenas, and to the east of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains.

Most of the thousands of summits in the Interior Mountains are unnamed, and they are mostly uninhabited and undeveloped.

Component ranges and plateaus

Notable summits and features, if any, are included.

Location map of the Interior Mountains.

Cassiar Mountains

Dease Plateau

Kechika Ranges

Sifton Ranges

Stikine Ranges

Hazelton Mountains

Nass Ranges

Kispiox Range

Bulkley Ranges

Tahtsa Ranges

Pattullo Range

Omineca Mountains

Finlay Ranges

Hogem Ranges

Metsantan Range

Samuel Black Range

Swannell Ranges

Tatlatui Range

Skeena Mountains

Stikine Plateau

Nahlin Plateau

Kawdy Plateau

Spatsizi Plateau

Tagish Highland
NB sometimes defined as part of the Coast Mountains

Tahltan Highland
NB sometimes defined as part of the Coast Mountains

Taku Plateau
NB sometimes defined as part of the Yukon Plateau
  • Chutine Range
  • Menatatuline Range

Tanzilla Plateau
  • French Range
  • Hotailuh Range

Parks, Protected Areas and Ecological Reserves

National Parks
  • Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site

Provincial Parks and Protected Areas

Park and preservation proposals

See also

References
  • S. Holland, Landforms of British Columbia, Province of British Columbia, 1976
  1. Both terms were coined by British Columbia government geographer Stuart Holland in the course of writing his Landforms of British Columbia, which is a definitive volume on the province's topography and toponymy written in 1964. This work is used as the basis for official toponymies such as those in the provincial gazette and the British Columbia Geographic Names Information System Database (BCGNIS), which is the official registry of the province's geographic names. The term Interior Mountains, used by Holland throughout his work and as a chapter heading describing the mountain system in question, is not present in the Geographical Names Database despite being a chapter heading and appearing on Holland's map of the province's landform systems. He suggests, also, the term "Northern Interior Mountains", partly because the mountain system is in a region also known as the Northern Interior, but also to potentially distinguish this mountain system from mountain ranges farther south in the province's Interior, including many on the Interior Plateau. In his exegesis he decides on interior Mountains for reasons of brevity.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.