In 1985, Kootenay, Yoho, Banff, and Jasper national parks together with Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine, and Hamber provincial parks were designated UNESCO’s Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site, one of the largest protected areas in the world. Kootenay runs along the western edge of the Rockies on the slopes of the big rift that separates them from British Columbia’s interior Columbia Mountains. The southernmost of the four national parks, Kootenay is the only reserve protecting the plant life and wildlife of the western ranges of the Rockies. In addition to its impressively high glacier draped peaks, the 1406 square kilometre park safeguards a landscape that includes wild rivers, glaciers, canyons and hot springs. From prehistoric habitation to the park’s establishment in 1920, a rich cultural heritage has evolved amid its distinctively unspoiled beauty.