Northern Rocky Mountains Provincial Park and Protected Area

Northern Rocky Mountains Park, was originally established in December 1986 and expanded in June 1999, with the addition of the Wokkpash Recreation Area. The Park and Protected Area encompasses 666,472 hectares of wilderness in northeastern BC. It is the largest of all the parks in the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area and the third largest provincial park in BC. Northern Rocky Mountains Park includes a portion of the Wokkpash Valley-MacDonald Creek Loop Trail (click here to view information about the Wokkpash hiking trail). The area borders Stone Mountain Park to the northwest and Kwadacha Wilderness Park and Recreation Area to the southwest. In combination, these areas protect a vast portion of the northeastern mountain landscape, creating an unparalleled contiguous wilderness.

Northern Rocky Mountains Park offers an exciting array of visual and recreation features and opportunities for the backcountry adventurer. Recreation activities include scenery and wildlife viewing, angling, boating, hunting, adventure tourism, camping, hiking, horseback riding and nature photography.

Access to the area is mainly by boat, aircraft, hiking or horseback. Recreational use is primarily during the summer and autumn months. For the rest of the year, the area is virtually uninhabited. There are many primitive campsites along the major river courses. Most of the main rivers and creeks have trails that were established by guide outfitters, but few are well maintained.

Size: Park – 665,709 hectares; Protected Area – 763 hectares

Special Notes

• Special care must be taken in alpine and sub-alpine areas. These are among the most fragile because of the severe conditions and short growing season. Please walk carefully and tread lightly.

Bear Safety

• Grizzly and black bears may be encountered within the park. Please be bear aware, and learn how to stay safe in bear country.

• Park Map [PDF]
• Wokkpash Valley Trail Map [PDF]
• Northern Rocky Mountains Zoning Map [PDF]
• Google Earth KMZ file of Northern Rocky Mountains Park Zoning [KMZ]
• The following GPX files of Northern Rocky Mountains Park Zoning can be used with a global positioning system (GPS):
• Wilderness Recreation Zone – no snowmobile use [GPX]
• Special Feature Zone – no snowmobile use [GPX]
• Nature Recreation Zone – snowmobile use allowed [GPX]

• Conservation: The Northern Rocky Mountains Park provides representation of the Eastern Muskwa Ranges, Muskwa Foothills and Muskwa Plateau ecosections. The park landscape consists of a series of northwest-southeast trending valley and ridges. Glaciation has resulted in broad U-shaped river valley bottoms, mountain cirques and morainal ridges. The mountains in the Muskwa Range have steep eastern faces with gentler grades on western aspects. Peak summit elevations range from Mount Mary Henry at 2641 m to Mount Sylvia at 2942 m. In comparison to the southern Rocky Mountains, the Muskwa Ranges are older and generally show evidence of more complex tectonic deformation that results in spectacular geological features.

  One of the notable features of the Northern Rocky Mountains Park is the diversity of water features. The area is accentuated by major rivers, clear, cold streams, waterfalls, rapids, small glaciers and lakes. The rivers include the Tetsa, Chischa, Tuchodi and Muskwa and the main creeks are the Gathto, Kluachesi, Dead Dog and Chlotapecta. All creeks and rivers in the Northern Rocky Mountains flow into the Muskwa. Kluachesi and Tetsa are examples of the larger lakes in the area, but the largest and most important water recreation feature in the Northern Rocky Mountains Park is the upper and lower Tuchodi Lakes.

  The Boreal White and Black Spruce, Spruce Willow Birch and the Alpine Tundra biogeoclimatic zones are found in the Northern Rocky Mountains Park. Forests in the valley bottoms are dominated by white spruce and aspen, and are replaced by sub-alpine fir and white spruce at higher elevations. Alpine plant communities consist of dwarf willows, grasses, sedges, forbs and lichens. The park also has numerous wetlands and native grasslands. Old growth white spruce forests can be found along the major river valley bottoms.

• Wildlife: A diverse variety of wildlife inhabits this northeastern mountain landscape. The area provides high quality habitat for moose, elk, stone sheep and mountain goat. The abundance of prey supports predator species such as wolves and grizzly and black bears. Other important wildlife includes furbearers such as marten, fisher, weasels and wolverines. Information on small mammals, amphibians, birds, invertebrates and reptiles is relatively unknown. Lake trout, rainbow trout, bull trout, arctic grayling and lake whitefish are some of the important sport fish species in the Northern Rocky Mountains Park.

• Management Planning Information
• Northern Rocky Mountain Park Management Plan [PDF]

Canoeing

Climbing

Fishing

Hiking

Horseback Riding

Hunting

Pets on Leash

Wildlife Viewing

Winter Recreation

Campfires

Walk-In/Wilderness Camping