The Rocky Mountains stretch some 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and down to New Mexico in the U.S. Fact 13: One of the world’s restless giant volcanos is in Yellowstone National Park. After the ice age, people began inhabiting the Rocky Mountains. (Any Why They Do Not Get Sick), Can Squirrels Eat Peanuts? Topographically, the Rockies are usually divided into five sections: the Southern Rockies, Middle Rockies, Northern Rockies (all in the United States), the Rocky Mountain system of Canada, and Brooks Range in Alaska. The Rocky Mountain Range actually represents a series of more than 100 separate mountain ranges, rather than one uninterrupted mountain chain. Fact 20: Kimberly, the mining town, located in the Purcell Range of the Canadian Rockies, produced close to 75% of the lead used the Allied forces in World War II. Temperature and rainfall varies greatly also and thus the Rockies are home to a mixture of habitats including the alpine, subalpine, alpine tundra, boreal habit, coniferous forests, wetlands and prairie. It is composed of different minerals such as gold, silver, copper, tungsten, zinc, molybdenum, and lead. In 2013, it flooded for the second time and caused $2billion in damage. 8 Facts About The Rocky Mountains The Guidebooks Won’t Tell You. Established in 1885, Baniff generates more than 8 million dollars a day for Alberta! The Rockies stands between two countries, the United States and Canada. The Rocky Mountains is located in western North America. It has a major series of a mountain range in a line and connected by high ground. Most of them show up in the month of May to June. According to scientists, the Rockies formed about 80 million to 55 million years ago. Fact 23: Colorado’s largest and deepest natural lake, the Grand Lake, is a must-see in the Rocky Mountains. This makes the hiking trails and other attractions very accessible. How do Rainbows Form? The name of the mountains is a translation of the Cree Indian name “as-sin-wati“, given as, when seen from across the prairies, they looked like a rocky mass. It was during this period the Farallon Plate collided and began to slide underneath the North American continent. The Rocky Mountains are an important habitat for a great deal of well-known wildlife, such as elk, moose, mule and white-tailed deer, pronghorn, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, badgers, black bears, grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, lynx, and wolverines along with a great variety of small mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians and over 300 species of birds. It is from this region the Rocky Mountain Trench and Purcell Trench originates. Fact 11: Set in the Rocky Mountains of south-eastern British Columbia, Kootenay National Park is the only Canadian park with both glaciers and cactus plants. It is situated in the Sawatch Range, where there are three other highest Rocky Mountain peaks: Mount Massive (4,398 meters / 14,428 feet) and Mount Harvard (4,396 meters/ 14,421 feet). It feeds eight major glaciers including the Athabasca Glacier – the most visited North American glacier. This kind of sheep is the largest wild sheep in North America. Fact 18: Big Thompson River winding through Rocky Mountain National Park – it’s a sight to behold. Fact 6: The Rockies are home to Yellowstone National Park, the second oldest National park in the world, and the oldest ones in the United States. Fact 3: With an elevation of 4,401 meters, Mount Elbert of Colorado is the tallest mountain in the Rocky chain. Fact 12: The Rocky Mountains have been home to indigenous tribes including the Apache, Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow Nation, Flathead, Shoshone, Sioux, Ute, Kutenai Sekani, Dunne-za and more. Millions of tourists visit this US region every year, making it one of the most popular natural sites of interest across the continent. The Rockies extend 3000 miles through two countries, from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and down to New Mexico in the United States. Her passion for science education drove her to start EarthEclipse with the sole objective of finding and sharing fun and interesting science facts. Beyond the Rocky Mountains’ national park, animals such as grizzly bears, black bears, mountain lions, coyotes, elk, and marmots can be seen. Other rivers that originate in the range include the Bow River, Fraser River, Columbia River, North Saskatchewan River, and the Athabasca Rivers. As per the topography, the Rockies are divided into the Southern Rockies, Middle Rockies, Northern Rockies (all in the United States), the Rocky Mountain system of Canada, and the Brooks Range in Alaska. Fact 7: Canada’s first national park, the Banff National Park, is in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. In addition, the last glaciation which occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch and lasted from about 110,000 years ago until 12,500 years ago also caused erosion and the formation of glacial U-shaped valleys and other features such as Moraine Lake [photo below] in Alberta, throughout the range. But how much do you actually know about them? After the ice age, various indigenous people lived in the Rocky Mountains such as Bannock, Cheyenne, Apache, Shoshone, Flathead, Sioux, Ute, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Kalispel, Crow people, Kutenai, and  Coeur d’Alene. When Africa and North America were coming together, it uplifted 320 million years ago, forming the Ancestral Rocky Mountain. Fact 21: Rocky Mountains’ climate is so unpredictable that snow can fall as late as June or July at high altitudes. Fact 17: Officially, Rocky Mountain National Park has three threatened species: Canada lynx, Greenback cutthroat trout, and Mexican Spotted Owl. In Canada, the popular parks include Jasper National Park and Banff National Park. Required fields are marked But when it flooded in 1976, that was the most fatal disaster in Colorado’s history. Touching Canada and Alaska, stretching across the vast states of Idaho and Montana, before travelling southward to New Mexico, the Rocky Mountains are just one of America’s naturally occurring adventure playgrounds. However, some low-elevation paths or trails on the east side of the Continental Divide are open for snow-shoeing and hiking. Fact 8: The best record of Cambrian animal fossils available to date is from the Burgess Shale, a fossil-bearing deposit found in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park. The Rocky Mountain Range actually represents a series of more than 100 separate mountain ranges, rather than one uninterrupted mountain chain.. Fact 19: Peace River is the only river that penetrates the Canadian Rockies. The types of rock at the Mountain are Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The Rocky Mountain’s oldest rock is Precambrian metamorphic rock. Facts about the Rocky Mountain Region 4: things to do in Rocky Mountain There are a number of activities that you can do on the Rocky Mountain. The Wyoming Basin, between Middle and Southern Rockies, is sometimes considered as a sixth physiographic province. Above all, because of its incredible length, the Rocky Mountain stands between the United States and Canada. Due to its massive land area, Rocky Mountains manages to supply around ¼ of the United States’ water. 03 Wyoming has the second-highest point of the Rockies after Colorado.