The Coast Mountains ( French : La chaîne Côtière ) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America , extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia south to the Fraser River . The mountain range's name derives from its proximity to the sea coast, and it is often referred to as the Coast Range . The range includes volcanic and non-volcanic mountains and the extensive ice fields of the Pacific and Boundary Ranges , and the northern end of the volcanic system known as the Cascade Volcanoes . The Coast Mountains are part of a larger mountain system called the Pacific Coast Ranges or the Pacific Mountain System, which includes the Cascade Range , the Insular Mountains , the Olympic Mountains , the Oregon Coast Range , the California Coast Ranges , the Saint Elias Mountains and the Chugach Mountains . The Coast Mountains are also part of the American Cordillera —a Spanish term for an extensive chain of mountain ranges—that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western backbone of North America , Central America , South America and Antarctica .
39-431: Telkwa is a village located along British Columbia Highway 16 , nearly 15 kilometres (9 mi) southeast of the town of Smithers and 350 kilometres (220 mi) west of the city of Prince George , in northwest British Columbia , Canada. Settlement in the area began around 1904 in a townsite known as Aldermere on the hill above Telkwa. Around 1907, people began to move down the hill to be closer to water supplies and
78-539: A land area of 7.04 km (2.72 sq mi), it had a population density of 209.4/km (542.3/sq mi) in 2021. According to the 2021 census , religious groups in Telkwa included: The history of the town can be explored at the Telkwa Museum and on a tour of the historic former town site of Aldermere. Telkwa hosts an annual barbecue and demolition derby on Labour Day weekend. The town also has Eddy Park, at
117-704: A large mass of igneous rock , creating a new continental margin. This large mass of igneous rock is the largest granite outcropping in North America. The final event began when the Farallon Plate continued to subduct under the new continental margin after the Insular Plate and Insular Islands collided with the old continental margin, supporting a new continental volcanic arc called the Coast Range Arc about 100 million years ago during
156-539: A pre-existing continental margin and coastline of North America. These volcanic islands, known as the Insular Islands by geoscientists, were formed on a pre-existing tectonic plate called the Insular Plate by subduction of the former Farallon Plate to the west during the early Paleozoic era. This subduction zone records another subduction zone to the east under an ancient ocean basin between
195-689: A series of 2-to-6-kilometre (1 to 4 mi) stretches were completed, which included replacing sections washed out by the 1936 flood. By 1937, the Usk–Cedarvale gap still remained on the southeast shore. By 1940, a 32-kilometre (20 mi) gap remained. In 1943, progress reactivated. In May 1944, the gap completed comprised the Pacific –Cedarvale section. Highway extended east of Terrace by about 3 kilometres (2 mi) in 1927–28 and another 6.0 kilometres (3.7 mi) in 1928–29. In September 1929, Terrace–Usk section completed. The Highway of Tears
234-716: Is a highway in British Columbia , Canada. It is an important section of the Yellowhead Highway , a part of the Trans-Canada Highway that runs across Western Canada . The highway closely follows the path of the northern B.C. alignment of the Canadian National Railway (CN). The number "16" was first given to the highway in 1941, and originally, the route that the highway took was more to the north of today's highway, and it
273-543: Is a stretch of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert . Since 1970, numerous women have gone missing or have been murdered along the 720 km (450 mi) section of highway. Aboriginal organizations speculate that number ranges above forty. In 2016, the Canadian government launched the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women after communicating with victim families. This
312-756: The British Columbia Interior from the Pacific weather systems, resulting in dry warm summers and dry cold winters. Beyond the eastern slopes is a 154,635 km (59,705 sq mi) plateau occupying the southern and central portions of British Columbia called the Interior Plateau . Included within the Interior Plateau is a coalescing series of layered flood basalt lava flows. These sequences of fluid volcanic rock cover about 25,000 km (9,700 sq mi) of
351-657: The Coast Mountain Ranges. Following the Skeena River , the highway travels for 151 km (94 mi) to the city of Terrace . Highway 37 merges onto Highway 16 from north of Highway 16, at the Kitwanga junction. Another 43 km (27 mi) northeast, Highway 16 reaches New Hazelton, where it then veers southeast along the Bulkley River . 68 km (42 mi) later, the highway reaches
390-756: The Fraser River and the Interior Plateau while its far northwestern edge is delimited by the Kelsall and Tatshenshini Rivers at the north end of the Alaska Panhandle, beyond which are the Saint Elias Mountains, and by Champagne Pass in the Yukon Territory . Covered in dense temperate rainforest on its western exposures, the range rises to heavily glaciated peaks, including the largest temperate-latitude ice fields in
429-638: The Fraser River and turns southeast. It follows the Fraser River upstream for 82 km (51 mi) to McBride , then continues upstream for another 64 km (40 mi) to its junction with Highway 5 at Tête Jaune Cache . 14 km (8.7 mi) east of Tête Jaune Cache, Highway 16 enters Mount Robson Provincial Park , coursing through the park for 63 km (39 mi) to the boundary between British Columbia and Alberta within Yellowhead Pass. In August 1925, this section opened with
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#1732790214440468-682: The Late Cretaceous period. Magma rising from the Farallon Plate under the new continental margin ascended through the newly accreted Insular Belt, injecting huge quantities of granite into older igneous rocks of the Insular Belt. At the surface, new volcanoes were built along the continental margin. Named after the Coast Mountains, the basement of this arc was likely Early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic intrusions from
507-727: The Stikine Icecap , which lies between the lower Stikine River and the Whiting River . Because the Coast Mountains are just east of the Pacific Ocean , they have a profound effect on British Columbia's climate by forcing moisture-laden air off the Pacific Ocean to rise, dropping heavy rainfalls on the western slopes where lush forests exist. This precipitation is among the heaviest in North America. The eastern slopes are relatively dry and less steep and protect
546-711: The Bridge River Ocean, the Insular Islands drew closer to the former continental margin and coastline of western North America, supporting a pre-existing volcanic arc on the former continental margin of North America called the Omineca Arc . As the North American Plate drifted west and the Insular Plate drifted east to the old continental margin of western North America, the Bridge River Ocean eventually closed by ongoing subduction under
585-544: The Bridge River Ocean. This subduction zone eventually jammed and shut down completely 115 million years ago, ending the Omineca Arc and the Insular Islands collided, forming the Insular Belt . Compression resulting from this collision crushed, fractured and folded rocks along the old continental margin. The Insular Belt then welded onto the pre-existing continental margin by magma that eventually cooled to create
624-661: The Coast Mountains and the highest that lies entirely within British Columbia, located northeast of the head of Knight Inlet with an elevation of 4,019 metres (13,186 ft). The Coast Mountains consists of three subdivisions known as the Pacific Ranges , the Kitimat Ranges , and the Boundary Ranges . The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains, extending from
663-513: The Coast Range Arc were then deformed under the heat and pressure of later intrusions, turning them into layered metamorphic rock known as gneiss . In some places, mixtures of older intrusive rocks and the original oceanic rocks have been distorted and warped under intense heat, weight and stress to create unusual swirled patterns known as migmatite , appearing to have been nearly melted in the procedure. Volcanism began to decline along
702-577: The Insular Islands and the former continental margin of North America called the Bridge River Ocean . This arrangement of two parallel subduction zones is unusual in that very few twin subduction zones exist on Earth; the Philippine Mobile Belt off the southeastern coast of Asia is an example of a modern twin subduction zone. As the Insular Plate drew closer to the pre-existing continental margin by ongoing subduction under
741-646: The Insular Islands. One of the major aspects that changed early during the Coast Range Arc was the status of the northern end of the Farallon Plate, a portion now known as the Kula Plate . About 85 million years ago, the Kula Plate broke off from the Farallon Plate to form a mid-ocean ridge known to geoscientists as the Kula-Farallon Ridge . This change apparently had some important ramifications for regional geologic evolution. When this change
780-612: The Interior Plateau and have a volume of about 1,800 km (430 cu mi), forming a large volcanic plateau constructed atop of the Interior Plateau. North of the Interior Plateau on the range's northeastern slopes lies a huge mountainous area known by geographers as the Interior Mountains , which includes the neighbouring Skeena , Cassiar and Hazelton Mountains . The Coast Mountains consist of deformed igneous and metamorphosed structurally complex pre- Tertiary rocks. These originated in diverse locations around
819-900: The Nass River in the south to the Kelsall River in the north. It is also the largest subdivision of the Coast Mountains, spanning the British Columbia-Alaska border and northwards into Yukon flanking the west side of the Yukon River drainage as far as Champagne Pass , north of which being the Yukon Ranges . The Boundary Ranges include several large icefields, including the Juneau Icefield between Juneau, Alaska and Atlin Lake in British Columbia, and
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#1732790214440858-572: The anticipated route of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway . The name Telkwa is possibly an Indigenous term for "meeting of the waters" which appropriately describes the confluence of the Bulkley and Telkwa Rivers in town. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Telkwa had a population of 1,474 living in 562 of its 584 total private dwellings, a change of 11.1% from its 2016 population of 1,327. With
897-526: The completion of the Burns Lake–Endako link. Highway extended west of New Hazelton by about 6 kilometres (4 mi) in 1927–28 and another 5.3 kilometres (3.3 mi) in 1928–29. By 1931–32, Kitwanga–Hazelton was rated fairly good. By mid-1943, the condition was rated rough, awaiting tendering of reconstruction contracts. By 1931–32, Cedarvale–Kitwanga was rated passable. For Usk–Cedarvale, several segments were under construction. During 1936–1941,
936-420: The early Eocene period. Volcanism along the entire length of the Coast Range Arc shut down about 50 million years ago and many of the volcanoes have disappeared from erosion. What remains of the Coast Range Arc to this day are outcrops of granite when magma intruded and cooled at depth beneath the volcanoes, forming the present Coast Mountains. During construction of intrusions 70 and 57 million years ago,
975-549: The globe: the area is built of several different terranes of different ages with a broad range of tectonic origins. In addition, oceanic crust under the Pacific Ocean is being subducted at the southern portion of the range to form a north–south line of volcanoes called the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt , a northern extension of the Cascade Volcanoes in the northwestern United States , and contains
1014-736: The highest mountain of the Coast Mountains, lies in the Waddington Range of the Pacific Ranges. Just north of the Pacific Ranges lies the central subdivision known as the Kitimat Ranges. This subdivision extends from the Bella Coola River and Burke Channel in the south to the Nass River in the north. The third and northernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains is the Boundary Ranges , extending from
1053-621: The highway goes 38 km (24 mi) to the inlet town of Port Clements . Winding its way along the boundary of Naikoon Provincial Park , Highway 16 goes south for 27 km (17 mi) before reaching the community of Tlell . 36 km (22 mi) south of Tlell, Highway 16 reaches Skidegate , where its Haida Gwaii section terminates. BC Ferries then takes Highway 16 across the Hecate Strait for 172 km (107 mi) due northeast to its landing at Prince Rupert. From Prince Rupert, Highway 16 begins its winding route east through
1092-655: The length of the arc about 60 million years ago during the Albian and Aptian faunal stages of the Cretaceous period. This resulted from the changing geometry of the Kula Plate, which progressively developed a more northerly movement along the Pacific Northwest . Instead of subducting beneath the Pacific Northwest, the Kula Plate began subducting underneath southwestern Yukon and Alaska and during
1131-417: The lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola . Included in this subdivision is four of the five major coastal icecaps in the southern Coast Mountains. These are the largest temperate-latitude icecaps in the world and fuel a number of major rivers . Other than logging and a large ski resort at the resort town of Whistler , most of the land in the range is completely undeveloped. Mount Waddington ,
1170-575: The most explosive young volcanoes in Canada. Further north the northwesterly structural trend of the Coast Mountains lies partly in a large continental rift responsible for the creation of several volcanoes. These volcanoes form part of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province , the most volcanically active area in Canada. The first event began 130 million years ago when a group of active volcanic islands approached
1209-620: The riverside, with a small gazebo right off the highway to sit and have a picnic and watch the Bulkley River go by. There are four trails: the 8 km Hunter Basin Road, the 12.5 km Winfield Creek Road Trail, the 10.5 km McDowell Lake Trail, and the 51 km Telkwa Pass Trail. Via Rail 's Jasper – Prince Rupert train calls at the Telkwa railway station several times per week. British Columbia Highway 16 Highway 16
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1248-435: The town of Smithers , proceeding southeast another 64 km (40 mi) to the village of Houston . At Houston, Highway 16 begins a parallel course along the upper course of the Bulkley River , proceeding 81 km (50 mi) east to its junction with Highway 35 , south of Burns Lake . 128 km (80 mi) east, after passing through the hamlet of Fraser Lake , Highway 16 reaches its junction with Highway 27 in
1287-399: The town of Vanderhoof . 97 km (60 mi) east of Vanderhoof, Highway 16 reaches its B.C. midpoint as it enters the city of Prince George at its junction with Highway 97 . Highway 16 leaves Prince George after coursing through the city for 9 km (5.6 mi). 120 km (75 mi) east of Prince George, Highway 16 reaches the community of Dome Creek , where it converges with
1326-527: The world. On its eastern flanks, the range tapers to the dry Interior Plateau and the subarctic boreal forests of the Skeena Mountains and Stikine Plateau . The Coast Mountains are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire —the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean —and contain some of British Columbia's highest mountains. Mount Waddington is the highest mountain of
1365-431: The zone of Cretaceous dextral thrust faulting appears to have been widespread. It was also during this period when massive amounts of molten granite intruded highly deformed ocean rocks and assorted fragments from pre-existing island arcs, largely remnants of the Bridge River Ocean. This molten granite burned the old oceanic sediments into a glittering medium-grade metamorphic rock called schist . The older intrusions of
1404-425: Was commissioned in 1983 and is connected to the mainland segment via BC Ferries route #11. A series of murders and disappearances has given the stretch between Prince Rupert and Prince George the name Highway of Tears . The 101 km (63 mi) segment of the 1,347-kilometre-long (837 mi) BC highway begins in the west in the village of Masset , on the northern coast of Graham Island . Proceeding south,
1443-530: Was completed, Coast Range Arc volcanism returned and sections of the arc were uplifted considerably in latest Cretaceous time. This started a period of mountain building that affected much of western North America called the Laramide orogeny . In particular a large area of dextral transpression and southwest-directed thrust faulting was active from 75 to 66 million years ago. Much of the record of this deformation has been overridden by Tertiary age structures and
1482-675: Was done to find methods of slowing the violence within the Indigenous population. In September 2020 a totem pole honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women was raised on the highway just outside Terrace . From west to east, the following intersections are observed along Highway 16. Distances exclude the 172 km (93 nmi) ferry between Skidegate and Prince Rupert. Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains are approximately 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and average 300 kilometres (190 mi) in width. The range's southern and southeastern boundaries are surrounded by
1521-465: Was not as long as it is now. Highway 16 originally ran from New Hazelton east to Aleza Lake . In 1948, Highway 16's western end was moved from New Hazelton to the coastal city of Prince Rupert , and in 1953, the highway was re-aligned to end at Prince George. In 1969, further alignment east into Yellowhead Pass was opened to traffic after being constructed up through 1968 and raised to all-weather standards in 1969. Highway 16's alignment on Haida Gwaii
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