Glacier House Ruins

Point Of Interest

Contact

Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, British Columbia

pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/bc/rogers/decouvrir-discover/natcul6.aspx

Description

Glacier House Ruins are located on the Abbott Ridge Trail in Glacier National Park. Van Horne had other dreams in addition to a trans-continental rail line. In 1883, he had recommended that the federal government create national parks along the rail line in the mountains of Alberta and British Columbia. His proposal was modelled on the Northern Pacific Railway's successful relationship with Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana, which had been created in 1872. The Government of Canada followed the railway company's advice in 1885 and established Banff National Park, followed by Glacier and Yoho National Parks in 1886. Glacier House in the Illecillewaet Valley Glacier House in the Illecillewaet Valley © Parks Canada / Zuzana Driediger / 2001 The government provided tourism development money for Banff, but left the development of Glacier and Yoho to Canadian Pacific. The railway company was planning a dining station in the Rogers Pass area before the rail line was even finished. Although dining cars were very popular, they added too much weight to a train straining to climb the steep mountain pass. A location near the Great Glacier (known today as the Illecillewaet Glacier) was selected and by late 1886 the Glacier House dining hall was receiving guests. The few chalet rooms accommodating overnight guests were quickly overbooked and a sleeper car was parked at the siding until additional rooms could be added to the hotel. Canadian Pacific staff and guides built climbers' cabins, teahouses and many of the hiking trails in Glacier National Park.

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Features

Location

Lat: 51.261083 Lng: -117.493106