Willmore Wilderness Park

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Willmore Wilderness Park
IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area)
Location of Willmore Wilderness Park in Canada
Location:	Alberta, Canada
Nearest city:	Grande Cache, Hinton
Coordinates:	53°41′09″N, 119°25′10″W
Area:	4,568 km²
Governing body:	Alberta Community Development

Willmore Wilderness Park, located in Alberta, Canada, is a 4,600 square kilometre (1840 sq. mi.) wilderness area adjacent to the world famous Jasper National Park. It is lesser known and less visited as the Jasper National Park, and there are no roads, bridges or buildings.

Other parks surround this wilderness reserve: Kakwa Wildland Park to the north, Kakwa Provincial Park and Protected Area to the west, Rock Lake - Solomon Creek Wildland to the south-west, Sulphur Gates Provincial Park to the west.

Acess in the park is done from Highway 40, through the town of Grande Cache, and the four staging areas: Sulphur Gates, Cowlick Creek, Berland River and Rock Lake^[1]. Motorised vehicles are not allowed in the park, transportation is done by foot, horse, mountain bike ore ski.

1 Conservation
2 Activities
3 Administration
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Conservation

The park protects a large population of mountain goats and bighorn sheep (20% of the total population in Alberta). Other mammals commonly found here include grizzly bears, mountain caribou, elk, deer, cougars and wolves^[2]. Coyotes, wolverines, lynx and black bears are also present in the sub-alpine region, while marmots, rock pika, ptarmigan and Rocky Mountain goats can be found in the higher alpine areas.

The sub-alpine environment contains white spruce, lodgepole pine, balsam fir and aspen poplar.

Several native burial sites are located at Big Grave Flats, as well as some early coal mining, forestry and trapper cabins.

[edit] Activities

Recreational activities in the park include camping, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, cross-country skiing and some hunting. Fishing for bull trout is only allowed in a catch and release fashion. Canoeing and whitewater rafting can be done on the Smoky River.

Potential dangers while travelling through the park are changing weather, lost trails and the abundand bear population

Several trails cross the park (Indian Trail, Pope Thoreau Trail), and horseback riding can be done along rivers and passes (Sulphur River, West Sulphur River, Rocky Pass, Jackknife Pass, Casket Pass, Forget-Me-Not Pass, Fetherstonhaugh Pass and Morkill Pass).

[edit] Administration

The park is administered by Alberta Municipal Affairs (as Improvement District No. 9) and is managed by Alberta Community Development as a wilderness park.