Nature
In Banff, Alberta, the Cave and Basin thermal springs on Sulphur Mountain gave rise to Canada’s first national park and the national parks system. Long significant to many Indigenous Peoples, the area also preserves evidence of human habitation reaching back to about 10,700 BC. After written references in the 19th century and the 1883 entry of railway workers into the cave, disputes over commercial development led the government to reserve 10 square miles around the springs in 1885. The site later grew into a bathhouse and visitor destination, while also reflecting Ukrainian Canadian internment labor, fragile cave ecology, and habitat for the endangered Banff Springs snail.
Hear stories like this as you drive
ExploreHere reads historical markers out loud as you pass them: over 325,000 stories across the US. No account needed.
4.7 · 800+ ratings · Free
FIND IT
Alberta · Canada
