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Tonquin Valley
The Tonquin Valley is a backcountry area in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada popular for hiking, backpacking, and mountaineering. The Tonquin features views of The Ramparts mountain range, which rises above Amethyst Lakes. It also boasts populations of rare wildlife such as mountain caribou, grizzly bears, and wolverines.
Horseback riding and ski touring were major forms of recreation in the Tonquin Valley since the 1920s, however concerns about the Tonquin caribou herd have largely eliminated these activities in the area. In 2021, Jasper National Park banned recreational horse use in the area and implemented a winter closure between November and mid-February. Starting in 2022, the closure was extended until May 15, effectively eliminating the ski season.
The Tonquin Valley was named after the Pacific Fur Company ship Tonquin, destroyed in Clayoquot Sound in 1811.
The valley was explored by Dominion Land Surveyor Morrison P. Bridgland in 1915, via Whistler's Pass. A report from the Department of the Interior describes early tourism to the Tonquin Valley:
The reports of the region early attracted the attention of visitors to the park and soon adventurous spirits took ponies and followed the old Indian trails by way of Whistlers' pass or Astoria valley, returning to say that the rumour of its wonders was only a half-told tale.
Due to the difficulty of these routes (surveyor A. O. Wheeler called the Whistlers route, “the very worst trail the writer knows of”), a new trail up Portal Creek was developed during World War I. In the 1920s, entering by Portal Creek and exiting on a trail down Meadow Creek to the Geike railway station became the standard 33.8 kilometres (21.0 mi) route.
In 1926 the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) held their 21st General Mountaineering Camp at Moat Lake, their first of many in this area. The 1928 High Trip of the Sierra Club took place in this area, reusing some of the same ACC tents at Moat Lake. Among those who participated were photographer Ansel Adams and Sierra Club director William Colby.
The ACC built the Memorial hut at the south end of Tonquin Valley, on Penstock Creek north of Outpost Lake in 1930. Its foundation gave out in 1947 and the Wates-Memorial hut was built on the shore of Outpost Lake. The current, larger, Wates-Gibson hut replaced it in 1959. Cyril Wates and Rex Gibson were active alpinists in the area.
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Tonquin Valley
The Tonquin Valley is a backcountry area in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada popular for hiking, backpacking, and mountaineering. The Tonquin features views of The Ramparts mountain range, which rises above Amethyst Lakes. It also boasts populations of rare wildlife such as mountain caribou, grizzly bears, and wolverines.
Horseback riding and ski touring were major forms of recreation in the Tonquin Valley since the 1920s, however concerns about the Tonquin caribou herd have largely eliminated these activities in the area. In 2021, Jasper National Park banned recreational horse use in the area and implemented a winter closure between November and mid-February. Starting in 2022, the closure was extended until May 15, effectively eliminating the ski season.
The Tonquin Valley was named after the Pacific Fur Company ship Tonquin, destroyed in Clayoquot Sound in 1811.
The valley was explored by Dominion Land Surveyor Morrison P. Bridgland in 1915, via Whistler's Pass. A report from the Department of the Interior describes early tourism to the Tonquin Valley:
The reports of the region early attracted the attention of visitors to the park and soon adventurous spirits took ponies and followed the old Indian trails by way of Whistlers' pass or Astoria valley, returning to say that the rumour of its wonders was only a half-told tale.
Due to the difficulty of these routes (surveyor A. O. Wheeler called the Whistlers route, “the very worst trail the writer knows of”), a new trail up Portal Creek was developed during World War I. In the 1920s, entering by Portal Creek and exiting on a trail down Meadow Creek to the Geike railway station became the standard 33.8 kilometres (21.0 mi) route.
In 1926 the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) held their 21st General Mountaineering Camp at Moat Lake, their first of many in this area. The 1928 High Trip of the Sierra Club took place in this area, reusing some of the same ACC tents at Moat Lake. Among those who participated were photographer Ansel Adams and Sierra Club director William Colby.
The ACC built the Memorial hut at the south end of Tonquin Valley, on Penstock Creek north of Outpost Lake in 1930. Its foundation gave out in 1947 and the Wates-Memorial hut was built on the shore of Outpost Lake. The current, larger, Wates-Gibson hut replaced it in 1959. Cyril Wates and Rex Gibson were active alpinists in the area.