CA-K109Places & geography

The Cave and Basin and Canada’s first national park

The cave pool at Cave and Basin National Historic Site, Banff, photographed in 2017. Cave and Basin National Historic Site · Sovernigo · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.

Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

No recorded challenge is not proof of accuracy. A challenge under review is not a finding that the item is false.

In 1885, the government created a 26 km² Hot Springs Reserve around the Cave and Basin hot springs in Banff. On 23 June 1887, the reserve was expanded to 665 km² and became Rocky Mountains National Park, the first national park in Canada.

Scope & context

The origin of Canada’s first national park, not the later history of Banff National Park or the Indigenous peoples who knew the springs long before.

Sources behind this record

Banff’s legacy - Cave and Basin National Historic Site ↗

Parks Canada

Hot Springs Reserve and Rocky Mountains Park