Britannia Range (Canada)

For other uses, see Britannia Range (disambiguation).
Britannia Range
Official (orange) and colloquial (purple) boundaries of the Britannia Range
Highest point
PeakSky Pilot Mountain
Elevation2,031 m (6,663 ft)[1]
Coordinates49°38′05″N 123°05′11″W / 49.63472°N 123.08639°W / 49.63472; -123.08639[2]
Dimensions
Area270 km2 (100 sq mi)[3]
Geography
Britannia Range is located in British Columbia
Britannia Range
Britannia Range
Location in Southwestern B.C.
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Range coordinates49°32′N 123°12′W / 49.533°N 123.200°W / 49.533; -123.200[4]
Parent rangeNorth Shore Mountains and Pacific Ranges

The Britannia Range is a small mountain range of the Coast Mountains that runs along the eastern shore of Howe Sound just north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges and often considered part of the North Shore Mountains. The range is bounded by the Howe Sound to the west, the Stawamus River to the north, Loch Lomond on the upper Seymour River to the east, and Deeks Lake to the south.[5] However, some official maps extend the range further south of these boundaries[6] and many local sources such as hiking guidebooks will often include all of the peaks along the Howe Sound between Deeks Lake and Cypress Mountain as part of the range.[7]

The geology of the Britannia Range is different to the surrounding highly granitic North Shore Mountains due to the high prevalence of volcanic rock (such as at Watts Point volcanic centre) and sedimentary rock like sandstone and shale.[8][9]

The range's name was conferred by Captain Richards in 1859 after the 100-gun HMS Britannia, which saw action at the Battle of St. Vincent, 1797 and the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805.[4] Mountains within the range allude to British royalty, Mount Hanover and Mount Windsor for the respective dynasties. This is the source of the name of the town Britannia Beach.

The tallest mountain in the Britannia Range is Sky Pilot Mountain, a horn-shaped summit prominently visible to southbound traffic on BC Highway 99 on the descent from Whistler to Squamish.

  1. ^ "Topographic map of Sky Pilot Mountain". opentopomap.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  2. ^ "Sky Pilot Mountain". BC Geographical Names. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  3. ^ "Britannia Range". bivouac.com. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference bcgnis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "BC Geographical Names (Brittannia Range)". apps.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  6. ^ Centre for Topographic Information, Natural Resources Canada (2002). North Vancouver 92 G/6 0600 (Topographic Map) (6th ed.). 1:50,000. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  7. ^ Crerar, David; Crerar, Harry; Maurer, Bill (2018). The Glorious Mountains of Vancouver’s North Shore: A Peakbagger’s Guide. Victoria, BC: Rocky Mountain Books. ISBN 9781771602754.
  8. ^ B.C. Geological Survey (2005). "Geology of British Columbia: Geological Legend" (PDF).
  9. ^ James, H T (1929). "Britannia Beach map area, British Columbia".