Columbia Mountains

Columbia Mountains
Mount Sir Sandford from the Gothics Glacier
Highest point
PeakMount Sir Sandford
Elevation3,519 m (11,545 ft)
Coordinates51°39′24″N 117°52′03″W / 51.65667°N 117.86750°W / 51.65667; -117.86750
Dimensions
Length741 km (460 mi) N-S
Width493 km (306 mi) W-E
Area135,952 km2 (52,491 sq mi)
Geography
Location map of Columbia Mountains: dotted lines to left mark boundaries of Okanagan, Shuswap and Quesnel Highlands, dotted lines to lower right mark Salish and Cabinet Mountains.
Countries
Provinces/States
Parent rangeNorth American Cordillera
Monashee Mountains, on the right of Kinbasket Lake. The Monashees are a major subrange of Columbia Mountains.

The Columbia Mountains are a group of mountain ranges along the Upper Columbia River in British Columbia, Montana, Idaho and Washington. The mountain range covers 135,952 km² (52,491 sq mi). The range is bounded by the Rocky Mountain Trench on the east, and the Kootenai River on the south; their western boundary is the edge of the Interior Plateau. Seventy-five percent of the range is located in Canada and the remaining twenty-five percent in the United States; American geographic classifications place the Columbia Mountains as part of the Rocky Mountains complex, but this designation does not apply in Canada (despite a British Columbia government tourism campaign to rebrand their southern portion as the "Kootenay Rockies"). Mount Sir Sandford is the highest mountain in the range, reaching 3,519 metres (11,545 ft).