
Location of the Hart Ranges
The 'Hart Ranges' are one of the main geographic subdivisions of the Canadian Rockies and are the main part of the area that is meant by the Northern Rockies, although the much larger
Muskwa Ranges to the north are more deserving of that term — but also much more inaccessible and much less visited — and the Northern Rockies are generally also considered to extend at least as far south as Mount Robson, which is in the
Continental Ranges . The Hart Ranges were named in honour of
British Columbia Premier John Hart, as is the highway which traverses the
Pine Pass in the northern part of the range, connecting the north-central Interior of the province to its Peace River District to the northeast.
The boundaries of the Hart Ranges are the
Rocky Mountain Trench and the
McGregor Plateau on the west/southwest, the Peace Reach of
Williston Lake on the north, and a certain line of demarcation with the
Rocky Mountain Foothills to the east/northeast. The southern boundary is reckoned to be at
McGregor Pass, just south of
Mount Sir Alexander. Beyond McGregor Pass are the
Continental Ranges, which comprise the main and best-known part of the Rocky Mountains and run all the way south to
Marias Pass in
Montana.
Sub-ranges
Official subdivisions of the Hart Ranges include the:
★
Misinchinka Ranges (from the
Pine Pass south to
Monkman Pass)
★
★
Murray Range
★
★
Pioneer Range
★
Solitude Range
Other areas of the Hart Ranges have no subdesignations but the area around Mount Sir Alexander has been dubbed the Mount Sir Alexander Group by
The Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia, but this is not an official designation.
Industry
The Hart Ranges are the location of a number of large coal mines focussed on the remote community of
Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, which is the only town in the range.
----