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You are at the edge of one of the most ecologically important places in Banff National Park.
Wetlands are scarce in the mountains. Water seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere else.
Glaciers deposited massive amounts of gravel, sand, and silt in this broad valley and its tributaries. In the 15,000 years since the glaciers retreated, annual flooding by the Bow River and its tributaries has carried much of the loose material into the relatively flat valley floor. Here, the river slows and as a result, its ability to carry sediments dwindles. Over time, the valley has filled with stream-borne sediments. Today, the Bow River meanders across a wide, well-watered floodplain atop those deposits.
These low elevation wetlands offer a longer growing season for plants and animals than valleys higher in elevation. Rich silt soils are more productive than the rockier soils on higher slopes.
Biological diversity and productivity, make these montane wetlands unique in the Rockies. Here you can see the boreal toads, Wilson's Warblers, beavers muskrats, and a variety of rare species.
Wildlife that travel widely depend on these wetlands for survival from the elk herds that winter here to the grizzly bears that sometimes fish for spawning while suckers in the Spring, to the migratory birds that arrive for the summer.