Columbia Mountains

Mountain ranges

The Columbia Mountains are made up of four large ranges containing many subranges:

• Cariboo Mountains
  • Lunn Icefield
  • Mowdish Range
  • Premier Range
  • Vimy Ridge
  • Wavy Range
• Monashee Mountains
  • Anstey Range
  • Christina Range
  • Gold Range
  • Jordan Range
  • Kettle River Range
  • Malton Range
  • Midway Range
  • Ratchford Range
  • Rossland Range
  • Scrip Range
  • Whatshan Range
    • The Pinnacles
• Selkirk Mountains
  • Asulkan Range
  • Battle Range
  • Big Bend Ranges
    • Adamant Range
    • Sir Sandford Range
    • Windy Range
  • Bishops Range
  • Bonnington Range
  • Clachnacudainn Range
  • Dawson Range
  • Duncan Ranges
    • Badshot Range
  • Goat Range
  • Hermit Range
  • Kokanee Range
    • Slocan Ranges
  • Lardeau Range
  • Nelson Range
  • Purity Range
  • Sir Donald Range
  • Valhalla Ranges
    • Ruby Range
  • Valkyr Range
    • Norns Range
• Purcell Mountains (Percell Mountains in the United States)
  • The Bugaboos Group
  • Carbonate Range
  • Dogtooth Range
  • Farnham Group
  • MacBeth Group
  • McGillivary Range
  • Moyie Range
  • Septet Range
  • Spillimacheen Range
  • Starbird Ridge
    • Commander Group
  • Stockdale Group
  • Toby Glacier
  • Truce Group
  • Yahk Range

Additionally lower areas to the west of the main ranges are sometimes included in the description of the Cariboo Mountains:

• Quesnel Highland
  • Gosse Range
  • Palmer Range
  • Goose Range
  • Palmer Range
• Shuswap Highland
  • Hunters Range
  • Mabel Range
  • Park Range
  • Sawtooth Range
  • Seymour Range
  • Shuswap Range
  • Silver Hills
  • Trinity Hills
• Okanagan Highland
  • Beaverdell Range

Some classification systems end the Columbia Mountains at the North Thompson River, such that the Cariboo Mountains are assigned to the Interior Plateau. Where the Columbia Mountains meet the Interior Plateau there are intermediary areas known as highlands - the Quesnel Highland (west flank of the Cariboos), the Shuswap Highland (south of the Cariboos and west of the northern Monashees), and the Okanagan Highland (west of the southern Monashees). These are listed here but are often considered to be part of the Interior Plateau.

Some geographic classifications also include the Cabinet Mountains and Salish Mountains, which lie south of the Purcells between the Kootenai River and the Clark Fork of the Columbia, but in US classification systems they are generally considered to be part of the Rocky Mountains.

Physiographically, they are a distinct province of the larger Rocky Mountain System physiographic division.