Provinces and Territories · Drawing 27 of 42
A turquoise lake in Banff
Alberta
Created in 1885, Banff National Park is Canada’s first national park. Many of its lakes get their turquoise colour from a very fine rock powder carried by glacier water.
Look together
Why do we wear life jackets in a canoe?
An idea to try
Stir a pinch of flour into a clear glass of water and watch it turn cloudy. Let it rest: the fine powder slowly settles, like rock flour.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Created in 1885, Banff National Park is Canada’s first national park. Its story began around the Cave and Basin hot springs, a place that has been special to Indigenous Peoples for more than 10,000 years and still is today. In the Rockies, glacial waters are often blue or green because of rock flour, a fine powder of sediment that they carry.
In Banff, Parks Canada requires a life jacket or PFD that fits for each person, and the water seldom rises above 10 °C. Before an outing, talk with your child about the weather and why we keep our life jacket fastened.
Sources and context (3)
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. Source titles appear in their original language; some linked pages are in French.
- Parks Canada — Cave and Basin National Historic SiteFounded in 1885, Banff is Canada’s first national park; Cave and Basin has been a special place for Indigenous Peoples for over ten thousand years and continues to be so.
- Parks Canada — Glaciers and icefields (Jasper National Park)Glacial waters are often blue or green because of the glacial till (rock flour) they carry.
- Parks Canada — Paddling (Banff National Park)Each person must have a life jacket or PFD that fits; water temperature seldom rises above 10 °C; risk of hypothermia.
Source review: 2026-09-24. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.