| Purcell Mountains | |
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| Highest point | |
| Peak | Mount Farnham, British Columbia |
| Elevation | 3,493 m (11,460 ft)[1] |
| Prominence | 2,123 m (6,965 ft)[1] |
| Coordinates | 50°29′20″N116°29′13″W / 50.488889°N 116.486944°W /50.488889; -116.486944 (Mount Farnham)[2] |
| Geography | |
 Location map of the Purcell Mountains | |
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| Provinces/States | |
| Range coordinates | 49°55′N116°15′W / 49.917°N 116.250°W /49.917; -116.250 (Purcell Mountains) |
| Parent range | Columbia Mountains |
ThePurcell Mountains are amountain range in southeasternBritish Columbia, Canada.[3] They are a subrange of theColumbia Mountains, which includes theSelkirk,Monashee, andCariboo Mountains. They are located on the west side of theRocky Mountain Trench in the area of theColumbia Valley, and on the east side of the valley ofKootenay Lake and theDuncan River.[4][5] The only large settlements in the mountains are thePanorama Ski Resort andKicking Horse Resort, adjacent to the Columbia Valley towns ofInvermere andGolden, though there are small settlements, such asYahk andMoyie along theCrowsnest Highway, and residential rural areas dependent on the cities ofCreston,Kimberley andCranbrook, which are located adjacent to the range..
The Purcells are shown on someUnited States maps as thePercell Mountains, where their southern limit protrudes into the states ofIdaho andMontana, abuttingLake Koocanusa, a reservoir on theKootenai River.[6] American geographic classifications consider the Percells to be part of theRocky Mountains but in Canada that terminology is reserved for ranges on the east side of theRocky Mountain Trench. In the Purcell Mountains, most of the peaks are near or above 10,000 feet in elevation.
ThePurcell Supergroup rocks that make up the Purcells were formed in theProterozoic eon (in thePrecambrian period), which spans from 2,500 million years ago to about 540 million years ago.[citation needed]
The ten highest summits of the Purcells:[7]
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