Sulphur Mountain looming over Vermilion Lakes in foreground and the Town of Banff’s Middle Springs and Cave Avenue communities hidden by trees in mid-ground. The 1888 image shows the burn areas of recurrent Bow Valley fires.
The hotsprings on Sulphur Mountain led to establishment of Banff National Park and the tourist town, and a bustling tourist industry. But the steep slopes of mountain itself, lying directly upwind of the town has long been recognized as an existential threat to the community. Today, with most its slopes cloaked in a deep layer of aging forest fuels “Banff’s community volcano” remains an extreme challenge to Parks Canada and Town of Banff vegetation managers.