The
Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the
Idaho Panhandle, eastern
Washington, and southeastern
British Columbia. They begin at
Mica Peak near
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and extend approximately 320 km north (200 miles) from the border to
Kinbasket Lake, at the now-inundated location of the onetime fur company post
Boat Encampment. The range is bounded on its west, northeast and at its northern extremity by the
Columbia River, or the reservoir lakes now filling most of that river's course. From the Columbia's confluence with the
Beaver River, they are bounded on their east by the
Purcell Trench, which contains the Beaver River,
Duncan River,
Duncan Lake,
Kootenay Lake and the
Kootenay River. The Selkirks are distinct from, and geologically older than, the
Rocky Mountains. Together with the neighboring
Monashee and
Purcell Mountains, and sometimes including the
Cariboo Mountains to the northwest, the Selkirks are part of a larger grouping known as the
Columbia Mountains. A scenic highway loop, the
International Selkirk Loop, encircles the southern portions of the mountain range.