The Boreal Cordillera ecozone covers parts of northern British Columbia and southern Yukon. The dominant features are mountains and plateaus, separated by lowlands and valleys. Permanent ice and snow fields occur in the mountains along the western side of the ecozone. The Pacific Ocean moderates temperatures over most of the ecozone, but the climate is marked by long, cold winters and short, warm summers.
The Boreal Cordillera ecozone is 41.6% forested: trees grow in the lowlands and on the lower slopes of the mountains, becoming stunted as elevation increases. Above the treeline, only shrubs, moss, lichen and herbs are found, and many of the upper slopes are bare rock, snow and ice, with no vegetation at all.