A high mountain pass on the Continental Divide, separating Banff National Park (Alberta) from Kootenay National Park (British Columbia). Vermilion Pass (~1,680 m) lies between Boom Mountain and Storm Mountain. East-slope precipitation drains to the Bow River and Atlantic; west-slope waters enter the Vermilion River and ultimately the Columbia and Pacific. Highway 93 (Banff–Windermere Highway) crosses the pass.

Indigenous and exploration history. The name refers to the red ochre (iron oxide) mineral springs; the Paint Pots; about 9 km southwest, used by Indigenous peoples for pigments and ceremony. Human activity in the region dates to 10,300+ years before present. Sir James Hector of the Palliser Expedition became the first non-Indigenous person to cross the pass in August 1858; his report identified it as a potential transport route. Hector named it for the reddish ochre clays on the BC side and recorded the water divide at the summit; the first stream he had seen flowing to the Pacific. He followed the Vermilion River to the Kootenay, then north to the Beaverfoot and Kicking Horse Pass. A 1920 agreement between BC and the federal government exchanged land for highway construction, enabling Kootenay National Park; the highway opened in 1923.

Fire ecology. The 1968 Vermilion Pass Fire; ignited by lightning near Marble Canyon; burned 6,500+ acres of subalpine forest and became a long-term study site for post-fire succession. Lodgepole Pine, adapted by serotiny (cones that open in fire heat), dominates regeneration; Fireweed colonizes the mineral soil. The Fireweed Trail (0.5–0.8 km loop) at the pass summit interprets this cycle. The 2003 Tokumm Creek Fire overlapped parts of the 1968 burn. The “Vermilion Guard” prescribed fire project creates a landscape fire break and restores Whitebark Pine habitat.

Stanley Glacier and fossils. The Stanley Glacier basin south of the pass exposes the Eldon Formation; part of the Burgess Shale complex; with Middle Cambrian fossils (trilobites, sponges, brachiopods, Stanleycaris hirpex). Parks Canada offers guided hikes to the fossil beds. Nearby landmarks include the Paint Pots and Marble Canyon.

The pass is a critical wildlife corridor for grizzly bears, elk, and mountain goats. Winter tires are mandatory on Highway 93 from November through March.