<P> The Pacific Coast Ranges, comprising the Pacific Coast Belt, parallel the North American Pacific Coast, and comprise several mountain systems . Along the British Columbia and Alaska coast, the mountains intermix with the sea in a complex maze of fjords, with thousands of islands . Off the Southern California coast the Channel Islands archipelago of the Santa Monica Mountains extends for 160 miles . </P> <P> In southern Alaska, the primary mountain ranges are the Alaska Range, Wrangell Mountains, Saint Elias Mountains, Kenai Mountains, Chugach Mountains, and Talkeetna Mountains . </P> <P> The Yukon Ranges comprise the mountains in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alaska and most of the Yukon, Canada . This range has an area of 140,820 square miles (364,710 km). </P> <P> The Coast Mountains run from the lower Fraser River and the Fraser Canyon northwestward, separating the Interior Plateau from the Pacific Ocean . Their coastal flank is characterized by an intense network of fjords and associated islands, very similar to the Norwegian coastline, while their inland side against the plateau they transition to the high plateau in dryland valleys notable for a series of large lakes similar to the alpine lakes of southern Switzerland, beginning in deep mountains and ending in flatland . They are subdivided in three main groupings, the Pacific Ranges between the Fraser and Bella Coola, the Kitimat Ranges from there northwards to the Nass River and the Boundary Ranges from there to their terminus in the Yukon Territory at Champagne Pass and Chilkat Pass northwest of Haines, Alaska . The Saint Elias Mountains lie to their west and northwest, while the Yukon Ranges and Yukon Basin lie to their north . On the inland side of the Boundary Ranges are the Tahltan and Tagish Highlands and also the Skeena Mountains, part of the Interior Mountains system, which also extend southwards on the inland side of the Kitimat Ranges . </P>

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