British Columbia is blessed with national parks and wide-open spaces and Yoho National Park is another beautiful place to visit. Located in the Canadian Rockies, it offers exceptional hiking and biking. The name “Yoho” comes from a Cree word meaning “awe” or “wonder”, which is a fitting description.
Yoho National Park creates a Rocky Mountain triangle with Kootenay National Park to the south and Banff National Park to the East in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks. Read: The Rocky Mountaineer Experience – Vancouver to Banff
The top sights to see here are the natural bridge, an emerald lake, Wapta Falls, and Burgess Shale Fossil Site. The Burgess Shale, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located within Yoho National Park. It is a fossil deposit that contains some of the oldest and most well-preserved fossils of early animal life on Earth.
Yoho’s Waterfalls
The park is perhaps most famous for its plethora of waterfalls, including one of the highest in North America.
Burgess Shale
Fossil buffs will want to take a trip 500 million years back in time to the middle Cambrian period by scheduling a visit to one of Yoho’s ancient fossil beds.
Natural Bridge
Yoho’s natural wonders aren’t limited to waterfalls. This ancient rock formation spans the rushing waters of the Kicking Horse River.
Emerald Lake
This picturesque lake is a key focal point for visitors, with a partially wheelchair-accessible 5.2km hiking circuit, canoe rentals, a high-end lodge with multiple restaurants, and cross-country skiing in winter.
Lake O’Hara
Not to be outdone, Lake O’Hara is a stunning alpine lake which has limited access due to its delicate ecosystem. It’s home to a popular campground, a high-end lodge, and is a popular starting point for some of Yoho’s most famous hikes and alpine routes.
Yoho Valley
The wildlife that lives in Yoho National Park is an enduring national treasure that can give us a glimpse into what North America looked like hundreds of years ago. While you walk in this great landscape you are visiting the home of the Moose, Grizzly Bear, Elk, and Cougar, to name a few. These animals live free from the threat of hunting and human development. This is why wonderful animal spotting opportunities are available in the Canadian Rockies Park system.
Yoho’s Unique Flora
The barren mountain tops and cold glaciers of Yoho impart one with the notion of desolation, yet when the long winter is over, the plants here explode with an intense vibrancy.
In the spring you will find countless mushroom species on the moist forest floor far below moss covered treetops. The midsummer sun warms the exposed mountain slopes at higher elevations, triggering the emergence of a sea of wildflowers. Yoho National Park is indeed a land of intense contrasts.
Yoho’s Rugged Landscape
The most resilient of Yoho’s inhabitants make their home above the treeline, where thin air, strong winds, cold temperatures, intense UV radiation contribute to a short growing season that stunts the growth of plants and provides little shelter for animals. Plants have adapted to the stark conditions, growing low to the ground and conserving heat energy and water.
In spite of the harsh conditions, mountain goats, ptarmigans, adorable pikas, ground squirrels, marmots, and grizzly bears call the alpine home.
Alpine Zone
In the upper range of the forest zone you’ll find the subalpine, where thick fir and spruce forests flourish under heavy rainfall. Shade keeps the forest cool and moist so that lush undergrowth thrives. The forest thins at the top of the treeline, where the brief growing season ensures that groundcover in the subalpine meadows blooms simultaneously in a carpet of colourful splendour. These meadows make prime grizzly bear habitat, where a diet of flowers is plentiful and evidence of grizzly digs in search of marmot burrows may be found.
In spite of the harsh conditions, mountain goats, ptarmigans, adorable pikas, ground squirrels, marmots, and grizzly bears call the alpine home.
Subalpine Zone
In the upper range of the forest zone you’ll find the subalpine, where thick fir and spruce forests flourish under heavy rainfall. Shade keeps the forest cool and moist so that lush undergrowth thrives. The forest thins at the top of the treeline, where the brief growing season ensures that groundcover in the subalpine meadows blooms simultaneously in a carpet of colourful splendour. These meadows make prime grizzly bear habitat, where a diet of flowers is plentiful and evidence of grizzly digs in search of marmot burrows may be found.
Montane Zone
Yoho’s valley bottoms are home to the greatest diversity of plant and animal species. Unique ecosystems exist in areas of the montane zone where soil, sunlight, and moisture levels differ. Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, white spruce, and trembling aspen are most numerous, with a peppering of birch and poplar. Wet slopes may be covered with mosses, fungi, and wild berries, while drier areas of the montane zone are more likely to be populated by juniper, grasses.
Montane Marshland
Wildlife has a tendency to congregate around water, and Yoho’s Leanchoil Marsh is no exception. Slow moving waters, sedimentation, and flooding combine to create a nutrient-rich environment that is abundant with vegetation, which attracts the attention of some of the park’s larger animals, such as moose and elk. The water flow of the marsh is constantly being managed by the industrious beaver, who builds dams visible above water and a network of underwater trenches below. The great blue heron, red-winged blackbird, and belted kingfisher are among the birds dwelling in the wetland environment.