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Yoho National Park Travel Guide
- petermorley200
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 28 minutes ago
We visited Yoho National Park in mid September 2025 during a 3 week road trip from Vancouver to Banff and Jasper (see my blog Vancouver to Canadian Rockies Road Trip).
We stayed for 4 nights in Field which is the only town in the Yoho National Park. During our stay we also visited Lake Louise and Moraine Lake as they are so close by.
The main sights in Yoho National Park could be visited in one full day. A 2 or 3 day visit would be more appropriate if you like hiking. The Iceline Trail starts at Takakkaw Falls and is a fantastic hike. If you are lucky enough to obtain a shuttle ticket to Lake O'Hara the Alpine Circuit is another great hike.
Contents
1. Emerald Lake
Emerald Lake is the highlight of Yoho National Park and it's popular as a result. It's reached by turning off the Trans Canada Highway onto Emerald Lake Road. This road is open all year but Emerald Lake can be covered with ice up to early June.
The car park at Emerald Lake isn't large and was full when we arrived just before 10.00 a.m. in mid September. There were still plenty of parking spaces along the road though.
There was a queue of people waiting for the canoe rental office to open at 10.00. Canoe rentals cost $100 an hour which is cheap compared to the $160 an hour charged at Moraine Lake!
We did the 5 kilometre scenic walk around Emerald Lake. Most people walk clockwise as the trail on the west side of the Emerald Lake is maintained. We went anti clockwise and the trail on the eastern side initially runs through Emerald Lake Lodge.
The trail on the east side of Emerald Lake can be muddy in places but in September it was fine. Some board walks were being constructed along the worst sections. The trail on the east side of the lake goes through forest but there were plenty of views of great views of Emerald Lake and the surrounding mountains.
The mid point of the circular walk around Emerald Lake is at the northern end. Emerald Lake is very open here and there are beautiful views and some benches to rest on.
2. Natural Bridge
Natural Bridge is at the start of Emerald Lake Road and most people visit it when going to Emerald Lake. The car park isn't that large but spaces soon open up as visitors don't spend much time at Natural Bridge.
There is a concrete bridge over the Kicking Horse River which provides the best view of the Natural Bridge over the river. The Natural Bridge was formed by the river eroding the softer rock below a layer of hard limestone.
I didn't think the Natural Bridge was impressive but the river and scenery is very nice. It's worth a quick stop when driving to Emerald Lake.
3. Takakkaw Falls
Takakkaw Falls is reached by driving along Yoho Valley Road. There are a couple of tight hair pin bends along this road. They aren't a problem for cars but vehicles over 7 metres long must reverse down one section!
Shortly after turning onto the Yoho Valley Road there is a viewpoint of the Upper Spiral Tunnel (see section 4 ) and parking for the Meeting of the Waters Confluence. The confluence is where the Yoho and Kicking Horse rivers meet but there is little to see and it isn't worth stopping.
There's a large car park at Takakkaw Falls and there was plenty of space when we visited in mid September. It's a 10 minute walk from the car park to the base of the spectacular waterfalls. The Takakkaw Falls are 373 metres high and they are the second highest waterfalls in Canada.
The Takakkaw Falls car park is the trailhead for the Iceline Trail which is one of the best hikes in Yoho National Park. The hike can either be done as a 20 kilometre circular hike or a 14 kilometre there and back hike. The hike up and down is through forest but the middle section of the hike is through spectacular alpine scenery.
4. Upper Spiral Tunnel
Shortly after turning onto the Yoho Valley Road there is a viewpoint of the Upper Spiral Tunnel. We were fortunate to see a long CP Rail freight train passing through the spiral tunnel and we saw both ends of the train on either side of the tunnel.
It's a distant view of the tunnel and as the trains are infrequent you have to be fortunate to see one. I was particularly pleased to see it as I had worked for Canadian Pacific. If you aren't a train enthusiast it probably isn't worth stopping.
5. Lower Spiral Tunnel Viewpoint
The Lower Spiral Tunnel viewpoint is just off Highway 1 between Lake Louise and Field. There's a large car park and many interesting information boards.
We stopped 4 times but never saw a train passing through the tunnel. Unfortunately trees around the tunnel block most of the view of the trains. It's worth stopping at the viewpoint for the interesting information boards.
6. Wapta Falls
Wapta Falls is on the western boundary of Yoho National Park and is a 40 minute drive from Field. Wapta Falls isn't signposted when driving westwards on the Trans Canada highway which might be because the turn off is on the other side of the highway.
We were driving westwards and went sailing past the turn off. I had entered "Wapta Falls" in Google Maps and it took us to Wapta Falls Campsite rather than Wapta Falls!
Wapta Falls campsite is several kilometres past the correct turnoff from the Trans Canada highway and then along several kilometres of dirt road. The Wapta Falls car park is on the other side of the river and there isn't a trail from the campsite to Wapta Falls.
You have to enter "Wapta Falls Main Trail" in Google maps to take the correct route. We wasted at least 30 minutes driving to the campsite. Many visitors driving westwards make this mistake.
There is a good road to Wapta Falls car park and in mid September there were parking spaces available. In peak season parking can be difficult. From the car park it's a 2.2 kilometre hike through the forest to Wapta Falls. There aren't any views until you reach Wapta Falls.
There are 3 viewpoints above the spectacular Wapta Falls and it's worth continuing to the last one. The third viewpoint involves a bit of descent but it isn't difficult.
Some people hike all the way down to the river and then right up to Wapta Falls. If you do this it's advisable to wear a waterproof as the spray near the falls is tremendous.
7. Lake O'Hara
Lake O'Hara can only be accessed by a Parks Canada shuttle bus. The shuttle tickets are very hard to obtain as Parks Canada only allows 3,000 day use visitors at Lake O'Hara every year. Lake O'Hara can be visited from mid June to early October.
You can try to obtain shuttle tickets by entering the random draw in March. Each application for the Lake O'Hara's random draw costs $10 and up to 6 different times/dates can be entered on an application. I completed 2 application forms but wasn't successful.
It's possible to go to the Lake O'Hara parking lot on the day to see if there is space on the next shuttle due to no shows. There would be a very limited number of spaces on the shuttle, if any, and you would need to be one of the first there.
It's only worth the hassle of obtaining shuttle tickets to Lake O'Hara if you intend to do a hike. The Lake O'Hara Alpine circuit is a fantastic hike that takes around 6 hours. It starts with a demanding 500 metre ascent.
8. When to Visit Yoho National Park
The main season for visiting Yoho National Park is from April to October. Our recent visit was in mid September and many years ago we visited in late April. We had excellent weather both times.
April and May are offseason for summer activities. There will still be snow on many hiking trails and ice on Emerald Lake. The access road to Takakkaw Falls is closed from mid October to mid June.
June isn't a good month to visit as usually it's the wettest month of the year. Emerald Lake may still be covered with ice in early June and it wouldn't be as special without the reflections and colour of the water.
July and August are the busiest and most expensive months. I would therefore avoid those months if possible. The weather should be good but there is a high risk of forest fires and the smoke can obscure views.
September is a popular month but is not as busy as July and August. The weather is usually good although it will be getting cooler in late September. There can be snow at higher altitude when hiking in late September. There could still be a problem with smoke from forest fires for most of the month.
A big attraction towards the end of September is the golden larch trees, particularly around Lake O'Hara. Unfortunately this also brings more local visitors into Yoho National park.
October is offseason and the first half of October could be a reasonable time to visit if you don't mind cooler, and shorter, days. Winter tyres are a legal requirement from 1st October to 31st March.
9. Where to Stay
Field is the only town in Yoho National Park. Field is a small town and only has one hotel which is the Truffle Pigs Restaurant & Lodge. There are also several guest houses in Field. We stayed at the Truffle Pigs Lodge and had a good room with 2 queen beds for $315 a night.
The Truffle Pigs Lodge is near the railway and there is noise from both stationary and moving trains. As there isn't air conditioning we had to have the window open. The noise didn't bother us but it could disturb light sleepers.
Staying in Banff is a possible alternative as it's a one hour drive east from Yoho National Park. However, accommodation in Banff is pricey.
Golden would be a better alternative to Banff as the accommodation is cheaper and closer to Yoho National Park. Golden is 45 minute drive to the centre of Yoho National Park and has several hotels. Some of these hotels belong to international chains.
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