thumb|right|Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park

Yoho National Park ( ) is a national park of Canada. It is located within the Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered by Kootenay National Park to the south and Banff National Park to the east in Alberta. The park features a spectacular landscape of massive ice fields and mountain peaks, which rank among the highest in the Canadian Rockies.

Yoho covers an area of , the smallest of the region's four contiguous national parks, which also include Jasper, Kootenay, and Banff National Parks, as well as three British Columbia provincial parks—Hamber Provincial Park, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, and Mount Robson Provincial Park. Together, these parks form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. Yoho's administrative and visitor centre is in Field, British Columbia, beside the Trans-Canada Highway.

Etymology

The name "Yoho" comes from (also rendered ), an expression of surprise in the Cree language. In spite of the name's Cree origin, the Cree did not historically inhabit this region and it is not a name given by indigenous people, but was chosen in 1901 by Édouard-Gaston Deville, the Surveyor General of Canada. Before the establishment of the park, the Ktunaxa primarily used the area—specifically, Kicking Horse Pass—to cross the Rockies in order to access bison hunting grounds on the eastern side of the mountains.

The park was created following a trip by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his wife Agnes through the Rockies on the newly completed Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada's first transcontinental railroad. On October 10, 1886, two new national parks (then simply referred to as "reserves") were created, the second and third in Canada (Banff Reserve being the first). The new parks were Glacier Reserve, the predecessor to Glacier National Park of Canada, and Mount Stephen Reserve, the predecessor of Yoho National Park.

The area of the new reserve was in the area around Mount Stephen, and was considerably smaller than the later park. The centerpiece of the park was the Mount Stephen House in Field, British Columbia, a popular stopover on the newly constructed Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1896, German explorer and mountaineer Jean Habel led an expedition up the valley of the North Fork of the Wapta River (later renamed the Yoho River) and was awestruck by the sight of Takakkaw Falls and other natural wonders of the valley. Habel presented his findings to the Appalachian Mountain Club in 1898 and news about the beauty of the area spread rapidly. By 1901, the Canadian Pacific Railway was running magazine advertisements for the recently rechristened Yoho Valley, billing the area as "greater than Yosemite" and offering visitors day trips from Mount Stephen House into the valley, led by experienced Swiss mountain guides.

In 1902, the Canadian government decided to expand the area of the reserve to include the Yoho Valley, as well as rename the park for this feature, changing its name to Yoho Park. The expansion also included areas beyond Mount Stephen and the Yoho Valley, and grew the area of the park considerably, to , however, this area was reduced to in 1911 and further reduced to in 1922. With the passage of the National Park Act of 1930 that the park would get its current name, Yoho National Park, and also a boundary adjustment that adjusted the area of the park to its current size of .

In 1909, while fossil hunting in the park, Charles Doolittle Walcott discovered the Burgess Shale deposit, a deposit of geologically very old rocks that were rich in fossils. Paleontologists would find a fossil record in the Burgess Shale that would revolutionize the understanding of the evolution of complex multicellular organisms, particularly the early animal kingdom. This discovery would further raise the profile of the park and underscore its scientific value alongside its natural beauty.

The contiguous national parks of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, and Yoho, as well as the Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine, and Hamber provincial parks, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

Fauna

Common species of animals that roam in this park are the timber wolf, coyote, badger, moose, elk, mule deer, mountain goat, golden-mantled ground squirrel, rufous hummingbird, hoary marmot, wolverine, cougar, pika, lynx, grizzly bear, and black bear.

Climate

The weather in the park is localized and changeable. Located on the western side of the continental divide, it receives more precipitation than areas east of the divide.

  • Chancellor Peak
  • Mount Stephen is the tallest of the four mountains that surround the town of Field, British Columbia. A portion of the Burgess Shale fossils were discovered on Mount Stephen.
  • Cathedral Mountain
  • The President
  • Odaray Mountain
  • The Vice President
  • Wapta Mountain
  • Mount Field
  • Mount Burgess is a frequently climbed mountain. For 17 years, it was featured on the Canadian ten-dollar bill.
  • Paget Peak

Waterfalls

  • Takakkaw Falls have a total height of , The main drop of the waterfall has a height of .
  • Wapta Falls is the largest waterfall of the Kicking Horse River, at about high and wide. Its average flow can reach .

See also

  • List of lakes of Yoho National Park
  • List of national parks of Canada

References

  • A travel guide for Yoho National Park and the village of Field, BC
  • "Yoho National Park". The Canadian Encyclopedia