Yoho National Park (Canada) – Location, Significance, Facts

Yoho National Park lies in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, on the western side of the Continental Divide.

Yoho National Park, Canada.

Country: Canada
Coordinates: 51.3953° N, 116.4870° W

Yoho National Park overview

Yoho National Park lies in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, on the western side of the Continental Divide. Administered by Parks Canada, it includes the Burgess Shale fossil site, Takakkaw Falls, and other major glacial landforms. Its place in Canada’s national parks system and in a transboundary World Heritage grouping reflects the park’s legal protection and scientific importance.

Yoho National Park coordinates

Yoho National Park is commonly mapped at approximately 51.3953° N, 116.4870° W, or 51.3953, -116.4870 in decimal degrees.

Degrees: 51.3953° N, 116.4870° W

Decimal: 51.3953, -116.4870

Where Yoho National Park is located

Yoho National Park sits on the western slope of the Continental Divide in the Canadian Rockies, within southeastern British Columbia. The park occupies the Kicking Horse River valley and surrounding high peaks west of Banff National Park, with the railway town of Field located at a valley gateway. Topographically, the park includes steep mountain ranges that rise from glacially carved valley floors to ridgelines along the divide, linking its drainage to the Pacific watershed on the western side.

Why Yoho National Park is important

The Burgess Shale fossil beds on Mount Stephen are central to Yoho National Park’s scientific significance. Their exceptionally detailed Cambrian soft-bodied fossils have shaped interpretations of early animal life. The surrounding landscape also records glacial processes in its lakes and prominent vertical drops, while the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Spiral Tunnels illustrate nineteenth-century engineering adapted to steep mountain terrain.

History of Yoho National Park

Ktunaxa and Secwépemc peoples have traditional associations with the valleys and passes now within Yoho National Park. In the nineteenth century, the Kicking Horse River corridor and adjacent slopes became important to railway construction across the mountains. The discovery of fossil beds on Mount Stephen later drew scientific attention and contributed to efforts to protect the area’s paleontological sites and landforms. The park subsequently gained formal heritage recognition and remains a focus of scientific research.

Natural features of Yoho National Park

Layered limestone, shale, and quartzite form much of Yoho National Park, with folded and thrust mountain fronts and Cambrian shale exposures that preserve rare fossils. Glacial features shape Yoho Valley and its narrower side valleys, including cirques, U-shaped profiles, moraines, and overdeepened basins such as Emerald Lake. The high-gradient Kicking Horse River follows a braided alpine course through steep canyons. Railway cuttings and the Spiral Tunnels remain visible where the mainline was routed through the mountainside to reduce grades.

Environment, protection, and monitoring of Yoho National Park

Yoho National Park is managed under Canada’s federal national parks framework by Parks Canada and contributes to a transboundary conservation unit recognized for its mountain ecosystems. Management priorities focus on protecting fossil localities, maintaining ecological connectivity with neighbouring parks, and monitoring long-term changes in glaciers, watersheds, and wildlife populations. Stewardship involves scientific monitoring programs, enforcement of site protections for geological resources, and collaborative arrangements with Indigenous communities and research institutions.

Yoho National Park facts

The Burgess Shale fossil beds on Mount Stephen within Yoho National Park preserve some of the best-known Cambrian soft-bodied fossils in the world.
The Kicking Horse River cuts a steep canyon through the park and was a defining corridor for nineteenth-century railway construction.
Local Indigenous groups, including Ktunaxa and Secwépemc peoples, have traditional associations with the valleys and passes inside the park.
The Spiral Tunnels are a notable railway engineering feature constructed to reduce grades by routing the mainline through helical rock tunnels.
Yoho National Park forms part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks grouping recognized for both geological and ecological values.

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