Unearth a hidden treasure right next to Banff National Park with this self-guided driving tour of Yoho National Park! Discover the secluded beauty of Sherbrooke Lake and Emerald Lake. Witness a natural bridge carved by a patient river. Visit The Spiral Tunnel Viewpoint to see how engineering tamed this harsh alpine landscape. Learn about the incredible fossilized history of Yoho. Marvel at Takakkaw Falls, one of Canada’s tallest waterfalls. And so much more!
Purchase one tour per car, not per person. Everyone listens together!
After booking, you can check your email before downloading the Tour Guide App by Action, enter your unique password, and access your tour. The preceding steps require good internet/wifi access. Simply follow the audio instructions and the route from there.
New, extra validity — now, it’s yours for an entire year! Use multiple times over multiple trips!
This isn’t an entrance ticket. Check opening hours before your visit.
CRHF+Q24, CRHF+Q24, Lake Louise, AB, Canada
After booking the tour, search your email for the phrase "Set up your self-guided tour now." Follow these instructions NOW to finish setting up the tour while you have Wi-Fi/data. Do NOT wait until you are onsite.
Emerald Lake Road, Emerald Lake Rd, Field, BC V0A 1G0, Canada
Yoho is one of Canada’s smaller national parks, but it’s certainly not “small” by any other metric. Coming in at over 500 square miles, this sprawling wilderness is packed with incredible scenery and wildlife. Note: This 41+ mile-long tour covers the essentials of Yoho National Park in 2-3 hours.
Duration: 10 minutes
Right now, we’re driving through Kicking Horse Pass. Long ago, the Kootenay people used this very pass to cross over these mountains on their way to Banff. But how did it end up with the name “Kicking Horse”?
Duration: 10 minutes
Coming up in a moment will be a hiking trail to another lake, Sherbrooke Lake. This secluded lake rarely gets crowded and it tucked at the base of two mountains, making for some incredible views! The trail to get there is six miles long and takes at least two hours to complete, but it’s worth it if you’re seeking some solitude!
Duration: 10 minutes
Off to our left is Wapta Lake. “Wapta” is a Nakoda word for “river.” Cataract Brook and Blue Creek feed Wapta Lake, and those streams are in turn fed by melting glaciers. Wapta Lake is also the source of the Kicking Horse River where James Hector and his pack horse got stuck all those years ago!
Duration: 10 minutes
Coming up is the Spiral Tunnel Viewpoint. In the 1880s, Canadian Prime Minister John MacDonald and the Canadian Pacific Railway company had to solve some thorny problems when it came to the Rocky Mountains and the promise of a transcontinental railway. First off, how do you get a steam-powered train with around 20 cars up and over mountains that are 10,000 feet tall? MacDonald promised his people it would happen. So the Railway company had to figure it out.
Duration: 10 minutes
Up ahead, we have the option to take a detour to Takakkaw Falls. The road is only open from July through September. The detour takes about 15 minutes each way, but it’s well worth the trip. Takakkaw Falls towers at a staggering 1,200 feet, and visitors can get surprisingly close to this deluge!
Duration: 10 minutes
After we round the next bend, we’ll see the top of Wapta Mountain. This peak clocks in at 9,114 feet. Clergyman James Outram and his friend J.H. Scattergood climbed Wapta with a Swiss guide for the first time in 1901. Most mountains around here have European names, but this one actually has a First Nations name. Do you remember what “wapta” means in the Nakoda language?
Duration: 10 minutes
Towering off to our right is Mount Field, home to one of the most important paleontological finds in Canada. It’s the Burgess Shale, a huge swath of sedimentary shale loaded with fossils!
Duration: 10 minutes
A fascinating overlook is coming up in just a moment. Here, we’ll see a natural bridge of rock spanning the width of the Kicking Horse River. How did this Natural Bridge form? The answer lies with the Kicking Horse River. It flowed on flatter ground near the town of Field, slow and lazy. But right around here, the river starts a downhill journey to join with the Amiskwi River. Gravity makes it flow faster and a little rougher.
Duration: 10 minutes
Just ahead is our final destination on this tour: Emerald Lake! And we’ll finish with someone we started the tour with: Tom Wilson. Wilson has the distinction of being the first European settler to lay eyes on this gorgeous glacial lake. He even named it! And this time, historians are pretty sure he isn’t lying about the discovery.
Duration: 10 minutes
Gift recipient will get a Voucher which can be redeemed for any experience from WOWnGO catalogue
Sign up and save 10% off today!