Yoho National Park


Yoho National Park is a national park of Canada in British Columbia. It is located within the Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia. The word Yoho is a Cree expression of amazement or awe, and it is an apt description for the spectacular landscape of massive ice fields and mountain peaks that rank among the highest in the Canadian Rockies. Yoho NP is bordered by Kootenay National Park on the southern side and Banff National Park on the eastern side in Alberta.
Yoho covers, and it is the smallest of the four contiguous national parks. Yoho, together with Jasper, Kootenay and Banff National Parks, along with three British Columbia provincial parks—Hamber Provincial Park, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, and Mount Robson Provincial Park—form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. The park's administrative and visitor centre are located in Field, British Columbia, beside the Trans-Canada Highway.

History

The park was created following a trip by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his wife Agnes through the Rockies on the newly completed Transcontinental Railway. Inspired on his return to Ottawa, Yoho National Park was created on October 10, 1886. Glacier National Park was created on the same day, becoming the second and third national parks in the country, after Banff.
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. Being located on the western side of the continental divide, it receives more precipitation than areas east of the divide. Precipitation in the park increases with elevation. In winter, average temperatures are between from the months November to April although temperatures can range between. The coldest weather usually occurs in the months December to February. In summer, mean temperatures average with an average high of and an average low of. Snowfall and freezing temperatures can occur during the summertime at altitudes above.

Geology

The Kicking Horse River, a Canadian Heritage river, originates in the Wapta and Waputik icefields in the park. This river has created a natural bridge through solid rock. This formation is located west of Field, accessible from the road to Emerald Lake.
The Canadian Rockies consist of sedimentary rock, with numerous fossil deposits. In particular, the Burgess Shale, located in Yoho National Park, has among the world's richest deposits of rare fossils. The Burgess Shale was discovered in 1909 by Charles Doolittle Walcott. In the southeastern corner of the park is an igneous intrusion known as the Ice River Complex containing deposits of sodalite, an ornamental stone.

Mountains