Tucked inside the eastern border of BC with Alberta and 3.5hrs away from Calgary lies a heavily travelled but often passed through National Park called Yoho.
This national park lies on the route that the Number 1 Hwy (TransCanada) takes through the mountain passes on the way to the West Coast. Yoho is a beautiful park with majestic mountain ranges and many back country hikes and camping opportunities. This park is often passed by, by travelers on their way to the West Coast. Lorraine and I have passed this park many times on our way west and always said we must visit and camp here. Well finally that day has come and we had a wonderful weekend exploring this park and surrounding areas.
There are two campgrounds in the park both within close proximity to one another. We stayed at Kicking Horse campground which was just up the road from the Monarch campground and about 10km before Takkakaw falls. The access road to these campgrounds is approximately 5km before the hamlet of Field BC right off of the TransCanada Hwy. Access to the campground is well marked and easy to travel, with good roads and beautiful scenery to entice you into the area. The campgrounds share a communal dump that is single lane only. There is no potable or rinse water available. For potable water we filled up at the Lake Louise campground prior to traveling the rest of the distance to Kicking horse campground.
When you arrive at the campgrounds you will be met by a maned kiosk where you will check in and be read the campers riot act, never fear it is what we have all heard many times before. Kicking horse is a medium sized campground with 89 sites available. Monarch is smaller with only 44 sites there to choose from. At Kicking horse most of the sites are on hilly ground lending themselves to class B RV’s and tenter’s. For bigger RV’s there is an open field with 17 sites nestled into a loop offering pull through convenience. Not all sites have campfire rings, and currently there is no Bath house available with showers, though one is being built and should be open for the 2020 camping season.
The campground itself is a nice place to stop for a few days to explore the area, visit Takkakaw Falls, Burgess Shale, or just to take a rest break from the open road. Note: if you wish to visit the Burgess Shale fossil deposits you will need to reserve a spot on a guided tour. Reservations can be made online here: https://www.burgess-shale.bc.ca/reservations.
There are some nice hikes that can be accessed from the campground and also some historical sites that depict the railroad culture as the CPR was being built to the west coast of Canada during the 1800’s, and passed thorough this area.
The Campground itself got its name from a railroad surveyor who worked for the CPR. As the story goes he was bucked off and kicked by his horse as he surveyed the area looking for a pass through the mountains for the railroad to follow, and hence the name for the area, river, and campground came from this incident and forever will be known as Kicking horse.
Our first day we saw nothing but rain. It rained from the start of our trip to the end of our trip so setup was wet. The next day though the rain disappeared and a partly sunny sky awaited us as we traveled to Takkakaw falls to explore that area.
Takkakaw Falls is the biggest falls within the Canadian Rockies and Canada dropping an incredible 833 ft to the rocky bottom below. The Falls themselves are spectacular to view and the Takakkaw park area has a paved walkway all the way to the bottom of the falls. As you get close to the falls you can smell the water and feel the mist it sprays off in all directions.
The hike itself to the falls is very tame and easily accomplished by all levels of hikers. The park offers several other hikes to other falls in the area as well as to the walk in camping site to the north of the falls. The area lends itself nicely to having an afternoon picnic or lunch, while hiking the trails around the park, but be aware that this is a popular spot and parking is limited
Certainly there is no parking for large RV’s. Even smaller RV’s will have an issue driving to the falls as there is a very tight hairpin turn on the access road that even pickup trucks have issues navigating. So be aware and don’t get your RV stuck on this hair raising turn; take your toad!
After hiking around the Takkakaw area on your way back to the campground there are a couple of points of interest to stop at. One is the Spiral Tunnel viewing area. The spiral tunnel is a magnificent piece of engineering completed back in the early 1900’s that see’s the railroad tracks climbing through a mountain on a spiral track that has been carved out of the mountain. This was done to replace a significant downhill grade that the railroad first used to navigate the area. The second point of interest is the confluence of the Kicking horse and Yoho Rivers. It is pretty impressive to see these two fast running rivers come crashing into one another to form the kicking horse river system and canyon.
Once we came back from exploring Takkakaw falls and the surrounding area it was time to head in to Field BC to pick up our marriage license.
Now the hamlet of Field is a quaint little town that has been built around servicing the National park and the Railroad that goes right through the hamlet. Field has a few amenities including a visitor center, a trading post, gas station, postal office, community center and four restaurants. Also there are several B&B’s for weary travelers that don’t have an RV. Needless to say Field rolls up the roads early. By 6pm most areas are closed with the exception of the trading post and
gas station and the biggest restaurant the Truffle Pigs bistro and lodge. Our time in Field was pleasant as we waited for the marriage license magistrate to show up and issue us our license. As we walked around the little hamlet we noticed that the area was steeped in history and many of the houses in the area looked like they were historical monuments. Certainly I would expect that there is more activity in Field during the day then there is after 6pm, but regardless if you need a break from the road Field is a nice place to stop and take a breath of fresh air.
Overall our stay in Yoho National Park was exceptional! We had a fantastic time on our weekend adventure and both of us agreed that we had to come back to further explore, and take the guided tour of the Burgess Shale fossil deposits. We were unaware that you had to book your visit there. The trip is close to Calgary which makes it a perfect weekend destination, or it can be used as a stopover on a trip to the West Coast. Either way we highly recommend stopping here to explore the park in all its grandeur. The Kicking Horse Campground is not the best especially if you drive a big rig, but you are not here for the campground but instead for the attractions the park offers and a chance to visit the Hamlet of Field. Lorraine and I both give this trip 3.5 stars.
Nuts & Bolts
This trip is an easy 3.5 hour drive from Calgary through the foothills of the Rockies and the mountains of Banff National Park to the BC / Alberta border. Then it is a quick trip into Yoho National Park as you drive along the TransCanada Hwy until you find the turn off to Kicking Horse and Monarch campgrounds. The camping grounds are rustic camping with no potable or rinse water available at the local dump. The campgrounds themselves do have potable Water just not out of a tap that an RV can hook up to so it is best to get your potable water in Lake Louise before traveling the last 45min to the campground. The campgrounds themselves are big rig friendly with nice paved roads or well-maintained gravel. There are bath houses with flush toilets at Kicking Horse and pit toilets at Monarch. A Shower house is currently being built at Kicking Horse and should be open for the 2020 camping season. Cell service is available in the campgrounds with service ranging from two to three bars. Cell service can be found throughout the Kicking horse valley but in spots it drops to nothing. There are two Main attractions for the area and they are the Takkakaw Falls and the Burgess Shale fossil deposits, of course the hamlet of Field is also close by. If you plan on visiting the Burgess shale deposits you will have to book a spot on the guided tours (see the link above). Overall Yoho is a wonderful place to stop and refresh yourself with the crisp mountain air, beautiful mountain scenery, and of course the raw power of the Kicking horse and Yoho Rivers.
Happy Trails
The Glampurs