7 Best Sights in Yoho National Park, British Columbia

Built in 1953--54, Field's International-style train station is located next to the tracks and is one of the few remaining buildings from this once-major railway complex. While it's no longer in operation and you can't go inside, it's a great spot to sit a spell and watch for one of the trains that pass through here 25 to 30 times a day. It was added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 2006.

This picnic site is located right next to the brilliantly colored Faedar Lake. On a stroll along the pathway that goes around the lake, you will have stunning views of the surrounding mountain peaks, and in the summer months, you'll likely see wildflowers. Outhouse toilets are available. Note that the parking area is not suitable for large RVs or trailers and is accessible only by west-bound traffic.

Immediately adjacent to the Field Visitor Centre parking lot, this day-use area is a popular family-picnic spot in the summer months. On hot days, the small lake is perfect for a refreshing swim. The large parking lot is suitable for RVs, and there are accessible washrooms and a shop that sells T-shirts and other tourist merchandise inside the visitor center. 

On the confluence of where the Porcupine Creek joins the Kicking Horse River, with a wildly scenic backdrop of towering Rocky Mountain peaks, this is a perfect spot for a picnic. There are picnic tables and outhouse toilet facilities. It's accessible by westbound traffic only.

The Kicking Horse Pass is one of the steepest terrains in North America for a railway, which posed a real problem for the engineers who were tasked with punching a railway line through it. To solve the problem of numerous runaway trains and crashes, two circular tunnels were driven into the valley walls of Cathedral Mountain and Mt. Ogden to reduce the 4.4% grade to a safer and more normal 2.2%. The viewing platform at Lower Spiral Tunnel lookout is one of the best places to watch passing freight trains (25-30 trains pass through daily) going in and out of the tunnels, and there are several interpretive panels explaining the facts and history of building the railway through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. 

"Takakkaw" means wonderful in Cree, and when you see these falls---Canada's highest at 373 meters (1,224 feet)---there's no question how it got its name. Although an incredible marvel of nature even when viewed from the parking lot, the falls are best experienced at the viewing spot accessed via a short, easy walk, where the roar of the water becomes great and you can feel the water spray your face. On the trail, right before you cross the Yoho River footbridge, take time to sit in Parks Canada's signature red Adirondack chairs. 

This 4.6-km (3-mile) out-and-back trail has minimal elevation, making it a fun one for the whole family. The trail is a wide, heavily trafficked path through the forest, until you eventually reach the Wapta Falls ("wapta" means "river" in the Sioux language of the Stoney people). The falls are especially forceful and impressive in June and early July, when the run-off is still high. Easy.