Yoho National Park

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use Canadian English Template:Infobox protected area

Yoho National Park (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell)<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite AV mediaTemplate:Cbignore</ref> is a national park of Canada. It is located within the Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered by Kootenay National Park to the south and Banff National Park to the east in Alberta. The park features a spectacular landscape of massive ice fields and mountain peaks, which rank among the highest in the Canadian Rockies.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref>

Yoho covers an area of Template:Convert, the smallest of the region's four contiguous national parks, which also include Jasper, Kootenay, and Banff National Parks, as well as three British Columbia provincial parks—Hamber Provincial Park, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, and Mount Robson Provincial Park. Together, these parks form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. Yoho's administrative and visitor centre is in Field, British Columbia, beside the Trans-Canada Highway.

Etymology

The name "Yoho" comes from yo-ho! (also rendered yôhô!), an expression of surprise in the Cree language.<ref name=":4" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In spite of the name's Cree origin, the Cree did not historically inhabit this region and it is not actually an indigenous name, but was chosen in 1901 by Édouard-Gaston Deville, the then Surveyor General of Canada.<ref name=":3" />

History

Yoho National Park is in the traditional territories of the Secwepemc and Ktunaxa First Nations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Before the establishment of the park, the Ktunaxa primarily used the area—specifically, Kicking Horse Pass—to cross the Rockies in order to access bison hunting grounds on the eastern side of the mountains.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The park was created following a trip by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his wife Agnes through the Rockies on the newly completed Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada's first transcontinental.Template:Citation needed On October 10, 1886, two new national parks (then simply referred to as "reserves") were created, the second and third in Canada (Banff Reserve being the first). The new parks were Glacier Reserve, the predecessor to Glacier National Park of Canada, and Mount Stephen Reserve, the predecessor of Yoho National Park.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book pp. 27-28.</ref>

The area of the new reserve was Template:Convert in the area around Mount Stephen, and was considerably smaller than the later park. The centerpiece of the park was the Mount Stephen House in Field, British Columbia, a popular stopover on the newly constructed Canadian Pacific Railway.<ref name=":0" />

At this time, many of the mountain areas beyond the Canadian Pacific corridor were completely unexplored by non-native peoples, Emerald Lake having only been discovered by non-natives in 1882.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1896, German explorer and mountaineer Jean Habel would lead an expedition up the valley of the North Fork of the Wapta River (later renamed the Yoho River) and was awestruck by the sight of Takakkaw Falls and other natural wonders of the valley. Habel presented his findings to the Appalachian Mountain Club in 1898<ref name=":3" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and news about the beauty of the area spread rapidly. By 1901, the Canadian Pacific Railway was running magazine advertisements for the recently rechristened Yoho Valley, billing the area as "greater than Yosemite" and offering visitors day trips from Mount Stephen House into the valley, led by experienced Swiss mountain guides.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 1902, the Canadian government decided to expand the area of the reserve to include the Yoho Valley, as well as rename the park for this feature, changing its name to Yoho Park.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite book pp. 38-42.</ref> The expansion also included areas beyond Mount Stephen and the Yoho Valley, and grew the area of the park considerably, to Template:Convert, however, this area was reduced to Template:Convert in 1911 and further reduced to Template:Convert in 1922. With the passage of the National Park Act of 1930 that the park would get its current name, Yoho National Park, and also a boundary adjustment that adjusted the area of the park to its current size of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1909, while fossil hunting in the park, Charles Doolittle Walcott discovered the Burgess Shale deposit, a deposit of geologically very old rocks that were rich in fossils. Paleontologists would find a fossil record in the Burgess Shale that would revolutionize the understanding of the evolution of complex multicellular organisms, particularly the early animal kingdom. This discovery would further raise the profile of the park and underscore its scientific value alongside its natural beauty.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name= "PCweather">Template:Cite web</ref> Located on the western side of the continental divide, it receives more precipitation than areas east of the divide.<ref name=PCweather/> Precipitation in the park increases with elevation.<ref name=PCweather/> In winter, average temperatures are between Template:Convert from the months November to April although temperatures can range between Template:Convert.<ref name=PCweather/> The coldest weather usually occurs in the months December to February.<ref name=PCweather/> In summer, mean temperatures average Template:Convert with an average high of Template:Convert and an average low of Template:Convert.<ref name=PCweather/> Snowfall and freezing temperatures can occur during the summertime at altitudes above Template:Convert.<ref name=PCweather/>

Geology

Chancellor Peak and Kicking Horse River
Emerald Lake
Lake McArthur, 1924 painting by J. E. H. MacDonald

File:YohoNationalpark-NaturalBridge.ogv The Canadian Rockies consist of sedimentary rock, with numerous fossil deposits. In particular, the Burgess Shale, 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. Mount Stephen has long been well known for its trilobite deposits, the discovery of which predates the Burgess Shale.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

In the southeastern corner of the park is an igneous intrusion known as the Ice River Complex containing deposits of sodalite, an ornamental stone.

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 Template:Cvt west of Field, accessible from the road to Emerald Lake.

Mountains

Waterfalls

See also

Template:Portal Template:Commons category

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Wikivoyage

Template:National parks of Canada Template:Canadian Rockies Template:World Heritage Sites in Canada Template:British Columbia parks Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Yoho_National_Park&oldid=145613"