Yoho National Park is a protected area in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It borders Banff National Park and the province of Alberta to the east, and Kootenay National Park to the south. Yoho National Park covers 324,400 acres (131,300 hectares) in the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Divide, an imaginary line that separates streams that flow into the Pacific Ocean from those that flow into the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Arctic Ocean (see Great Divide ). The park has turquoise lakes, scenic waterfalls, steep rock faces, and snowy mountain peaks. The name Yoho comes from a native Cree word that expresses awe.
Evergreen forests, open meadows, and bare, rocky stretches cover the mountainous landscape of Yoho National Park. The region has long, snowy winters and cool, short summers. High elevations within the park receive more than 49 inches (125 centimeters) of precipitation each year. Bears, cougars, coyotes, deer, eagles, elk, moose, mountain goats, and wolves are some of the animals that live in the park. 
Visitors to Yoho take part in such activities as camping, canoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain climbing, and sightseeing. Notable features of the park include Takakkaw Falls and the Burgess Shale fossil site. At 833 feet (254 meters), Takakkaw Falls is Canada’s third highest waterfall. Burgess Shale contains marine fossils that are more than 500 million years old. The western side of the park features a number of hoodoos—tall stone columns topped by boulders—that were formed by flowing water over thousands of years. Flowing water also formed a natural rock bridge across the Kicking Horse River. 
The government of Canada established Yoho National Park in 1886. In 1984, the park became part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) considers such sites to be areas of unique natural or cultural importance (see World Heritage List ).
See also Takakkaw Falls .
