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Elizabeth Parker Hut in Yoho National Park

Lodging · Yoho National Park

Elizabeth Parker Hut

A bookable hut base for Lake O’Hara’s alpine trails.

Type
Lodging
Nearest trail
Right here
  • Restrooms
DirectionsMap
Parkwolf audio tour35 stories across Yoho’s roads

Overview

About Elizabeth Parker Hut

Why stop

  • A hut stay puts you close to Lake O’Hara’s alpine trail network.

Heads up

  • Shared sleeping space limits privacy.

Map

Where it is

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LodgingElizabeth Parker Hut51.35545, -116.34432
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Plan your stop

Before you go

Getting there takes planning

During the bus season, overnight guests can arrange a Parks Canada shuttle seat with their hut booking. From the Le Relais drop, it is about a 10-minute, half-kilometre walk with 30 metres of climbing. When the bus is not operating, the approach from the parking lot is 12 kilometres up the access road. The winter ski or snowshoe approach typically takes four to five hours and gains about 400 metres; bikes are not allowed on the road. Summer stays are in high demand, so start planning early.

5 active Yoho alerts

  • ClosureYoho Valley Road closed for avalanche seasonYoho Valley Road is closed to vehicles from mid-October to mid-June because of avalanche risk. - Parks Canada’s current trail report lists no vehicle access to trails in the Yoho Valley.Official details
  • CautionWatercraft and angling prohibited in YohoWatercraft use and angling are prohibited on all waterbodies in Yoho National Park until March 31, 2027, to reduce the spread of aquatic invasive species, including whirling disease.Official details
See all 5 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Yoho Tour Guide

Your drive to Elizabeth Parker Hut, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yoho National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

See the Yoho audio tour

More stories near here in the app

  • Lower Spiral Tunnel: Climbing Inside the Mountain
  • A Predator With a Softer Menu
  • The Bird That Plants Pines
  • Sherbrooke Lake and Paget Lookout: Choose Your Climb
  • 35 audio storiesacross Yoho’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Mountain Goat, Black Bear, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 54 trails, 58 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
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Guide

More about Elizabeth Parker Hut

A booked hut stayElizabeth Parker Hut is a rustic Alpine Club of Canada backcountry hut in a meadow about 500…

Elizabeth Parker Hut is a rustic Alpine Club of Canada backcountry hut in a meadow about 500 metres from Lake O’Hara. It is an overnight base for the area’s summer hikes and winter ski touring, not a public drop-in shelter: every stay needs a reservation. Expect shared sleeping and cooking spaces rather than a private room.

A shared, self-catered nightSleeping quarters are close, and the kitchen is communal.

Sleeping quarters are close, and the kitchen is communal. Guests report mattresses and cooking equipment; plan to bring your own food for this self-catered stay. There is an outhouse at the hut.

A name from Canadian mountaineeringThe hut is named for Winnipeg Free Press journalist Elizabeth Parker, whose writing and…

The hut is named for Winnipeg Free Press journalist Elizabeth Parker, whose writing and advocacy helped bring a distinctly Canadian alpine club into being. The Alpine Club of Canada formed in Winnipeg in 1906, with Parker among its six original honorary members. The Canadian Pacific Railway built the present hut in 1919, and the club began operating it in 1931; it became a Federal Heritage Building in 1997.

Take in the meadowThe hut sits in an alpine meadow with the surrounding mountains rising above the trees.

The hut sits in an alpine meadow with the surrounding mountains rising above the trees. Step back far enough to frame the low log building against the peaks; a close view shows its log construction, while a wider one explains why it was built here.

alpinebackcountryhikinghistorichutskiing

Wildlife

Wildlife in Yoho

All Yoho wildlife maps
Grizzly Bear21 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapMountain Goat55 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapBlack Bear61 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapElk66 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapMoose26 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapBald Eagle10 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yoho. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Elizabeth Parker Hut

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ModerateLinda Lake Circuit and Morning Glory Lakes8.6 km · 4.3 hr · At the trailheadA steep climb earns a full lap around a turquoise alpine lake.ModerateLower Morning Glory Lakes Trail5.5 km · 2.5 hr · At the trailheadRocky paths lead from a hut meadow past small alpine lakes.ModerateOpabin Plateau Circuit6.7 km · 2.8 hr · 0.2 km awayA steep climb opens onto alpine lakes beneath a glacier.ModerateOpabin Prospect via West Opabin Trail5.5 km · 2.5 hr · 0.2 km awayA steep climb to a cliff-edge view over Lake O’Hara.ModerateLake McArthur Circuit8 km · 3.5 hr · 0.4 km awayA proper alpine loop to a bright lake ringed by steep peaks.ChallengingLake O’Hara Alpine Circuit11.1 km · 6 hr · 0.4 km awayExposed ledges, high lakes, and a full circuit above Lake O’Hara.ModerateBig Larches and Schäffer Lake Loop3.2 km · 1.8 hr · 0.4 km awayA short alpine loop through larches to a clear mountain lake.ModerateLake Oesa Trail6.4 km · 2.5 hr · 0.4 km awayStone steps, copper cliffs and a turquoise lake in its rock basin.

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.4 km awayLake O’HaraAlpine lake and hanging valleys, with a trail network to match.Food · 0.4 km awayLe Relais Day ShelterA warm trail stop for advice, hot drinks and carrot cake.Lodging · 0.5 km awayLake O’Hara LodgeA historic lakeshore base at the head of an alpine trail network.Campground · 0.7 km awayLake O’Hara CampgroundA 30-site backcountry base for Lake O’Hara hikes.Sight · 1.3 km awayOpabin ProspectA short spur opens onto the cliffs above Lake O’Hara.Sight · 1.4 km awaySeven Veils FallsA waterfall beneath pink quartzite earns a stop on the lakeshore loop.Sight · 2.5 km awayLake McArthurA blue alpine lake reached through larch forest and over a pass.Sight · 2.7 km awayLinda LakeA steep climb leads to a lake above Morning Glory Lakes.

Parkwolf’s Yoho ranking

Top sights in Yoho

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  1. 1Emerald LakeSight
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  3. 3Natural BridgeSight
  4. 4Lake O’HaraSight
  5. 5Lower Spiral Tunnel ViewpointSight
  6. 6Wapta FallsSight

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