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Kicking Horse Campground in Yoho National Park

Campground · Yoho National Park

Kicking Horse Campground

A forested river camp with easy access to Yoho's headline sights.

Type
Campground
Nearest trail
0.1 km
Audio stories
7 nearby
  • Restrooms
  • Parking
  • Picnic tables
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Kicking Horse and Monarch: Camping by the River

Overview

About Kicking Horse Campground

Why stop

  • A useful base for Yoho Valley Road, Field and nearby park highlights.

Heads up

  • Train and highway noise can carry into the night.

Map

Where it is

Loading the Yoho map
Full map
CampgroundKicking Horse Campground51.42308, -116.43542
Keep this map with you offline in the Parkwolf app

Plan your stop

Before you go

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 Kicking Horse Campground, 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

Recorded for this place

Kicking Horse and Monarch: Camping by the River
0:00 / 0:34
“You're nearing the entrance to Yoho Valley Road, with access to Kicking Horse and Monarch campgrounds.”

Plays as you drive up to Kicking Horse Campground in the Parkwolf Yoho Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • The Bird That Plants Pines
  • Upper Spiral Tunnel: A Swiss Idea in the Rockies
  • Meeting of the Waters: Two Currents Joining
  • Lower Spiral Tunnel: Climbing Inside the Mountain
  • 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
★★★★★
“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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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Kicking Horse Campground

A handy base for YohoKicking Horse is an 88-site, unserviced campground at the base of Yoho Valley Road, in forest…

Kicking Horse is an 88-site, unserviced campground at the base of Yoho Valley Road, in forest beside the Kicking Horse River and beneath Cathedral Mountain. It is a practical base for the Yoho Valley, Field and nearby park stops. Plan for possible nighttime train and highway noise; site spacing varies.

What a night here is likeThe campground has flush toilets, hot and cold running water, showers and drinking water.

The campground has flush toilets, hot and cold running water, showers and drinking water. Most sites have a fire pit with a cooking grill, and firewood is provided. There are no hookups, cell coverage is limited and Wi-Fi is unavailable. The sani-dump is seasonal.

Check the site detailsSites suit tents and RVs or trailers up to 50 feet, though some loops do not suit rigs over 25…

Sites suit tents and RVs or trailers up to 50 feet, though some loops do not suit rigs over 25 feet. Each site allows up to six people, one vehicle and one RV or trailer; vehicles must fit in the driveway, and tents go on the gravel area. The campground is seasonal and all sites are reservable, so check current dates and availability before planning around it. Pets must be leashed and not left unattended.

Spend time around campShort trails lead from the campground, and free evening interpretive programs are held at the…

Short trails lead from the campground, and free evening interpretive programs are held at the campground theatre. The location also makes it easy to reach the Spiral Tunnels National Historic Site and Takakkaw Falls.

campgroundcampingriversideshowersmountainstrails

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 Kicking Horse Campground

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

EasyCentennial Trail2 km · 45 min · 0.1 km awayA shaded river walk with wildflowers and mountain views.ChallengingSouth Burgess Pass Trail12.7 km · 6.5 hr · 3.9 km awayA steep climb from Field to a high pass above town.ChallengingMount Stephen Guided Fossil Hike8 km · 7.5 hr · 4.8 km awayA steep guided climb to Yoho’s restricted trilobite beds.ModeratePaget Lookout Trail7 km · 3 hr · 5.8 km awayA steep climb to an old lookout above three valleys.ModerateSherbrooke Lake Trail8.6 km · 3 hr · 5.8 km awayA wooded climb opens onto a turquoise lake beneath three peaksChallengingNiles Meadow Trail19.8 km · 7.8 hr · 6.2 km awayA long, rough climb ends in an open meadow below Mount Niles.ModerateRoss Lake Trail6.4 km · 2 hr · 6.4 km awayA forested out-and-back to a lake below Narao PeakModerateDuchesnay Basin Trail4.4 km · 2.5 hr · 7.2 km awayKettle ponds beneath Odaray’s towering rock wall

More stops nearby

Lodging · At the trailheadCathedral Mountain LodgeCabin stays beside the Kicking Horse, with mountain views.Campground · 0.6 km awayMonarch CampgroundAn unserviced mountain base beneath the historic Kicking Horse mine shafts.Sight · 1.4 km awayUpper Spiral Tunnel ViewpointA train may seem to climb through the mountain in stacked loops.Sight · 1.8 km awayMeeting of the WatersA shifting colour line where two rivers meet.Sight · 2.4 km awayLower Spiral Tunnel ViewpointSee why trains vanish into one mountain and reappear 15 metres higher.Sight · 3.1 km awayWalcott QuarryA full-day guided hike to fossils older than half a billion years.Gas station · 4.7 km awayYoho Brothers Trading PostField’s practical stop for fuel and a few essentials.Visitor center · 4.8 km awayYoho National Park Visitor CentreA useful stop for park advice, fossils, and year-round washrooms.

Parkwolf’s Yoho ranking

Top sights in Yoho

All 58 places
  1. 1Emerald LakeSight
  2. 2Takakkaw FallsSight
  3. 3Natural BridgeSight
  4. 4Lake O’HaraSight
  5. 5Lower Spiral Tunnel ViewpointSight
  6. 6Wapta FallsSight

Take Parkwolf to Yoho.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

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