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Monarch Campground in Yoho National Park

Campground · Yoho National Park

Monarch Campground

An unserviced mountain base beneath the historic Kicking Horse mine shafts.

Type
Campground
Nearest trail
0.5 km
Audio stories
6 nearby
  • Restrooms
  • Parking
  • Picnic tables
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Kicking Horse and Monarch: Camping by the River

Overview

About Monarch Campground

Why stop

  • Mountain views across the valley from some campsites.
  • Useful base near Field and Yoho Valley Road.

Heads up

  • Road and passing-train noise can bother light sleepers.

Map

Where it is

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Full map
CampgroundMonarch Campground51.42100, -116.44340
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Plan your stop

Before you go

5 active Yoho alerts

  • ClosureWalcott Quarry and Mount Stephen access restrictedMentions Mount Stephen, referenced in this guideWalcott Quarry and Mount Stephen are closed to visitors except on scheduled guided hikes or with a research permit, to protect these historically and scientifically significant sites.Official details
  • 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
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 Monarch 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 Monarch 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
  • How the Rock Layers Got Tilted
  • Meeting of the Waters: Two Currents Joining
  • 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 Monarch Campground

A practical base for YohoMonarch Campground is a 44-site, unserviced frontcountry campground on Yoho Valley Road, about…

Monarch Campground is a 44-site, unserviced frontcountry campground on Yoho Valley Road, about 4 kilometres east of Field. It is a useful base for the park's valley outings, with Mount Stephen and Cathedral Mountain across the valley. The trade-off is road and passing-train noise; if you sleep lightly, this may not be the campground for you.

What the sites offerThe sites are unserviced and best suited to tents, motorhomes and trailers up to 27 feet.

The sites are unserviced and best suited to tents, motorhomes and trailers up to 27 feet. There is an outhouse and picnic shelter, while water and the sani dump are available seasonally. Check the current booking calendar before planning; operating and reservation dates are seasonal.

Look up the valleyMonarch sits below the historic Kicking Horse mine shafts.

Monarch sits below the historic Kicking Horse mine shafts. The Kicking Horse River flatlands nearby are a useful place to watch for wildlife, and some campsites have mountain views, though sightlines vary from site to site. Come for a straightforward overnight base in a dramatic valley, not for a quiet, fully serviced campground.

campingunservicedmountainswildlifebasecamp

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 Monarch Campground

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

EasyCentennial Trail2 km · 45 min · 0.5 km awayA shaded river walk with wildflowers and mountain views.ChallengingSouth Burgess Pass Trail12.7 km · 6.5 hr · 3.3 km awayA steep climb from Field to a high pass above town.ChallengingMount Stephen Guided Fossil Hike8 km · 7.5 hr · 4.2 km awayA steep guided climb to Yoho’s restricted trilobite beds.ModeratePaget Lookout Trail7 km · 3 hr · 6.4 km awayA steep climb to an old lookout above three valleys.ModerateSherbrooke Lake Trail8.6 km · 3 hr · 6.4 km awayA wooded climb opens onto a turquoise lake beneath three peaksChallengingNiles Meadow Trail19.8 km · 7.8 hr · 6.8 km awayA long, rough climb ends in an open meadow below Mount Niles.ModerateRoss Lake Trail6.4 km · 2 hr · 7 km awayA forested out-and-back to a lake below Narao PeakChallengingHamilton Lake Trail10.2 km · 5.5 hr · 7 km awayA steep climb for an alpine tarn beneath the high peaks.

More stops nearby

Lodging · 0.6 km awayCathedral Mountain LodgeCabin stays beside the Kicking Horse, with mountain views.Campground · 0.6 km awayKicking Horse CampgroundA forested river camp with easy access to Yoho's headline sights.Sight · 2 km awayUpper Spiral Tunnel ViewpointA train may seem to climb through the mountain in stacked loops.Sight · 2.3 km awayMeeting of the WatersA shifting colour line where two rivers meet.Sight · 2.8 km awayWalcott QuarryA full-day guided hike to fossils older than half a billion years.Sight · 3 km awayLower Spiral Tunnel ViewpointSee why trains vanish into one mountain and reappear 15 metres higher.Gas station · 4.1 km awayYoho Brothers Trading PostField’s practical stop for fuel and a few essentials.Visitor center · 4.2 km awayYoho National Park Visitor CentreA useful stop for park advice, fossils, and year-round washrooms.

Parkwolf’s Yoho ranking

Top sights in Yoho

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  5. 5Lower Spiral Tunnel ViewpointSight
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Take Parkwolf to Yoho.

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

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