Parking
Use the unsigned Burgess Pass trailhead turnoff on the Trans-Canada Highway, about 1.5 km east of Field. It is separate from the Emerald Lake parking area and easy to miss.
Overview
About South Burgess Pass Trail
Why go
- Direct approach to Burgess Pass from Highway 1
- Wide views toward Field and the President Range
Heads up
- A sustained climb of roughly 940 m
- The same steep route back to an unsigned highway access
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yoho map
Full mapElevation1,290–2,188 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yoho Tour Guide
Your drive to South Burgess Pass Trail, 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 tourRecorded for this area
Yoho Visitor Centre: Fossils and a Useful Break0:00 / 0:34
“You're approaching the Yoho Visitor Centre at Field, a useful stop for park advice and a quick look at real Burgess Shale fossils.”
Plays on the road 0.9 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Yoho Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Field: A Bistro Meal or a Quick Restock
- How the Rock Layers Got Tilted
- The Miner Who Built Mountain Steps
- Kicking Horse and Monarch: Camping by the River
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking South Burgess Pass Trail
A direct route to Burgess PassSouth Burgess Pass is a difficult, roughly 8-mile out-and-back from the unsigned Trans-Canada…
South Burgess Pass is a difficult, roughly 8-mile out-and-back from the unsigned Trans-Canada Highway trailhead to Burgess Pass, about 4 miles each way. Plan on 6 to 7 hours and roughly 940 m of climbing. If you want the pass without the Emerald Triangle loop from Emerald Lake, this is the direct approach; expect a long climb and the same path back.
The climbFor the first few hundred metres the trail parallels the highway, then turns sharply onto the…
For the first few hundred metres the trail parallels the highway, then turns sharply onto the lower slope of Mount Burgess. Long switchbacks keep the grade manageable for the first 2.7 km; after a left turn it climbs more steeply. It crosses an open avalanche slope, returns to forest, and passes a pale limestone outcrop and a drainage channel before flattening near the pass. Much of the elevation comes on this upper climb.
The view from the saddleAt Burgess Pass you can look south toward Mount Hurd, Mount Vaux and Hanbury Glacier.
At Burgess Pass you can look south toward Mount Hurd, Mount Vaux and Hanbury Glacier. Turn around for the President Range and Emerald Basin; the route also opens views back toward Field and the high peaks near Lake O’Hara. Frame the forested valley between the mountain walls for a phone photo that shows the scale of the climb.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yoho
21 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
55 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
61 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
66 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
26 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
10 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yoho. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
