Takakkaw Falls: 373 metres at the end of a summer road
The falls are easy to reach. The drive has rules.
Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, drop 373 m (1,224 ft); Parks Canada calls them the second-highest waterfall in Canada. They lie at the end of the Yoho Valley Road, 17 km (10.6 mi) northeast of the village of Field. A flat, paved path of 0.9 km (0.6 mi) leads from the parking lot to the base of the falls.
The Yoho Valley Road is only open from mid-June to mid-October, weather permitting. Its switchbacks are so tight that vehicles over 7 m (23 ft) long must reverse to get around them; trailers are not permitted. The parking lot fills up early in summer and on weekends.
For Parks Canada the falls are only the beginning: trails to Laughing Falls and Twin Falls, Yoho Lake, the Little Yoho Valley and the Iceline loop all start from the same parking lot.
In numbers
- Height
- 373 m (1,224 ft)
- Path to the falls
- 0.9 km (0.6 mi), 30 minutes return
- Parking lot from Field
- 17 km (10.6 mi)
- Yoho Valley Road turn-off
- 5 km (3.1 mi) east of Field
- Vehicle length on the switchbacks
- over 7 m (23 ft): reverse
- Takakkaw Falls Campground
- 35 sites, 300 m from the parking lot
- Campsite per night
- 22.00 CAD
- Park entry, adults
- 12.25 CAD per day
- Laughing Falls
- 4.5 km (2.8 mi)
- Iceline via Little Yoho
- 20.3 km (12.6 mi), +1,090 m
