Hiking to Twin Falls, Yoho National Park

Rock walls and waterfalls.

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles.

Though Banff and Jasper are more famous internationally, locals like myself consider Yoho National Park even better for hiking.

Golden is the nearest town.  Calgary the nearest international airport.

We parked at the Takakkaw Falls trailhead.

Takakkaw 254 metres (833 ft) is the 2nd tallest waterfall in Canada.

Friends from the flat lands of Saskatchewan schedule a hiking holiday every year. I tagged along, eventually joining their COVID-19 bubble.

As we set off, weather was deteriorating.

And, as so often the case in the Rockies in summer, we were soon hiding in the trees from a hail storm.

Warren considers bad weather an interesting challenge. And it was this day.

Last year the group had camped here at Laughing Falls.

We pushed on in the rain.

On arrival at Twin Falls campground, Warren set up a tarp.  This camp is about 6.7 km   from the trailhead. And about 100m elevation gain.

We hung our food as bears are always a concern in the Rockies.

The main sites were quite wet so we placed our tents on dryer ground as much as possible.

Happily, next morning was sunnier.

The BIG downside in 2020 — it’s been a terrible mosquito year.

Twin Falls is a lovely hiking area.

Here’s a first look at Twin Falls.

Twin Falls Tea House was closed this year due to COVID-19. It was extensively renovated in 2005 and will be again this season.

Rock walls and waterfalls.

We had plenty of switchbacks getting to the top of the Whaleback ridge.

Lunch at the top.

I used my Peakfinder app to confirm the names of surrounding mountains.

The highlight of the hike was Twin Falls. Both top and bottom.

Hikers have died falling from here. One survived 45 minutes in the freezing whirlpool before finally being rescued.

Click PLAY or watch a short video of our adventure on YouTube.