How to book Yoho's hardest reservations: the Lake O'Hara campground and bus, the Wapta's Balfour Hut, plus launch dates and when cancellations come back.
About the park
Yoho National Park sits on the BC side of the Continental Divide, next to Banff and Kootenay. Its best-known corner is Lake O'Hara, where Parks Canada limits access to protect a sensitive alpine area: the 11 km access road is closed to private vehicles, so you get in on a capped bus, on foot, or with a campground reservation. On the divide itself, the Wapta Icefields carry a chain of Alpine Club of Canada huts used for glacier traverses.
Where to stay
The places we watch in and around Yoho:
- Lake O'Hara Campground: 30 sites, up to 3 nights, two reservations per household per season.
- Lake O'Hara Bus: day-use seats, mostly allocated by a March random draw; alerts are per day.
- Balfour (Rob Ritchie) Hut: an 18-person ACC hut at the toe of the Vulture Glacier on the Wapta. The ACC lists it just inside Banff National Park, on the Yoho boundary. Glacier skills required.
Yoho's backcountry campgrounds are also covered by our Banff, Kootenay & Yoho Backcountry watch.
How booking works
Parks Canada campgrounds and the bus book through the Parks Canada Reservation Service (1-877-737-3783), with a virtual queue on launch days. Each offer has its own launch. For 2026:
- Kootenay and Yoho frontcountry: Tuesday, January 20 at 8:00am MT
- Banff, Kootenay and Yoho backcountry: Monday, January 26 at 8:00am MT
- Lake O'Hara campground: Tuesday, February 10 at 8:00am MT (postponed from January 22)
- Lake O'Hara bus random draw: applications from March 2 to March 23, C$10 per application, non-refundable
2027 dates haven't been announced; expect similar timing, based on 2026. Check the Parks Canada reservations page for the official launch table.
Balfour Hut books through the Alpine Club of Canada: up to 180 days ahead for members and 90 for non-members, from midnight Mountain Time. Inside 7 days of the trip you phone 403-678-3200.
Last checked: October 2026.
When it books out
Lake O'Hara is the pressure point. With 30 campground sites and a capped bus, summer nights and seats are spoken for on launch and draw day. Balfour's busy nights are taken by traverse parties booking the whole Wapta chain at once.
Getting a cancelled spot
The cancellation lines that matter here:
- Lake O'Hara campground: full refund less fees 3 or more days before arrival; changes and cancellations close at 3:30pm the day before.
- Lake O'Hara bus: full refund less fees 3 or more days out, 50% inside that; reservations close at 3:30pm the day before.
- ACC huts: 75% refund more than 15 days before the first night, nothing after.
Set a watch on the place you want with your first and last night (or day, for the bus), and we'll email you when one goes from booked out to bookable. Alerts are per facility per night: a night counts as open when any site, seat or bunk on it is free. We don't match a specific site across nights, your party size or your vehicle, and we don't hold or book anything; you book on the official site. The free plan gives you one watch with email alerts 15 minutes after we spot an opening. The season pass is C$25 once for 12 months, no auto-renew, with up to 10 watches and instant alerts by email, Telegram or web push.