Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
an period. The site is famous worldwide because it has unraveled the mysteries of a major
stage of evolution.
In 1909, Smithsonian Institution paleontologist Charles Walcott was leading a pack
train along the west slope of Mount Field, on the opposite side of the valley from the
newly completed Spiral Tunnel, when he stumbled across these fossil beds. Encased in the
shale, the fossils here are of marine invertebrates about 510 million years old. Generally,
fossils are the remains of vertebrates, but at this site some freak event—probably a mud-
slide—suddenly buried thousands of soft-bodied animals (invertebrates), preserving them
by keeping out the oxygen that would have decayed their delicate bodies. Walcott excav-
ated an estimated 65,000 specimens from the site. Today paleontologists continue to un-
cover perfectly preserved fossils here—albeit in far fewer numbers than in Walcott's day.
They've also uncovered additional fossil beds, similar in makeup and age, across the val-
ley, on the north face of Mount Stephen.
Reaching the Two Sites
Protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the two research areas are open only to
those accompanied by a licensed guide. The
Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation
(250/
343-6006 or 800/343-3006,
www.burgess-shale.bc.ca
) guides trips to both sites between
July and mid-September. The access to
Walcott's Quarry
is along a strenuous
10-kilometer (6.2-mile) trail that gains 760 meters (2,500 feet) in elevation. Trips leave
Friday-Monday at 8am from the trading post at the Field intersection, returning around
6:30pm; $120 per person. Trips to the
Mount Stephen Fossil Beds
depart Saturday and
Sunday at 8:30am, returning at around 4:30pm; $90 per person. The trail to the Mount
Stephen beds gains 760 meters (2,500 feet) of elevation in three kilometers (1.9 miles).
The trails to both sites are unrelenting in their elevation gain—you must be fit to hike them.
Reservations are a must.
Emerald Lake Loop
• Length: 5.2 kilometers/3.2 miles (1.5 hours) round-trip
• Elevation gain: minimal
• Rating: easy
• Trailhead: Emerald Lake parking lot, 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) from Highway 1
One of the easiest yet most enjoyable walks in Yoho is around the park's most famous lake.
The trail encircles the lake and can be hiked in either direction. The best views are from the
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