Admiring one of the lakes in the Lake O'Hara area of Yoho National Park/Parks Canada

Yoho National Park is poised to finally test-drive a random draw reservation system for the shuttle that whisks people to popular Lake O’Hara for the day.

Non-refundable applications cost $10 ($8 USD) and can be made between April 1 and April 30 for groups of up to six people who can request up to six time and date slots. People will find out in May if they’ve secured shuttle seats between June 18 and October 3. If the system works, it could roll out to other Parks Canada hotspots across the country.

“It’s a very beautiful place with a series of high alpine lakes, including Lake O’Hara,” says Jed Cochrane, visitor experience manager for the Lake Louise, Yoho & Kootenay Field Unit. “It’s also a very fragile alpine environment, so that’s one of the reasons that we manage the number of people on a daily basis. Without much hiking, you’re above the tree line looking at amazing peaks. It truly is one of the most beautiful places in the Rocky Mountain national parks.”

You can, in theory, get to the Lake O’Hara area by hiking along a 11-kilometre (7-mile) access road for a 22-kilometre (14-mile) round trip. Parks Canada advises people who attempt this onerous hike to carry food, water and bear spray and wear appropriate clothing and footwear. Cycling isn’t allowed on the road. Neither is camping.

Almost everyone takes the shuttle bus from a designated parking lot west of Lake Louise in Alberta and east of Field in British Columbia. Over the years, Yoho has experimented with different reservation systems and found each to be frustrating.

Day trippers read the Lake O'Hara signage at Yoho National Park/Parks Canada

At first, Yoho took telephone reservations exactly three months in advance. Cochrane says that led to phone lines being jammed every morning and having to staff accordingly.

Then Yoho made the shuttle spots available through the online Parks Canada reservation system for campsites. That’s when they spotted 15,000 unique IP addresses logging in at 8 a.m. and people who saw spots evaporate before their eyes worried poor Internet connections were putting them at a disadvantage. “The pressure on the system was incredible,” says Cochrane. “It was just frustrating.”

In 2020, Yoho was ready to try the random draw reservation system that’s popular with the National Park Service in the United States but hasn’t been tested by Parks Canada. It had 8,225 applicants vying for 3,000 spots — and then Covid-19 hit and Parks Canada cancelled the shuttles. “We refunded all the applications and decided to wipe the slate clean,” says Cochrane.

Nobody knows how this year’s shuttle draw will unfold. Yoho is planning to have two buses, which can each carry about 40 people and will each do two round trips a day. The shuttles have to save spots not just for day trippers, but for commercial guides, those coming to stay up to three nights at the 30-site campground, and for those who’ve booked the Alpine Club of Canada’s Elizabeth Parker Hut. But it doesn’t know what British Columbia’s Covid restrictions will be.

“If we have to go to 50 per cent capacity to ensure physical distancing, we will,” says Cochrane.

Hiking in the alpine environment of Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park/Parks Canada

People can apply for the shuttle draw online through the Parks Canada reservation service or by phone at 1-877-737-3783 between April 1 and 30. Ingoing bus slots will be at 8:30 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. Outgoing buses will leave the park at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Pets aren’t allowed on the bus.

Proceeds from the $10 application fees will be reinvested in the Yoho area for backcountry experiences. There are also “cost neutral” bus fares ($14.70 for adults and $7.30 for youth) plus a $11.50 reservation fee that will go to the shuttle contractor.

“I just hope this alleviates a lot of the frustration that people have felt when booking a high-demand offer like Lake O’Hara,” says Cochrane.

Yoho borders Banff National Park. Until late June, many of its higher hiking routes are snow-bound and even subject to avalanche hazards.

Beginning April 27 at 8 a.m. MDT, people can also apply online or by phone to camp for up to three nights at Lake O’Hara’s 30 sites between June 18 and October 2. These reservations include bus fees and the ability to book one of four daily incoming shuttle spots. Anyone who tries to hack the system by booking a campsite just to come for the day will be turned away if they arrive without a tent.

Those who want to stay in the area but not camp can book Lake O’Hara Lodge, which has a summer/autumn and winter season. Lake Louise and Field also have accommodations.