Yellowhead Pass, Rail mountain pass in Jasper National Park, Canada
Yellowhead Pass is a mountain corridor cutting through the Canadian Rockies at approximately 1133 meters elevation between Alberta and British Columbia. The route winds through thick forests and valleys carved by the landscape's natural contours.
Indigenous traders first established routes through this gap before European fur trappers explored it in the early 1800s. The railway and highway infrastructure that followed preserved this same passage as a major transportation corridor through the mountains.
Indigenous peoples relied on this route as a trade corridor through the mountains for generations. The name itself traces back to a fair-haired fur trapper who explored the region in the 1820s.
The pass is best reached by train or vehicle, with two railway lines and the Yellowhead Highway serving the corridor. Spring through fall offers the most accessible conditions for exploring this mountain route.
This pass holds the lowest elevation of all major railway crossings in the Canadian Rockies, making year-round train service possible through the mountains. This advantage in terrain makes it the preferred route when other high-altitude passes become difficult to navigate.
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