Emerald Lake is a freshwater lake located in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada. Yoho National Park is one of the 4 contiguous National Parks in the heart of Canada's Rocky Mountains, along the boundary of British Columbia and Alberta Provinces, the other Parks are Kootenay, Jasper, and Banff. Nearby features Emerald Lake Lodge, a high-end lodge or hotel, is on a peninsula jutting into the lake. It was founded in the 1920s and completely rebuilt in the 1980s. A quiet 2 lane paved road about 15 km / 9 miles long connects the busy Trans-Canada Highway with Emerald Lake, the exit is well marked. A hiking trail circuits the lake, the first half of which is accessible to wheelchairs and strollers, many other more advanced hiking trails go in different directions up into the mountains. The railway and timber town of Golden BC is the nearest town to Emerald Lake that is outside the Park boundaries, it is about 50 km / 30 miles distant to the west in the low valley of the Columbia River headwaters, and has many lodging options, the small historic railway village of Field is in Yoho Park near the highway exit to Emerald Lake, and has a large Park-operated Information and Visitor's Center, Field Village also has gas, food and a few B & B's. The Park Service Center of Lake Louise, which has limited lodging, is about 30 km / 20 miles to the east of Emerald Lake in neighboring Banff National Park, while the famous resort town of Banff, located on the southeast edge of that Park, is about 60 km / 40 miles further east of Lake Louise, it has a large number of hotels as does the town of Canmore, located just outside the Banff Park boundary. Vehicle / RV campgrounds are common throughout the region for summer use, reservations made well in advance are highly advised for hotels and campgrounds during summer, which is early June to late September on an average weather year. Wildlife Many wild animals live in the area and are protected by Park Law, Brown (Grizzly) Bears and Black Bears are fairly common, they co-exist quite well with humans as the Park has strict laws on garbage control and good advice to Park Visitors on practicing bear safety and being "Bear Aware". Mountain Goats and Bighorn Sheep are seen at higher altitudes, and many