We always make jokes about the Spiral Tunnel Viewpoint whenever we pass by, as it's one of the most underwhelming stops in the Canadian Rockies. The Spiral Tunnels are a pair of railway loops in Yoho National Park built in the early 1900s to solve one of the biggest challenges on the original Canadian Pacific Railway line through the Rockies. Trains were struggling to safely descend the steep grade over Kicking Horse Pass, so engineers literally drilled loops into the mountains, allowing trains to gain or lose elevation more gradually. When a long freight train passes through, you can sometimes see the front of the train exiting the tunnel while the end is still entering it — a clear visual of the engineering solution at work.

As a roadside stop, though, it’s fairly underwhelming unless you time it perfectly with a passing train. There’s a viewpoint off the Trans-Canada Highway with interpretive signs and a clear view of the lower tunnel, but without a train passing through, it can feel like a quick photo stop rather than a destination. Still, from a historical and engineering perspective, it’s an impressive example of early 20th-century railway ingenuity in a very challenging mountain environment.

The photo here is an accurate representation of the view, as it's not much and it can be tough to make out the tunnel entrances.