Golden

Golden sits where the Columbia and Kicking Horse rivers meet, between the Purcell and Rocky Mountains, and its selling point is proximity: Yoho, Glacier, Banff, Kootenay, Jasper and Mount Revelstoke national parks are all within a couple of hours. The town built the Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge in 2001, a timber-framed covered bridge of about forty-six metres, said to be the longest freestanding timber frame bridge in Canada, raised by volunteers with European and local timber framers. Above town, a gondola runs to a ridge at over two thousand metres with a grizzly refuge at the base holding a rescued bear.

History

In 1807 the fur trader and map maker David Thompson crossed the Rockies for the North West Company and followed the Blaeberry River to the future site of Golden. In 1882 the railway surveyor A. B. Rogers found the pass now named after him, and his crew's base, McMillan's Camp, was the beginning of the town; from the late 1890s the Canadian Pacific Railway brought in Swiss mountain guides and built chalet-style houses for them at Edelweiss, some still standing, and Sikh settlers who came in 1902 to work at the Columbia River Lumber Company built the first gurdwara in North America here in 1905 (Wikipedia, Golden, British Columbia).

What to look for

• The timber-frame bridge - a 46-metre covered bridge raised by volunteers.
• The six parks - national parks all within a two-hour drive.
• The gondola ridge - a lift to over 2,000 metres with a via ferrata.
• The grizzly refuge - a large enclosure holding a rescued bear.

When to go

June to September for hiking, rafting the Kicking Horse and the gondola; December to March for skiing. The Rogers Pass road east closes for avalanche control in winter.

What to expect

Rogers Pass closes for avalanche control without much warning in winter. The town itself is a highway service centre rather than a destination. Summer wildfire smoke has affected recent seasons.

Nearby

Yoho National Park lies east; Glacier National Park is west.

Key facts