Trudy and Dale Buxton
Publishers, Biggar Independent
We have arrived at Golden, which is a famous mountain hub of around 4000 people.
In 1882 when A.B. Rogers set out to find a path through the Selkirk and Rocky Mountains. He set up a base camp where Golden is today called McMillan’s camp. By 1884 a nearby lumber camp called itself Silver City but most of the people wanted a different name so there was Kicking Horse Flats. That changed to Golden City, and over time the name ‘City’ was dropped which left it just as Golden. The name stuck.
Golden is right in the middle and surrounded by six national parks, Banff, Glacier, Jasper, Kootenay, Mount Revelstoke and Yoho. The town is built on the shores of where the Kicking Horse River meets the Columbia River.
With all of these national parks at the backdoor of this community, it is not hard to imagine the vast tourist opportunities that are in the vicinity with ski resorts being the most plentiful.
Golden relies on forestry and transportation including the railway for the economic well-being of the community. But the number one industry is tourism as this community services over one million tourists annually, creating thousands of local jobs. It’s hard to imagine that the population is still only around 4,000 people.
Much of the town’s history circles around the Canadian Pacific Railroad, which still maintains a major repair shop in Golden. With the community being in the middle of all the parks, Golden is a major transportation hub along the Trans-Canada.
One of the fun things to do in Golden is to cross the Golden Skybridge which is one of Canada’s highest suspension bridges that crosses a deep river canyon. Also, the Kicking Horse bridge is the longest free-standing timber pedestrian bridge in Canada. If you are into white water rafting the Kicking Horse River provides some of the best rafting.
One interesting fact about Golden is that not only is it a major centre for outdoor activities but it also home to one of the top five paragliding launches in Canada.
If you are going out for a hike, the one thing that you must watch for is the presence of many animals in the area. Around the community of Golden you can find Grizzly Bear, Black Bear along with wolves and many species of deer and sheep. Golden is also home to more than 200 species of birds including eagles.
Golden is mostly a winter activity community with lots of skiing and winter sports. Some of the most notable people that came from Golden are hockey players and Olympic skiers.
There have been many comparisons between Golden and Banff, with Golden being a working community and not a tourist destination.
Nice place to visit and another destination to return in the future.
Stay tuned next week as we visit Banff next week in our journey home from British Columbia.
