Golden (790 m (2593 ft)), the famous holiday and winter-sports resort at the confluence of the Columbia and Kicking Horse rivers, is the gateway to the magnificent National Parks of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Amid the jagged peaks of the Selkirk Mountains and the Rockies, Golden is the starting
point for tours into largely unspoilt wild mountain regions, where visitors can go hiking, mountain-climbing and tour the Mummery Icefield glacier. There is whitewater rafting on the Kicking Horse River and canoeing on the Columbia and Blackberry rivers, as well as golf, riding (several guest ranches), fishing and big-game hunting, plus "Flightseeing" tours, which can also be booked.
The "Golden Triangle" cycling tour is very popular, from Golden, through Radium Hot Springs into Banff National Park, and back through Lake Louise to Golden again (320 km (199 mi.)).
The Rodeo on Labor Day every year is a great attraction.
The new Whitetooth Ski Area, on the slopes of the Purcell Mountains southwest of the town, was opened in 1987. With a descent of 526 m (1726 ft), it has eight ski-runs, ski lifts (usually weekends only), heli-skiing and snow-mobiles.
Golden, which dates from the building of the railroad, now mainly lives from tourism, but also has a timber industry and a Canadian Pacific Railway repair shop.
The old town center south of the Kicking Horse River has been made more attractive by the restoration of stores and houses in the early 1980s.
From Golden, the TransCanada Highway follows the Kicking Horse River into the Rocky Mountains to Kicking Horse Pass (72 km (45 mi.)) passing through Yoho National Park.
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