Golden is a town in southeastern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada, west of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Alberta, and east of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

History

In 1807, David Thompsonrenowned fur trader, surveyor, and map-makerwas tasked by the

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

to open a trading route to the lucrative trading territories of the Pacific Northwest. He first crossed over the Rocky Mountains and travelled along the Blaeberry River to the future site of Golden. In 1881 the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

(CPR) hired surveyor A. B. Rogers to find a rail route through the Selkirk and

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

, and in 1882 he found the pass now named for him. Rogers established a base camp for his survey crew led by a man named McMillan. Initially known as McMillan's Camp, the settlement was the beginning of the town of Golden. By 1884, in response to a nearby lumber camp naming itself Silver City, the residents of McMillan's Camp, headed by Baptiste Morigeau, decided not to be outdone and renamed the settlement Golden City. The 'city' designation was later dropped. Golden is also the site of notable

South Asian Canadian South Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent, which includes the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. The term South Asian Ca ...

history, after Sikh settlers first arrived in Golden in 1902 to work at the Columbia River Lumber Company. These early settlers built the first Gurdwara (Sikh temple) in North America in 1905, which was destroyed by fire in 1926. Much of the town's history is tied into the CPR and the

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

industry. The town's economy still relies heavily on those two influences, but the development of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, along with other outdoor adventure companies, has allowed the town to diversify into tourism. Mount 7, which is just southeast of town, is popular with paragliding, hang gliding, and mountain biking enthusiasts. The town forms part of the

Golden Triangle Golden Triangle may refer to: Places Asia * Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia), named for its opium production * Golden Triangle (Yangtze), China, named for its rapid economic development * Golden Triangle (India), comprising the popular tourist ...

cycle route. Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge is the longest freestanding timber-frame bridge in Canada. Planned as a community project by the Timber Framers Guild, volunteers from Golden were joined by carpenters and timber framers from the United States and from Europe. The bridge structure is long, with a Burr arch structure. The bridge was completed in September 2001. In June 2021, the Golden Skybridge opened. The bridge is the highest suspension bridge in Canada. The Golden meteorites fell there on October 4, 2021.

Geography

Golden is nestled in the

Rocky Mountain Trench The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Valley of a Thousand Peaks or simply the Trench, is a large valley on the western side of the northern part of North America's Rocky Mountains. The Trench is both visually and cartographically a ...

, built around the confluence of the

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

and Kicking Horse rivers, surrounded by three different mountain ranges (most notably the

Purcell Mountains The Purcell Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. They are a subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which includes the Selkirk, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. They are located on the west side of the Rocky Moun ...

and

) and five national parks: Yoho National Park,

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields, dense co ...

, Jasper National Park, Glacier National Park, and Kootenay National Park. Golden is on

Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

(the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

), and it is the northern terminus of Highway 95, connecting it to the United States via the rest of the East Kootenay region and the city of

Cranbrook, British Columbia Cranbrook ( ) is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River. It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2016, Cra ...

(B.C. Highway 95 is a continuation of U.S. Route 95, which runs north-to-south through the U.S. and into Mexico). The

east of Golden has numerous upgrade projects ongoing to greatly improve the roadway west of the Yoho National Park boundary. The Ten Mile Hill section of the project was recently completed and is a major upgrade to the old highway.

Climate

Golden has a climate with influences of the

humid continental A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

( Dfb) and

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

(BSk) varieties. Summers are warm but rarely hot, with winters being somewhat moderated in comparison to areas east of the Rockies. Annual snowfall is heavy, averaging .

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, Golden had a population of 3,986 living in 1,734 of its 1,892 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 3,708. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Golden included: *

Irreligion Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ...

(2,430 persons or 62.3%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

(1,225 persons or 31.4%) *

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

(115 persons or 2.9%) *

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

(40 persons or 1.0%) *

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

(15 persons or 0.4%) *Other (55 persons or 1.4%)

Economy

Golden has a service-based economy, relying heavily on tourism and services for tourists. Unlike many other Canadian towns with similar population size, Golden boasts nine automobile repair shops that all offer a wide range of services and are open extended hours. Golden also features a large number of hotels with mountain views that provide accommodation to both tourists and stranded drivers.

Education

Public education is provided by School District 6 Rocky Mountain which operates 3 primary schools and one

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Community College education is offered by the Golden Campus of the

College of the Rockies The College of the Rockies is a Canadian public community college, located in the southeast corner of British Columbia, Canada. The main campus is in Cranbrook, with regional campuses in Creston, Fernie, Golden, Invermere, and Kimberley. C ...

Sports

Notable people

Doug Barrault Douglas Barrault (born April 21, 1970) is a Canadian-born former professional ice hockey Right Winger. Drafted 155th overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars, he played in four National Hockey League games with the Nort ...

, retired hockey player * Dillon Dubé, NHL player with the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...

* David Duncan, freestyle skier * Curtis McKenzie, NHL player with the Dallas Stars *

Patricia Owens Patricia Molly Owens (January 17, 1925 – August 31, 2000) was a Canadian-born American actress, working in Hollywood. She appeared in about 40 films and 10 television episodes in a career lasting from 1943 to 1968. Early work Owens moved ...

, actress *

Sara Renner Sara Renner (born April 10, 1976) is a Canadian cross-country skier who competed from 1994 to 2010. With Beckie Scott, she won the silver medal in the team sprint event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and earned her best individual finish of ...

, Olympic medal-winning cross country skier

References

External links

* * {{authority control Towns in British Columbia Columbia Valley Populated places in the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District British Columbia populated places on the Columbia River