Send it over the top with Golden fall adventures
Golden, BC Soaring in a fixed-wing plane over the Fresh Field Icefields near Golden, it feels like passing through medieval fortress gates into a resplendent paradise. Beyond the glacier’s cascading buttresses and icewalls ringed by rock spires lies a land of infinite adventures.
Fall in Golden only brings the landscape and its unlimited potentials into stronger focus. Picture vivid yellow larches, glacial blue lakes, grey-white peaks and mountainside villas, through which you can journey as you please.
Four over the top Golden fall adventures
Golden has a reputation for summer activities like mountain biking, whitewater rafting and hiking (and skiing, snowboarding and sledding in winter).
But poke further, and you’ll find a surprising array of different, unexpected ways to experience this mountain mecca through the fall.
Here are four ways to take your fall visit to Golden over the top.
1. Paddle the Columbia River
For an immersive introduction to the local flora and fauna, head out on the Columbia River with watercraft rentals and shuttle service via Golden Paddle Trips.
On our morning paddle, we saw great blue herons, ospreys, jumping fish and foraging black bears (yes plural!), as the sun played gently over the peaks beyond.
In the fall the river runs lower and slower, making it an easy river to get your paddleboard legs under you. Or float along in a canoe or kayak, dipping your paddle lazily.
The trip from put-in to takeout runs about two hours at an easy paddling pace, but Golden Paddle Trips owner Heidi Southcott says many people just take their time and soak it all in.
2. Soar above the Canadian Rockies on a charter flight
As you paddle, it’s hard not to notice the action in the sky above. Tandem paragliders spiral downwards in the distance. And when we pulled our paddleboards out, we found ourselves right next to the airstrip where Kicking Horse Aviation takes off.
This was no accident: if you can book it back to back, there’s nothing like paddling up to a plane, and launching into the sky for views of the landscape you just paddled through.
For over the top fall adventures
Start planning now at Tourism Golden
As described off the top, a one-hour flight will serve up views of the Columbia Mountains, the Canadian Rockies, and the nearby lakes and rivers that will imprint forever on your imagination.
Pro tip: according to Mike Gullason, pilot and proprietor at Kicking Horse Aviation, fall is the ideal time to fly over Golden as the beauty of autumn unfolds in the mountains.
3. Take the “iron way” to the peaks
Simply put, I love climbing but I’m not very good at it. If you’re like me, then Kicking Horse Mountain Resort’s Via Ferrata (Italian for “iron way”) is your ticket to feeling like an alpine hero without needing the advanced skills and expertise of true mountaineering.
Following a metal cable up Terminator Ridge, you climb the towering face to the summit with the aid of metal “gas pedals” and ladder rungs fixed into the rock.
Despite the assistance, two hours of ascending a mountain on the Discovery Route is still two hours of ascending a mountain.
Having traversed narrow rock ledges, ascended vertical rockwalls and overhangs and gripped tightly to your holds as you work to navigate the various alpine features, the rewarding 360 views from the summit will feel well-earned.
4. Go offroading into the alpine
Quadding the trails around Golden combines a thrilling ride with epic views. And for the beginner rider, Canadian Offroad Adventures makes it easy.
Not having spent much time on these machines, I was quickly at ease with the instructions our guide gave us and we were soon flowing through alpine terrain, crossing creeks and ascending to summit views at speed.
“Safety is the most important part and then the fun just kind of comes naturally,” says Che Koroll, owner at Canadian Offroad Adventures. “Every group's a little different, so we try to get as much feedback as we can to make it a memorable experience for everybody.”
It’s that kind of attention that makes fall experiences in Golden flow so seamlessly from one, to the next. And with these four over the top experiences, you'll be soaring above the clouds.
Know before you go
For Albertans, Golden, BC, is one of the few places where the time doesn't change between the two provinces.
Set right off the Trans Canada Highway, Golden is:
3h drive from Calgary
1.5h drive from Revelstoke
5.5h drive from Edmonton
4h drive from Kelowna
How to score this adventure
Line up your own version of this trip with:
Via Ferrata at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
We also recommend reading Joanne Elves' article on wildlife spotting adventures in Golden, to add to your visit.