Golden, BC, Town, population 3811 (2006c), 4020 (2001c), inc 1957. Golden is located on the COLUMBIA RIVER at its confluence with the KICKING HORSE RIVER. It is situated 260 km west of Calgary, Alta, between the Purcell Mountain Range and GLACIER NATIONAL PARK on the west and between the Rocky Mountains and YOHO NATIONAL PARK on the east. In the 19th century the area was known as the Cache, or Kicking Horse Flats, but in 1883, during construction of the CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY, the community was named Golden City as a counterpart to Silver City (Castle Mountain, Alta).

The town owes its start to the railway, a continuing significant employer. A major rail car repair shop is located here. The region also supports value-added wood product producers, including a laminated-veneer lumber plant (the principal employer) and a number of small sawmills and mining operations. Before construction of the ROGERS PASS section of the TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY in the early 1960s, Golden was the eastern end of the Big Bend Highway that followed the "Big Bend" of the Columbia River between REVELSTOKE and Golden. Tourist traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway is also important to the economy, and this sector is diversifying as Golden is recognized as a year-round tourist destination. Whitewater-rafting is popular through the Kicking Horse Canyon. A campus of College of the Rockies is located here.