Where to Raft in Golden

Gold River - The "Bachelor Paddle" section contains wonderful whitewater that is fairly steady right from the get go. Its a boulder garden wonderland with many boof friendly drops (up to 2 meters). At low and medium flows, the run contains short pools and numerous eddies between the drops. The character changes drastically as water rises above 25-30 cms. All the pools rush together and the run feels more continuous, and contains more bigwater features like diagonals and wave-holes. However even up to 70 cms the run maintains a grade IV feel (much like its distant neighbor the kickinghorse). That is with the exception of the biggest rapid on the run which pushes class V at higher water. This rapid is situated midway down the second half of the run (middle gold) and can't be mistaken as it is a much more significant horizon line than anything up to that point. Its a long rapid with big holes and pour-overs to dodge and runs through a steep sided valley that is moderately challenging terrain to navigate. The drawbacks of the run are it's remote location and its tendency to collect trees (large trees). However, as of 2017 there were minimal portages necessary and its short enough and high enough quality for multiple laps.

Kicking Horse River - This secion is used for some of the raft companies float trip section. Overall it is mainly continuous Class II, the first rapid right of the hop though is pretty pushy with water in it and is considered Class III. Overall a tree dodge, braided float trip with the odd fun eddy line, wave and feature.