Tourism Golden is hoping CP Rail will reconsider a decision to disallow local rafting companies to access the Kicking Horse River via railroad tracks.

Following extensive discussion in March, CP Rail has notified six rafting companies that operate guided rafting tours that they will no lower allow them to access the river’s Lower Canyon via a walk over the tracks. White water rafting is a massive tourism draw to the region as on average, 40,000 people per year take a trip down the Kicking Horse River.

For 40 years CP Rail has allowed rafting operators to access the Lower Canyon this way without incident. While the Upper and Middle Canyons remain open, closure of the Lower Canyon has sparked global interest and an online petition has generated more than 5,000 signatures.

Photo Credit: Tourism GoldenGolden’s Kicking Horse River attracts whitewater enthusiasts from around the world.

Tourism Golden calls the loss of access to the Lower Canyon detrimental to the Town and local rafting companies that guide thousands of guests each year. They are estimating the potential financial impact to the community in the millions.

“Letters of support are flooding in from all over the world. This is a stretch of an iconic heritage river that attracts international visitors to check off a bucket list activity. Closure of the canyon by CP Rail damages Canada’s reputation as a wilderness destination where citizens have access to public lands,” said Joanne Sweeting, executive director, Tourism Golden. “The decision impacts our local community and its effects are rippling across the world.”

Sweeting is hoping that CP Rail will reverse its decision and allow the rafting companies access to the Lower Canyon in time for the Golden Mountain Festival, which takes place May long weekend. Two meetings took place at the end of March to discuss the decision, and according to Sweeting, at the final meeting CP Rail reaffirmed that it would continue to deny access to rafters and was not willing to seek a solution.

According to public statements, CP Rail has cited safety concerns as being too great to find a viable solution. The area that accesses the river put-in is CP Rail property and the crossing was not meeting their legal, risk and regulatory requirements.

Photo Credit: Change.org

Carmen Narancsik of KHR Outfitters Association says, “Safety is really important to us too. There’s been 40 years of rafting companies crossing there without an incident.”

CP Rail granted permission to the KHR Outfitters Association to use the crossing from 2003-2006. The KHR Outfitters Association has legal evidence of the agreement that was made between CP Rail and rafting operators. It outlines the terms, including a fee that the rafting companies paid to CP Rail to use the crossing.

“The Lower Canyon put-in grants rafters access to the lower section of Kicking Horse River that flows into the town of Golden. Between the Middle and Lower Canyon there are two kilometres of rapids where it is not possible to raft. Rafters navigating both the Middle and Lower sections remove rafts from the river two kilometres upstream from the Lower Canyon put-in point. This take-out point does not cross the railway line. The Lower Canyon put-in is where they re-enter the river. Due to the steepness of the canyon, this is the only existing access point to the Lower Canyon. The Upper and Middle River sections remain accessible to tour operators and rafters,” explained Sweeting.

The online petition is now gaining steam as more and more people show their support for the local tourism. People are also being encouraged to send an email to Transportation Minister Marc Garneau to show their support.