The Powder Highway Road Trip
Loop Fernie together with Kicking Horse and Kimberley and you’ve got three genuinely different mountains connected by one of the best drives in the country.
First Stop: Kicking Horse
Just outside Golden, Kicking Horse is the big one — 3,486 acres and a 1,315m vertical drop, with terrain that leans hard into advanced and expert riders. The Golden Eagle Express Gondola hauls
you up in a single long stage, and from the top, Eagle’s Eye Restaurant serves lunch with a view that’s hard to match anywhere in the Rockies — it’s genuinely worth booking ahead for. Back down at the base, Peaks Grill covers lunch, après and dinner, and Double Black Café is the spot for a good coffee and something quick between runs.
The guiding here is part of the experience too — expect a mountain that rewards a local showing you the lines, especially through the steeper bowls and glades. For somewhere to stay, Glacier Mountain Lodge sits right at the base with direct ski locker access, though it’s worth checking current booking options as management arrangements can shift season to season. Paliser Lodge, a little further up the hill, offers a newer option with some units featuring private hot tubs.
Next: Kimberley
From Golden, the drive south to Kimberley takes around three hours. Skip the mountain pass route — it can get dicey in heavy snow — and instead head north to catch the free vehicle ferry across the lake. It only adds about 30 minutes and makes for a much easier drive (just factor in the one-hour time change along the way).
Kimberley is a real change of pace: 1,800 acres, 80 runs, and some of the largest gladed terrain in North America, all with a laid-back, family-friendly feel and short lift lines even on busy days. It’s one of the few resorts in the region offering night skiing, which makes for a great change-up if you’ve had an early start, and the Nordic trails around town stay lit well into the evening if you fancy a quieter session away from the downhill crowds. Trickle Creek Lodge sits right at the base with a shuttle running into Kimberley’s small downtown, where Grist and Mash Brewery pours good craft beer, Pedal and Tap does elevated pub food with an Asian-inspired edge, and Stonefire Pizzeria is worth a stop if you’re after something simple after a big day.
Last Leg: On to Fernie
From Kimberley, it’s a straightforward 90-minute drive to Fernie, easy and well signposted the whole way. It’s the perfect way to close out the loop — Fernie brings the widest variety of terrain of the three, plus a proper village scene to match, so it’s worth saving a few extra days here.
Why Do All Three Together
Each resort brings something different to the trip. Kicking Horse is for steep and deep and a serious dose of adrenaline. Kimberley slows things down with wide-open cruisers, a family-friendly base, and night skiing you won’t find at the other two. Fernie ties it together with variety across five bowls and a downtown scene worth spending time in after dark. Because all three sit under Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, lift access and season passes line up neatly across the loop, so you’re not juggling different systems at each stop — just three distinct mountains, a couple of easy drives, and one connected trip.
