Learn & Get Inspired

Trip Guide

Golden Golf Club, Golden British Columbia course

The Golfer’s Loop: A Kootenay Rockies Golfing Road Trip

Duration 5 days

Drive 650 km

Plan 6 stops

Start Calgary to Golden, BC

End Greywolf Golf Course

Start Calgary to Golden, BC

End Greywolf Golf Course

After tapping in for a tidy sextuple bogey (yes, that is a real six-over-par score, and yes, it hurt) to close out a round, finding a place to recoup is top priority. On a recent road trip, my wife, Dawn, and I discovered that stepping off the green and walking right back to your own living room is the best way to travel and golf.

The beauty of combining golf and RVing is that your entire setup is right where you need it. Your shirts are hanging in the closet, extra spikes are in the drawer, and your clubs, rain gear, and backup balls stay stowed in the rig. You’re not living out of cramped duffel bags, lugging your golf bag through hotel lobbies, or jamming wet golf shoes into a car trunk. You play on your own schedule, cook your own post-round meals, and end the day beside a crackling campfire.

Highlights

Calgary to Golden, BC

Golden Golf Club, Golden BC

Canyon RV Resort and Campground

Eagle Ranch Resort Golf Course

Radium Hot Springs

Greywolf Golf Course

Calgary to Golden, BC

Golden Golf Club, Golden BC

Canyon RV Resort and Campground

Eagle Ranch Resort Golf Course

Radium Hot Springs

Greywolf Golf Course

Calgary to Golden, BC

Our First Time Towing

Dawn and I kicked off our trip by picking up our R-Pod travel trailer from Rangeland RV in Calgary.

I’ll be honest, I was genuinely surprised to learn that our Jeep could comfortably pull a travel trailer through the mountains. I always assumed you needed a massive pickup truck to haul anything up a steep grade. But pulling the rig with our SUV turned out to be a breeze.

After the team at Rangeland walked us through the RV basics, we headed west out of Calgary on Highway 1 to our first course at the Golden Golf Club.

Golden Golf Club, Golden BC

Our First Round

I have been playing Golden Golf Club for decades, and it remains one of my absolute favourite layouts in Western Canada. Tucked right along the floor of the Columbia River Valley, this Bill Newis design stretches to 6,818 yards from the tips, but it is a course that rewards smart positioning over raw distance.

Par / Yardage: Par 72 / 6,818 Yards (Championship Tees)
Course Rating / Slope: 72.3 / 133
Hazard Alert: Hospital Creek comes into play across 6 holes

The defining characteristic here is Hospital Creek, a fast-flowing glacial stream that cuts across multiple fairways. Keep an eye out for local wildlife! We frequently spot elk grazing on the fringes of the back nine.

Signature Challenge (Hole 11): A demanding 415-yard par-4 where your drive must clear a dense pocket of timber, setting up a mid-to-long iron approach over a rushing section of Hospital Creek to an elevated, sloped green.

Where to Camp: Golden Golf Club RV Park

The best part about playing Golden is being able to stay right on the property. The club operates a private RV park hidden in the trees directly beside the driving range. You are literally fifty steps from the practice green.

You can book both your campsite and your tee time together directly on their website.

Canyon RV Resort and Campground

Cruising the Columbia Valley to Radium Hot Springs

After packing up in Golden, Dawn and I pointed the Jeep south along Highway 95.

Our game plan for this leg was to set up a central basecamp at Canyon RV Resort in Radium Hot Springs. Canyon RV Resort sits right along the banks of Sinclair Creek in Radium Hot Springs, surrounded by dense trees.

The signature feature here is Sinclair Creek, which rushes directly through the middle of the property. There is nothing quite like sitting in a lawn chair by the campfire after 18 holes, watching the sunset glow on the Purcell peaks, and falling asleep to the sound of rushing mountain water right behind your RV.

Woman drinking coffee at Canyon RV Resort

Eagle Ranch Resort Golf Course

Our Second Round

With the trailer parked at Canyon RV Resort, we took the Jeep 15 minutes south to Eagle Ranch Resort in Invermere. Perched high on the bluffs overlooking the Columbia Valley Wetlands, this Bill Robinson design is famous for dramatic ravines, sweeping valley vistas, and fast greens.

Par / Yardage: Par 72 / 6,646 Yards (Championship Tees)
Course Rating / Slope: 71.9 / 130
Terrain: Bluff-top routing with deep, timbered ravines coming into play on multiple holes.

The layout challenges your nerve off the tee and requires precise club selection on approach shots into elevated, protected greens. The elevation changes provide wide lookouts across the wetlands, but a misjudged wind reading can easily send your ball into the canyons.

Signature Challenge (Hole 11): A legendary par-3 that locals jokingly refer to as the “shortest par 5 in the valley.” You must carry a deep, timbered ravine to land your ball on a narrow, heavily bunkered green. Anything short or slightly off-line is swallowed by the canyon.

Radium Hot Springs

Après-Golf at the Hot Springs

After finishing up 18 holes at Eagle Ranch we drove to the entrance of Kootenay National Park for a soak at Radium Hot Springs.

Sitting right against a sheer, red-rock canyon wall, these natural, odourless mineral pools range from 37°C to 40°C (98°F to 104°F). There is no better way to unwind after a couple days of swinging golf clubs.

Greywolf Golf Course

Our Third Round

Leaving our travel trailer parked at Canyon RV Resort, Dawn and I hopped in the Jeep for a quick day trip up to Panorama Mountain Resort to Greywolf Golf Club.

Designed by Doug Carrick, Greywolf Golf Course is high-alpine golf at its absolute absolute finest. Sculpted directly into the Purcell Mountains, every hole on this track serves up sharp elevation shifts, pristine bentgrass fairways, and towering mountain backdrops.

Par / Yardage: Par 72 / 7,140 Yards (Championship Tees)
Course Rating / Slope: 74.2 / 144
Elevation: 1,150+ metres above sea level

The front nine opens with three consecutive uphill holes that test your stamina and club selection, before looping around into dramatic downhill runs. The layout is generous off the tee, but accurate distance control into the green complexes is the real key to scoring well here.

The Signature Challenge (Hole 6 – “Cliffhanger”): This is one of the most famous par-3s in world golf. Standing on an elevated tee box stretching up to 200 yards from the tips, you must hit a clean carry across a yawning, tree-lined canyon to an island green carved onto a rocky cliff outcropping. There is zero room for error: miss left or right, and your ball belongs to the gorge.

Before leaving Panorama, grab lunch on the sun-soaked deck at Cliffside Restaurant right in the Greywolf clubhouse overlooking the 18th green.