A pass on the Continental Divide between Banff National Park and Yoho National Park, crossed by the Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Designated a National Historic Site.

Hector’s crossing. Sir James Hector of the Palliser Expedition became the first European to cross the pass in August 1858. While recovering a stray horse near the junction of the Beaverfoot and Kicking Horse rivers (at Wapta Falls), Hector was kicked in the chest and knocked unconscious for hours; his men presumed him dead and dug a grave before he revived. The river and pass were named “Kicking Horse” for the incident. Hector continued up the valley and crossed the Divide; the first of his crossings that would stitch together the Bow headwaters, Vermilion, Kootenay, and Columbia systems for European science.

CPR and Spiral Tunnels. William Van Horne chose the Kicking Horse route over the Yellowhead; Major A.B. Rogers engineered the line and approved the grade. The “Big Hill” (4.5% grade) between Wapta Lake and Field was the steepest main-line grade in North America; runaways frequent, the first construction train crashed killing three workers. The Spiral Tunnels (J.E. Schwitzer, 1909) loop track inside Cathedral Mountain and Mount Ogden, reducing the grade to 2.2%. The pass remains a critical transport corridor. Hector Station and the Great Divide Lodge (former West Louise Lodge) mark the summit near Wapta Lake. Mount Stephen; with its Burgess Shale fossil beds; towers over Field at the west end. Viewpoints for the Spiral Tunnels on the Trans-Canada and Yoho Valley Road.

Kicking Horse Pass