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FAQ
What is Kicking Horse Pass?
Kicking Horse Pass is the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) crossing of the Continental Divide between Golden, BC and Lake Louise, Alberta. This site covers the BC portion — from Golden east through the Kicking Horse Canyon, past Field in Yoho National Park, to the BC/Alberta border at the summit. It's a distinct corridor from Rogers Pass (Revelstoke–Golden, covered by istherogerspassopen.ca).
How current is this data?
Conditions are refreshed from DriveBC's official Open511 feed every 5 minutes. Official data can lag fast-moving incidents by a few minutes, which is why we also show driver reports below the official status.
What's the alternate route when Kicking Horse Pass is closed?
In practice, none. Highway 1 through Kicking Horse Pass is the only through-highway between Golden and Lake Louise; the terrain makes any real detour a many-hour swing well to the north or south (e.g. via Radium and Highway 93). Most drivers just wait for reopening — closures are usually measured in hours.
Is this site free?
Free to check, free email alerts, no account required. We run a small number of hand-placed local sponsorships — no programmatic ads, no retargeting pixels, no third-party tracking scripts, ever.
Where does this data come from?
DriveBC's public Open511 API (api.open511.gov.bc.ca). We filter events to a bounding box that covers Highway 1 from Golden to the BC/Alberta border and classify each one as open, delayed, avalanche control, or closed.
Why does it close for avalanche control?
The Kicking Horse Canyon and the stretch through Yoho National Park (between Field and the Alberta border) run below active avalanche paths. Parks Canada and the Ministry of Transportation periodically close Highway 1 to trigger controlled avalanches with explosives — safer than waiting for a natural slide onto the highway. Closures are usually planned, announced in advance on DriveBC, and typically last a few hours.