Kicking Horse River

The Kicking Horse River is a river located in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The river begins near the Waputik Icefield in Yoho National Park and moves in a southwesterly direction past the towns of Field and Golden before reaching its confluence with the Columbia River.

The river was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, was kicked by his packhorse while exploring the river. Hector survived and named the river and a pass as a result of the incident. The Kicking Horse Pass was the route through the mountains subsequently taken by the Canadian Pacific Railway when it was constructed during the 1880s.