A Wonderful Winter Road Trip to Golden, British Columbia

Words and photography by Jay Kana

Award-winning travel and automotive journalist Jay Kana journeys nearly 2,000 kilometres from Vancouver to Golden and back to experience the wonders of winter while staying steady, safe and serenaded by a superb sound system.

Road trips are my favourite medium for travel. Perhaps it’s because I’ve driven over one million kilometres since 1994 in over 1,000 new vehicles. Whether it’s across town or across the country, the freedom and adventure of four-wheeled travel excites me.

My affection for Canada’s west coast, specifically the mountains and all that it entails, inspired this journey. The last time I took a long road trip in a Mitsubishi Motors vehicle was in late 2025, when I drove the refreshed gasoline Outlander SUV nearly 2,000 kilometres to discover Quebec’s Christmas markets.

The plan this time: drive the refreshed 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV from Vancouver to Golden on a late-winter Thursday, spend a few days experiencing this magical mountain town, and head back to Vancouver on Monday. It’s an eight-hour drive one way and would span nearly 2,000 km overall, which is on par for my average road trip.

The 2026 Outlander PHEV now features 72 km of electric range, up from 61 km in 2025, through a larger 22.7 kWh battery and can travel nearly 700 km on a full charge and full tank of fuel.

Yes, the majority of my driving would be on highways and thanks to the smartly designed regenerative system, one setting includes using the engine as a way of recharging the battery as you drive. The benefit? Being able to exclusively use the battery in Golden without having to charge it. Yes, it’s easy to charge, however, if I can charge it in motion, all the better.

The other significant change here is the Dynamic Sound Yamaha audio system, with the Outlander being the only vehicle in North America to feature this audio and automotive partnership. The result in my top-trim tester? A symphony of superb sounds spilling through 12 speakers, filling the cabin with well-balanced tones. As a musician, I’m heavily critical of car audio and this Dynamic Sound Yamaha Ultimate system is one of the best on the modern market.

I had experienced Golden, B.C. in the summer of 2022 and a winter visit was overdue. Known for their exceptional skiing, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is a spectacular destination with more than 70 Double Black and Black Diamond runs and the fifth-biggest vertical in North America.

I’m a good skier, but not a great one, and thankfully there are more than 20 Green runs that make the mountain accessible for people like me. Smartly, there are also several “Easiest Way Down” signs on these runs to increase inclusion. There’s also a Green run starting at the top of the mountain, where the gondola ends. So they’ve made it possible for you to experience the entire mountain regardless of skill level.

The next day, I traded my skis for a snowmobile through Golden Snowmobile Tours & Rentals. In my 40-ish years, this would be my first time on one. There’s an exhilaration of carving through fresh snow in an open meadow, and I found that at Quartz Creek, a 30 minute drive from Golden. Establishing and maintaining weight distribution on the sled is what turns a good day into a terrific day and after thorough lessons from my instructor Sean, my confidence and capabilities grew with every foot of snow I traversed over.

I wasn’t expecting to be sore after a few hours but then again, it was my first time. Cranking the standard three-stage heated driver’s seat to high and activating the massage function made the trip back to town quite relaxing.

Now that I’d checked off the outdoor side of things, I changed lanes and explored the delightful driving routes in and around Golden. From Forest Service roads that showcased the advanced Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC) system, to mountain roads and a few roads in between, there’s so much natural beauty to be discovered by car.

And part of the bonus was using the fully-electric mode for a good part of it.

The drive back to Vancouver started with a severe snowstorm along the infamous Rogers Pass at 6 a.m. It was one of the worst I’d driven in and with every inch forward, I was grateful for S-AWC, which independently distributes and manages torque distribution and braking between all four wheels.

Once past that, I was greeted by icy conditions on another infamous highway, 97C, which I successfully navigated through. It may seem like a small design element but having physical climate controls and full-screen navigation through my wireless Apple CarPlay made a big difference in elevating my road trip experience. Plus, the well-balanced, soft-yet-supportive driver’s seat resulted in exactly zero driver fatigue over my entire journey.

From paved roads, gravel roads, mountain roads, a variety of iconic Canadian highways to forest service roads to Vancouver’s urban roads, the 2026 Outlander PHEV handled them all with stability and sensibility. And yes, “snow” mode was used several times, along with a few of the other seven drive modes.

The up-to 72 km of all-electric range is a significant bump forward and will only increase the appeal of Canada’s best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle. The smartly designed cabin, ample cargo space and long list of standard safety features and standard features themselves bolster the Outlander PHEV’s presence. Add in the 10-year warranty and it’s the real deal in the wildly competitive compact crossover market. Seven available trims and its advanced EV system brilliantly bridge the gap between gasoline and fully electric, for those who want some but not all electrification.

I ended my Quebec Christmas market road trip article by saying “Over nearly 2,000 kilometres together, the Outlander and I are very close. Perhaps there’ll be a second date…”

And after a second remarkable nearly 2,000 km road trip to strike it rich in adventure in Golden, B.C., there will most certainly be a third date.

You might also like

New Roads

Ski-to-Sea in B.C.

From Whistler to Porteau Cove, follow Dylan’s Sea-to-Sky adventure along B.C.’s iconic coastline and mountain highway in a Mitsubishi Outlander.

03 Mar 2026 7 minutes

New Roads

A festive Quebec road trip

I used the Outlander as my chariot to roll into Quebec City and Montreal for the opening of their respective Christmas Markets.

18 Dec 2025 5 minutes

New Roads

Discovering Banff’s fall colours

I decided to live a YOLO moment and booked a WestJet flight from Vancouver to Calgary to seek out the yellow larch trees in Banff

22 Oct 2025 8 minutes