Squamish sits in the midst of some amazing places to hike. Garibaldi Provincial Park sprawls from Squamish up and beyond Whistler. Tantalus Provincial Park lays across the valley to the west and the beautiful and desolate, by comparison, Callaghan Valley to the north.
GaribaldiProvincialPark
Garibaldi Provincial Park wraps around Squamish and is home to some amazing hiking trails. Garibaldi Lake, Panorama Ridge, Black Tusk and Elfin Lakes are all wonderful hiking destinations in this extraordinary Provincial Park so close to Squamish.
The Kitsilano beaches begin as soon as you cross the Burrard Bridge and enter the residential paradise of Kitsilano. Though only this first beach is named Kitsilano Beach, you can walk from one beach to the next via some short and scenic residential detours. So you can connect the beautiful Kitsilano Beach to Jericho Beach, then Locarno Beach then Spanish Banks Beach.
Walking them all will add up to about 8 kilometres (one way) of wonderfully varied beaches, parks, marinas, the enormous Kits Pool and endless vantage points to English Bay and Burrard Inlet. This is not a hiking route but rather a fantastic beach walk anytime of the year.
With the changing weather and seasons change the wonderful feel you get walking around Vancouver. There are plenty of places to park near all of the various parks and beaches as well as the large pay parking lot on Arbutus Street next to the beach. Kitsilano is a wonderful place to go for a coffee or dinner and there are endless restaurants just a few blocks from the beach. From downtown Vancouver, cross Burrard Street Bridge and bear right on Cornwall Ave as you enter Kitsilano. After three blocks you will see Arbutus St, turn right and you will see the Kitsilano pay parking lot.
Rice Lake is a relaxing walk around a cute lake in Lynn Valley. It is a family friendly hike although dogs are not welcome. Roundtrip from your car the trail around the lake is just 3 kilometres and should ...
Mount Fromme is the thickly forested mountain next to Grouse Mountain. If looking from the direction of downtown Vancouver, Mount Fromme is just to the right. It is infrequently hiked, at least partly due ...
Burnaby Mountain, just 30 minutes east of downtown Vancouver has a nice network of popular trails with fantastic views of Vancouver, Burrard Inlet and beyond. The trails link to the wonderful Trans Canada ...
Mount Strachan is part of the trio of mountains, also Black Mountain and Hollyburn Mountain that form a bowl, or Cypress Bowl that give the resort its name. The Cypress part of the name comes from the ...
The Lions or Twin Sisters lie in North Vancouver, south of Squamish. The two distinct, rocky peaks are visible from downtown Vancouver. The one on the left, the one pictured above, can be climbed. You don't have ...
Cirque Lake is a wild and beautiful lake that hides high above and beyond Callaghan Lake in Callaghan Lake Provincial Park. What makes Cirque Lake special among the other sensationally beautiful lakes in the ...
Garibaldi Lake is the centre and base for much of the hiking in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The Garibaldi Lake campsite is located on the amazing, turquoise shores of this massive and mostly still wild ...
Brew Lake is beautiful mountain lake just a short drive south of Whistler and is relatively unknown and seldom hiked. Laying at the base of Mount Brew, Brew Lake lays in a massive alpine valley of enormous erratics. ...