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.
Cheakamus River is the beautiful, crashing and turquoise coloured river that flows from Cheakamus Lake, through the Cheakamus Valley to Daisy Lake. Also a popular kayaking route, the main attraction to Cheakamus River is the wonderful and quite extensive network of hiking and biking trails that run along either side of it. Several trails run throughout the forest around the enormous 70 kilometre length of Cheakamus River.
Trails such as the Cheakamus Lake trail, the Whistler Train Wreck trail and the Sea to Sky Trail. For the most part, however, if you are talking about the Cheakamus River trails you are likely talking about the Farside and Riverside trails in Whistler Interpretive Forest. Eight kilometres south of Whistler Village and surrounding the recently constructed neighbourhood of Cheakamus Crossing is Whistler Interpretive Forest. This beautiful forest surrounds the Cheakamus River and has been cut and replanted in several areas in the past decades. Hiking and biking trails have sprung up over the years making the area a wonderful place to explore. Unfortunately, the Interpretive Forest is day-use only, no camping is permitted. The main highlights of the Interpretive Forest are the beautiful Cheakamus River trails, and the extraordinary Logger’s Lake. Logger’s Lake, just a short hike from the Cheakamus River suspension bridge, sits within a 10000 year old, extinct volcano and is a hiking destination on its own. Logger’s Lake is a beautiful, hidden hidden paradise for swimming. There are several excellent vantage points to see the river and the amazing Cheakamus River suspension bridge is one of the best. Located at one end of the Farside and Riverside trails, there is even a parking area nearby. This is also the parking area for Logger’s Lake, making it a beautiful starting point to hike both area in an afternoon.
There are several excellent places to park to begin hiking or biking around the Cheakamus River. You can park at various places within sight of the river on either side of it just steps from a hiking trail. The Whistler Interpretive Forest trailhead parking just off the Sea to Sky Highway is large, easy to find and adjacent to the Sea to Sky Trail. This is an ideal place to park if you are biking the trails. If you are hiking, however, you might want to drive a couple hundred metres past and then turn left onto Cheakamus Lake Road. This gravel road almost immediately forks. Continuing strait takes you along the left side of Cheakamus River and taking the right fork follows the opposite side. There are excellent road and trail signs at this junction and the ones further along.
Black Tusk is the extraordinarily iconic and appropriately named mountain that can be seen from countless vantage points around Whistler. The massive black spire of crumbling rock juts out of the earth in an ...
Stawamus Chief is the mammoth rock face that towers over Squamish. Though hardly believable from looking at, the summit is a fairly easy, though very steep hike. In fact there are three peaks, South (First), ...
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 ...
Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Park is an absolutely phenomenal, though long, hiking, biking, snowshoeing and skiing trail that begins at the Diamond Head area in Squamish. From downtown Squamish, the trailhead is ...
Cheakamus Lake is a wonderfully relaxing way to get in the wilderness easily and quickly from Whistler Village. The trail begins on the far side of Whistler Mountain, 8 kilometres from the Sea to Sky ...
Blackcomb Mountain holds an impressive and ever growing array of hiking trails. From the moment you step off the Blackcomb Gondola and you arrive at the Rendezvous Lodge, you see hiking trails ascend into ...
The trail to Whistler Train Wreck is an easy, yet varied route through deep forest, across a great suspension bridge over Cheakamus River, to a stunning array of wrecked train cars. The trail from your car ...
Whistler is an amazing place to hike. Looking at a map of Whistler you see an extraordinary spider web of hiking trails. Easy trails, moderate trails and challenging hiking trails are all available. Another marvellous thing about Whistler is that Garibaldi Provincial ...
Squamish sits in the midst of some amazing places to hike. Garibaldi 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. Add to ...
Clayoquot Sound has a staggering array of hiking trails within it. Between Tofino and Ucluelet, Pacific Rim Park has several wilderness and beach trails, each one radically different from the last. The islands in the area are often Provincial parks on their own with ...
Victoria has a seemingly endless number of amazing hiking trails. Most take you to wild and beautiful Pacific Ocean views and others take you to tranquil lakes in beautiful BC Coastal Rainforest wilderness. Regional Parks and Provincial Parks are everywhere you turn ...
The West Coast Trail was created after decades of brutal and costly shipwrecks occurred along the West Coast of Vancouver Island. One shipwreck in particular was so horrific, tragic and unbelievable that it forced the creation of a trail along the coast, which ...