There are plenty of beautiful and free snowshoe trails in Whistler and Garibaldi Provincial Park.  From the surreal paintings of Whistler Train Wreck to the magnificent mountain serenity of Wedgemount Lake in Garibaldi Park.  Trails range from extremely easy, to extremely difficult. 

Whistler Bungee Bridge, also known as the Cheakamus Bungee Bridge is a very convenient and beautiful attraction on the way to or from Whistler from Vancouver.  Just 20 minutes south of Whistler Village on the Sea to Sky Highway, then just a 3 kilometre logging road takes you right to the stairs up to this amazing bridge.  Open year-round and surprisingly accessible, even in the snowy winter months.  Thousands of cars drive the Sea to Sky Highway past the turnoff to this wonderful bridge every day and never take a look. 

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 Highway at Cheakamus Crossing across from Function Junction.  This 8 kilometre stretch of logging road is fairly bumpy and potholed, but does have the benefit of allowing you to drive the elevation gain instead of hiking it.

Cheakamus River is a beautiful, crashing, turquoise coloured river that flows from Cheakamus Lake, through Whistler Interpretive Forest, then down past Brandywine Falls to Daisy Lake, then all the way to Squamish where it merges with Squamish River and into the ocean. Cheakamus River has quite an extensive network of hiking and biking trails that run alongside it.  The Riverside trail and the Farside trail run on either side of Cheakamus River and connect at both ends by bridges.

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. 

Cheakamus River is a beautiful, crashing, turquoise coloured river that flows from Cheakamus Lake, through Whistler Interpretive Forest at Cheakamus Crossing, then down past Brandywine Falls to Daisy Lake. Also a popular kayaking route, the main attraction to Cheakamus River is the wonderful and quite extensive network of trails that run along either side of it.  The Riverside trail and the Farside trail hug both sided of Cheakamus River and connect at both ends by bridges.

October 22nd, 2022: The Cal-Cheak campground just south of Whistler sits in a tranquil, huge tree forest, nestled between Callaghan Creek and Cheakamus River.  Both Callaghan Creek and Cheakamus River are huge and chaotic torrents of turquoise water that surround the campground on three sides.  Cal-Cheak Recreation Site is divided into three campsite areas, Callaghan Camp is adjacent to Callaghan Creek, the North Camp is along Cheakamus River, and the South Camp has both merging around it. 

Helm Creek is a cute, meandering creek that winds its way from beyond Black Tusk, down the valley to the wonderful campground that takes its name. From the Helm Creek campground, Helm Creek descends further along the Helm Creek trail, until it joins Cheakamus River, not far from where it leaves Cheakamus Lake. The location of Helm Creek campground is pretty amazing for a variety of reasons.

Logger's Lake is an amazing little lake hidden up in the deep forest above the more well known Cheakamus River. The lake, almost unbelievably exists in a long extinct volcano. However, as soon as you see the lake up close, you quickly come to believe it. The lake sits in an almost cartoonish looking, volcano-shaped bowl, with one side of the bowl a crumbling array of fridge sized boulders leading down to the lake.

Whistler Train Wreck is an amazing, easy and accessible year-round hike in Whistler.  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 to the wrecks only takes about 15 minutes, however once you reach one wreck, you see another, then another. 

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 to the wrecks only takes about 15 minutes, however once you reach one wreck, you see another, then another. There are seven wrecks in total that are spread over an area about 400 metres long.

Great Snowshoeing This Week!

10 Jan 2023: what trails are good this week?  Rainbow Falls is a fun and easy 1.1 kilometre(one way) trail to the cute and hidden waterfalls.  They are not huge and impressive, but the trail is fun as it bends and ascends quickly up the forest along Twentyone Mile Creek.  The snow is deep all winter and you almost always need snowshoes to get there.  If you hike a bit further beyond Rainbow Falls you connect to the Flank Trail which crosses Twentyone Mile Creek.  The bridge across is always deeply buried in snow and you always feel like you are in a winter wonderland!  Huge boulders below the bridge are buried in massive pillows of snow and it is quite easy to snowshoe along the creek which crashes through.  You can continue along the Flank Trail and connect back down to the Rainbow trailhead where you started.  This circle route is fantastic and you can easily snowshoe the route un under an hour.

Snowshoeing the Sproatt East Trail

The Sproatt East trail is another great trail to snowshoe in January.  This trail begins high up in Stonebridge, the neighbourhood across the valley from Whistler Village.  The trailhead begins very high up the side of Mount Sproatt, allowing you to start snowshoeing way up the mountain.  The Sproatt East trail winds through the forest, across several winding bridges, and up to several great views across the valley.  The trail to the summit of Sproatt is a very steep and challenging 5 kilometres, one way.  There are several stunning plateaus along the trail and make worthy destinations on their own.  The second plateau along the trail is just 2.4 kilometres from the trailhead.  Still challenging in the winter with snowshoes, but much easier than going all the way to the summit of Sproatt.  The first plateau is fairly easy and just 1.4 kilometres from the trailhead and still with wonderful views.

Best Whistler Hiking and Snowshoe Trails January

Madeley Lake Accessible Again!

Hike in Whistler News: July 28th, 2022: Whistler Olympic Park blocked vehicle access to Madeley lake back in 2020, which meant that you had to hike several kilometres up the ascending logging road to get there.  This year, evidently due to pressure from the public, they have moved the gate much farther up the road to the Hanging Lake trailhead.  It is still about 500 metres from Madeley Lake and well over a kilometre to the Madeley campsite.  At the gate there is a large area for parking and the hike to the lake is not too far.  This is a picture of the new gate and parking area.  On the right you can see the Madeley to Hanging Lake trailhead.

Winter 2021/2022 Hiking Gear Rental Sale!

Hike in Whistler News: November 10th, 2021: We are celebrating winter with a huge sale!  25% off everything!  We rent the best hiking gear at the best prices and with the best service.  We deliver and pick up anywhere in Whistler for free.  If you are driving up from Vancouver to go to Garibaldi Provincial Park, we deliver/pickup to the Rubble Creek trailhead for free as well!(on rental bookings over $100).  Let us do all the gear planning, maintenance and cleanup for you!  Pick up your gear at the trailhead and we will pick it up when you are done! We rent everything you could possibly need to hike in Whistler and beyond. We Rent complete hiking kits, so all you need is to bring clothes, food and drinks. All our hiking gear is top quality, ultralight and very expensive.. but not for you. We rent our top quality gear at bargain prices and all summer long we are taking 20% off our already amazingly low prices!

Madeley Lake Accessible Again!

Hike in Whistler Blog: July 8th, 2020: One of Whistler's most impressive drive-to mountain lakes, Madeley Lake is accessible once again. It appears a large public outcry forced, or at least embarrassed Whistler Olympic Park into opening the gate that was installed in the springtime barring public access. They have also removed the sign on the gate warning that entering the area is considered trespassing. Whistler Sport Legacies managed to gain control over this road in recent years by arguing the necessity to groom it in the winter. Evidently a forest service road cannot be legally groomed for skiing, so granting Whistler Sport Legacies the lease on Madeley Lake Road must have seemed like a harmless decision. To then parlay that decision into blocking the road in the summer to the public seems very dishonest.

Considerable hiking trail maintenance work in the last few years has gone on around Madeley Lake, which links it to Hanging Lake and Rainbow Lake. Obviously the trail work would not have been done if the trail was to be blocked by Whistler Olympic Park. The most shocking thing about Whistler Sport Legacies installing the gate is that no one seems to have known about it. Continued here...

Madeley Lake Closed?

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