June Hiking Update!
Looking forward to summer hiking opening up in Whistler as the mountain trails emerge from the deep winter snow? Check out our Whistler hiking guide for June! Escape to the wilderness and rent gear today at WeRentGear Whistler.
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 Whistler area is both its location and geologically formed shape. It sits high above Callaghan Lake, which itself is a gorgeous, mountain lake. The remoteness of Callaghan Lake is a bit of a mirage due to the fact that you can drive right to it!
Infrequently hiked & relatively untouched- Stunningly beautiful lake created by glaciation
- Endless alpine terrain to explore beyond the lake
- The cirque acts a shield against the cold mountain winds
- The side of the cirque you will be on is always sunny
- You feel like you are in a hidden world in the mountains
- Starting your hike from a canoe is fun
- Callaghan Lake is a destination on its own
- The drive to Callaghan is beautifully scenic
Few flat areas to put up a tent & cold swimming!
Callaghan Lake is accessible via an 8 kilometre weather battered and very potholed forest service road. The entire road is cratered with deep potholes, cut by frequent cross-ditches, and more recently a small section collapsing into the valley below. This logging road begins high up in the Callaghan Valley, which itself is largely overlooked by travellers to Whistler. The Callaghan Valley is home to quite a few natural and man-made attractions. Brandywine Meadows, Alexander Falls, Northair Mine and Mount Sproatt are all found in the valley. Recently, the 2010 Olympic Games produced the largest man-made attraction in Callaghan Valley, Whistler Olympic Park. Though Cirque Lake is tremendously far into the wilderness, the amount of hiking required to reach it is effectively less than two kilometres. Another two kilometres of canoeing is required to reach the trailhead at the far end of Callaghan Lake. But for such an enchantingly beautiful, mountain lake, the exertion to reach it is remarkably little. The other attribute of Cirque Lake that makes it special, is its cirque structure. From the moment you catch sight of Cirque Lake, the abruptly steep sides all around give you the humbling feeling that you are inside a volcano. A volcano filled with emerald water and ringed by grassy meadows and crumbling, near vertical cliffs. Where you stand, at the entrance to the cirque, is not far from the only water channel out of the cirque. An ever narrowing gap in the cliffs spills water down one cliff after another until reaching Callaghan Lake just 1.4 kilometres away.
Owing to the fact that you have to reach the trailhead to Cirque Lake by boat ensures that it almost always remains deserted. Even in the middle of summer, your tent will almost certainly be the only one that resides in this magical cirque. You sometimes get hikers venturing up from their campsites at Callaghan Lake for a couple hours, otherwise nobody. One feature of the Cirque Lake trail that no doubt scares hikers away is its steepness and ruggedness. It is mostly very steep, and due to the obliterating effects of winter snow, the trail markers are sporadic at best. One consolation is of course the length of the trail. Under two kilometres, makes the steepness much easier to tackle. With a heavy pack you can easily hike the trail in a little over an hour. Or an hour and a half or two if you linger at the frequent viewpoints looking back on Callaghan Lake. The eruption of blueberry bushes in August is cause for some delays as well as it is surprisingly hard to pass up feasting on every bush you see.. and you will see a lot. The trail, for the most part is quite scenic and enjoyable. The first 15 minutes of the trail winds through a cute forest along and over some small streams. The next 15 minutes takes you up some steeper and more challenging terrain that require pulling yourself up with tree roots and at one section a knotted rope.
Thirty minutes into the trail brings you to a massive boulder field that you have to budget your attention between the treacherous boulders ahead and the incredible views of Callaghan Lake behind. The final 15 minutes of the trail is the most enjoyable of all. Summiting the ridge that takes you to the access point entrance to Cirque Lake. This ridge has a clearing with breathtaking views overlooking Callaghan Lake. So beautiful that you will be tempted to drop your pack and spend the night. The real marvel of course lays just 5 minutes ahead.
Callaghan Valley Hiking Trails
Alexander Falls 
Brandywine Meadows Callaghan Lake 
Cirque Lake
Madeley Lake 
Rainbow Lake Ring Lake Sproatt
More Whistler Hiking Maps & Guides
Alexander Falls Maps Ancient Cedars Maps Black Tusk Maps Blackcomb Maps Brandywine Falls Maps Brandywine Meadows Maps Brew Lake Maps Callaghan Lake Maps Cheakamus Lake Maps Cheakamus River Maps Cirque Lake Maps Garibaldi Lake Maps Helm Creek Maps Joffre Lakes Maps Keyhole Maps Logger’s Lake Maps Madeley Lake Map Meager Hot Springs Maps Nairn Falls Maps Panorama Ridge Maps Parkhurst Maps Rainbow Falls Maps Rainbow Lake Maps Ring Lake Maps Russet Lake Maps Skookumchuck Maps Sloquet Hot Springs Maps Sproatt Maps Taylor Meadows Maps Train Wreck Maps Wedgemount Lake Maps Whistler Mountain Maps
Sept 11th, 2019: The notoriously difficult biking trail in the wilderness between Emerald Forest and Rainbow Park is a pretty fun place to wander around. It ...
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April 29th, 2019: Back in 2011 a group of Whistler artists met at Whistler Train Wreck and transformed it from a bland array of wrecked train cars into a ...
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May 10th, 2019: Whistler Train Wreck is home to several stunning murals painted on the old wrecked boxcars. Mixed with graffiti art, some of murals stand ...
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December 21st, 2019: Way up in the Callaghan Valley on the back side of Mount Sproatt is an abandoned gold mine. Old cement foundations and two ...
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April 8th, 2019: The Rubble Creek trailhead to Garibaldi Provincial Park is finally accessible by car. The snow buried access road is mostly free of snow. ...
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October 21th, 2018: Pack smart by putting heavier items close to your back and higher up your pack. Be organised and think of keeping important things ...
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June 13th, 2020: One of Callaghan Valley's beautiful places appears to be now blocked from the public. Madeley Lake, about as perfectly idyllic a lake can ...
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Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking
Alexander Falls Ancient Cedars Black Tusk 
Blackcomb Mountain Brandywine Falls Brandywine Meadows Brew Lake Callaghan Lake Cheakamus Lake 
Cheakamus River Cirque Lake Flank Trail Garibaldi Lake Garibaldi Park Helm Creek Joffre Lakes Keyhole Hot Springs Logger’s Lake Madeley Lake Meager Hot Springs Nairn Falls Newt Lake Panorama Ridge Parkhurst Ghost Town Rainbow Falls Rainbow Lake Ring Lake Russet Lake Sea to Sky Trail Skookumchuck Hot Springs Sloquet Hot Springs Mount Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck 
Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Shannon Falls towers above Howe Sound at 335 metres as the third tallest falls in BC. The wonderful, though very short trail winds through a beautiful old ...
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Whistler Train Wreck is a hidden little world of brightly graffiti painted, wrecked train cars along a gorgeous stretch of Cheakamus River. One ...
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Brandywine Falls is one of the must see sights on the way to or from Whistler. The falls drop from a 70 metre(230 feet), unnaturally abrupt looking cliff ...
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Nairn Falls is a wonderful, crashing and chaotic waterfall that surrounds you from the deluxe viewing platform that allows you to safely watch it from ...
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Russet Lake is a surreal little paradise that lays at the base of The Fissile, in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The Fissile is the strikingly bronze mountain visible from Whistler Village. From the Village ...
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Callaghan Lake Provincial Park is a relatively untouched wilderness of rugged mountainous terrain. The valley walls were formed by relatively recent glaciation. Evidence of this can be seen in the ...
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Keyhole Hot Springs (aka Pebble Creek Hot Springs) is located 100 kilometres from Whistler(Village Gate Blvd). Closed from Apr 1- Nov 15 due to Grizzly Bears habituated to humans in the area. Though most of ...
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Brandywine Meadows is a nice, relatively short hike to a massive flower filled valley high up in Callaghan Valley. Located 40 minutes south of Whistler, this tough and sometimes muddy trail gains a huge 550 ...
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