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Whistler Train Wreck

Northair Mine

Wedgemount Lake

Adit Lakes

Logger's Lake

Joffre Lakes

Callaghan Lake

Newt Lake

Black Tusk

Cirque Lake

Wedgemount Lake

Brandywine Meadows

Black Tusk

Spectacular Whistler!

Whistler hiking is wonderful! Check out our Best Whistler Hiking by Month guides! WeRentGear.com rents tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, camp stoves, packs, complete kits and more!

Best Trails This Week!

Best This Week: Whistler Train Wreck and Parkhurst Ghost Town are easy, fun and dog friendly. Check out our May and June Whistler and Garibaldi Park guides here!

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 above.  The beautiful, green water rushes through the deep and angular channels of rock. Nairn Falls Provincial Park is centred around a very large campground and the short, 1.2 kilometre trail to the falls.

  • Very nice trail along the river to the falls
  • Informative signs at the falls explaining geology
  • Accessible year-round, even during snowy days
  • Campground is elaborate and well laid out
  • Easy, family friendly hiking trail
  • Very dog friendly trails
  • Campsites are crowded together
  • Not too much to see except the falls
  • Campground gets very busy
  • Fun to swim near the campsite, but cold!

Though the BC Parks website describes Nairn Falls as 60 metres high, the description is a bit misleading. You won't find a marvellously abrupt drop into a deep chasm like to see with Brandywine Falls. Nairn Falls has a very different shape to it, but is every bit as interesting and scenic. More so, in fact, due to the interesting geological information you find at the main viewpoint over the falls.  Nairn Falls crash through various narrow and wide areas, and though the cumulative drop is 60 metres, what you see is a series of 10 to 20 metre falls through a deep, zig-zagging canyon. There are very nicely constructed railings, fences and viewing areas as well as a walkway that guides you to the best views. With such abruptly steep rock all around, the area would be potentially dangerous. Evidently there have been deaths here before. A cross, reverently placed across the chasm from the viewing platform, indicates of some tragic event. Nairn Falls Provincial Park is located just a short 20 to 30 minute drive north of Whistler.  From the large parking lot the well marked trail runs along the Green River for 1.2 kilometres to Nairn Falls. The trail is very easy and is hike-able year-round. Though considerable snow falls in the winter months here, the popular trail remains easy to follow, and snowshoes are usually not needed. You will find the parking lot gate locked in the winter, so you can park outside the gate and walk in. In cold winter weather you may find some treacherous sections of trail. The trail is quite narrow and follows a course next to a very steep slope down to the rushing river. On many winter days you will find the trail icy and extremely slippery.

Though the main trail to Nairn Falls is the main focus of visitors to Nairn Falls Provincial Park, there are more trails to more sights. The Sea to Sky Trail and various other trails zig-zag to the south. A cute trail off the campground brings you down to the river and quite a scenic area at a large bend in the river. This is the place you can jump in the water on a hot day.

Nairn Falls Provincial Park - Hike in Whistler

Nairn Falls Potholes

Nairn Falls Hike in Whistler 15

Nairn Falls Aerial View

The Story of Nairn Falls

Nairn Falls Provincial Park Map

Nairn Falls Provincial ParkMost visitors to Nairn Falls Provincial Park just see the falls, however, to the left, beyond the campsites the Green River is beautiful.  A short trail takes you down to a wide bend in the river and you find yourself in what looks like a large beach. It is a hidden bit of paradise with the crystal clear, green water flowing over polished rocks. The whole are is in almost constant sunlight despite being in the middle of the forest. On warm, summer days you will find people swimming, sipping beers on the rock cliffs across the river and generally having an amazing time in this usually forgotten corner of the park.

Nairn Falls Large Map v7

Getting to Nairn Falls

Driving to the TrailheadNairn Falls is very easy to find, just a 20-30 minute drive north of Whistler. From Whistler Village, zero your odometer at Village Gate Boulevard and head north on Highway 99(towards Pemberton), 29.1 kilometres from Whistler Village you will see the parking lot on your right and a huge Nairn Falls Provincial Park highway sign. There is a large, free parking area as you enter the park. If you drive further into the park you will find all the drive-to camping areas as well as the park warden's cabin. If you are just visiting the falls, parking at the main area just off the highway is best.  If you find the gate locked(after hours and in the winter), you can park along the edge of the highway.

Nairn Falls Driving Directions Map

More Nairn Falls Information

More Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking Maps!

Brandywine Falls Maps

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 to the valley below. ...
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Callaghan Lake Maps

Callaghan Lake Park is a relatively untouched wilderness of rugged mountainous terrain. The valley walls were formed by relatively recent glaciation. Evidence of this can be ...
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Train Wreck Maps

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 ...
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Taylor Meadows Maps

Taylor Meadows is a very scenic campsite and great alternative to the much busier and more well known, Garibaldi Lake campsite. Located in Garibaldi Provincial Park between Garibaldi ...
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More Whistler Hiking Trail Maps
 

Amazing West Coast Trail Highlights

Whistler & Garibaldi Park Glossary A to Z

The Roundhouse Lodge is the centre of activity on much of Whistler Mountain.  It is where the Whistler Gondola drops off and next to where the Peak 2 Peak ...
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Columnar Jointing: bizarre looking columns of oddly angular rock formations that can be found in many places around Whistler and worldwide.  Generally ...
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Surprisingly often in Whistler's forests you will find a tree growing on an old fallen tree or out of a decaying tree stump. Decaying logs and stumps in ...
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The Fitzsimmons Range is a subsection of the Garibaldi Ranges that covers the area between the valleys of Cheakamus Lake and Fitzsimmons Creek.  Fitzsimmons ...
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Accumulation Zone: the area where snow accumulations exceeds melt, located above the firn line.  Snowfall accumulates faster than melting, evaporation and ...
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The Barrier formed as a result of huge lava flows from Clinker Peak on the west shoulder of Mount Price during the last ice age.  About thirteen thousand ...
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Wedge Creek cuts through the valley that separates Wedge Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain and empties into Green River near the north end of Green Lake.  ...
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Crevasse: is a split or crack in the glacier surface, often with near vertical walls.  Crevasses form out of the constant movement of a glacier over ...
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More Hike in Whistler Glossary

Free Camping Gear Delivery to Garibaldi Park

The Best Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking Trails!

Whistler has an absurd number of wonderful and free hiking trails and Parkhurst Ghost Town certainly ranks as the most unusual and interesting. Parkhurst was a little logging town perched on the edge of Green ...
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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 ...
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Alexander Falls is a very impressive 43 metre/141 foot waterfall just 30 to 40 minutes south of Whistler in the Callaghan Valley. Open year-round and located just before Whistler Olympic Park where several ...
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Wedgemount Lake itself is a magnificent destination for a day hike or spectacular overnight beneath the dazzling mountain peaks and stars above Garibaldi Provincial Park. Many sleep under the stars on one of ...
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More Whistler Hiking Trails & Maps

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