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.
The Rainbow Trail is a convenient and popular trail near Whistler Village that takes you to Rainbow Lake as well as the Flank Trail, Rainbow Falls, Hanging Lake, Madeley Lake, Beverley Lake, Rainbow Mountain... and even Whistler Olympic Park if you are determined. It is a consistently uphill and very beautiful trail with several water (bridge) crossings and waterfalls on the way to the picture-perfect lake.
Quiet trail compared to other Whistler trails- Trails continue past the lake to other lakes
- Stunning views of Blackcomb & Whistler mountains
- Continuing trail/route to Rainbow Mountain
- The alpine hiking options(eg: Sproatt) are incredible
- The huge erratics at the lake are perfect for suntanning
No camping, fishing or swimming allowed- Trail is sometimes scenic, but often in deep forest
- Tour companies often fly over spoiling the serenity
- Dogs not allowed due to being Whistler's water source
There are a few views of the valley across to Whistler Mountain, Blackcomb Mountain, and Wedge Mountain. Few views, though fantastic. Rainbow Lake itself is in a gorgeous alpine valley with branching trails that extend further beyond the lake in at least three directions. Along with the waterfalls, bridge crossings and valley views, the Rainbow Trail passes through deep forest with some impressively huge trees. Plenty of birds can be heard and seen along the trail and though black bears frequent the area, they are infrequently spotted due to their migration down into the valley. Cougars are also known to roam around this area, though also rarely spotted. As recently as 2014 signs of cougar activity were identified on the Flank Trail near where it branches off from the Rainbow Trail. The Rainbow Trail has a small side trail that takes you to Rainbow Falls. Not far from the trailhead, the small Rainbow Falls sign is easily missed.
It is located about five minutes into the Rainbow Trail and your best bet to find it is to keep bearing right along the first couple trail branches. Don't worry about getting lost here though as all the trails reconnect further along the trail when you briefly exit the forest at the water treatment building. Unfortunately, Rainbow Lake is the water supply for Whistler, so you cannot swim, fish or camp near the lake. There is decent camping available nearby at Hanging Lake as well as Beverley Lake in the direction of Rainbow Mountain.
Hanging Lake is a bit dark and swampy as compared to the spectacular camping at Beverley Lake which is a tough but rewarding hike beyond Rainbow Lake. Beverley Lake is reached by following the trail toward Rainbow Mountain. About 40 minutes into this trail the trail markers will stop as it ascends up into an extensive boulder field towards Rainbow Mountain. To reach Beverley Lake, bear left of the route to Rainbow Mountain and follow the valley. Beverley Lake is about an hours hike from Rainbow Lake. To get even further from the world, hike the partly marked trail to Beverley Lake. The first kilometre is well worn and easy to follow as this is also a somewhat popular trail to reach the summit of Rainbow Mountain. The Rainbow Mountain trail veers right and quickly ascends through massive boulders. If you instead bear left and stay in the valley you will reach this fantastically remote lake. You will be a bit disheartened, however, when you arrive at the lake and see a picnic table. It's very out of place, evidently put there by some helicopter tour company. Other than the weird picnic table there are no signs of humanity, and no restrictions on camping as you have at Rainbow Lake.
More Rainbow Lake Hiking Info...
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
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 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
The Barrier Bears Cloudraker Skybridge Coast Mountains Erratic The Fissile Fitzsimmons Range Garibaldi Ranges Garibaldi Volcanic Belt Green Lake Hoary Marmot Krummholz Mount Garibaldi Overlord Peak2Peak Roundhouse Rubble Creek Spearhead Range
Best Hiking by Month
May is an extraordinarily beautiful time of year in Whistler. The days are longer and warmer and a great lull in between seasons happens. Whistler is ...
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June is a pretty amazing month to hike in Whistler. The average low and high temperatures in Whistler range from 9c to 21c(48f/70f). The summer tourist ...
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July is a wonderful time to hike in Whistler and Garibaldi Provincial Park. The weather is beautiful and the snow on high elevation hiking trails is long ...
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August hiking in Whistler definitely has the most consistently great, hot weather. You can feel the rare pleasure of walking across a glacier shirtless ...
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Best Whistler Aerial Views
Alexander Falls is located far up in the Callaghan Valley just before the turnoff to Callaghan Lake Provincial Park. The falls are very impressive with its ...
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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 ...
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Callaghan Lake is a stunning lake high up in the Callaghan Valley that you can drive to from Whistler Village in less than an hour. The very potholed and ...
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Mount Sproatt, or as it is known locally as just Sproatt, is one of the many towering mountains visible from Whistler Village. Above and beyond Alta ...
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Whistler Hiking Trails
The Rainbow Trail is a convenient and popular trail near Whistler Village that takes you to Rainbow Lake as well as the Rainbow-Sproatt Flank Trail, Rainbow Falls, Hanging Lake, Madeley Lake, Beverley ...
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Joffre Lakes Provincial Park is a gorgeous park with extraordinarily coloured lakes, waterfalls, stunning mountain peaks and ominous glaciers pouring into the valley. Joffre Lakes is one of those incredible places ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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