Madeley Lake Access Open

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.

Whistler & Garibaldi 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 Jane Lakes 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 Sproatt East Sproatt West Taylor Meadows Train Wreck Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Alexander Falls Brandywine Falls Cirque Falls Holloway Falls Keyhole Falls Nairn Falls Rainbow Falls Shannon Falls Train Wreck Falls Wedgemount Falls

**14 July 2020: Apparently the gate is now locked again** 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. From the Resort Municipality of Whistler to the Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia, and apparently everyone in between. We have received hundreds of shocked emails in just the past few weeks inquiring into what is going on. It appears there are two reasons that Whistler Olympic Park (Whistler Sport Legacies) has installed the gate. The main reason is to give Whistler Photo Safaris exclusive access to the area in order to enable them to charge $149 to see the bears in the wider area. The second reason is to get rid of the wonderful and free campsite at the far end of Madeley Lake in preparation for the proposed pay-use campsites at Whistler Olympic Park. If you want to contact Whistler Olympic Park at 604-964-0059 to ask them why they put up a gate blocking access to Madeley Lake, the answer is "because we can". If you call Whistler Photo Safaris at 1-855-558-2327 to inquire about the gate, the answer you get is, "we don't know about it".

Madeley Lake Gate Open

In the last few weeks the gate looked like this...

Whistler Sport Legacies Gate

Madeley Lake Access Gate

Beautiful Madeley Lake

Madeley Lake is a wonderfully remote feeling place and the campsite is not maintained. There are a few picnic tables, an outhouse, several fire rings and several clearings for tents. Madeley Lake sits in a forgotten corner of Whistler's Callaghan Valley. Camping here is free and compared to every other campsite in and around Whistler, it is arguably the nicest. Tranquil, great rocky beach with a crashing river flowing by. Well laid out tent sites in a deep forest, sun facing and you can drink straight from the river which comes from a glacier at nearby Telemagique Lake.

October 21th, 2018: Pack smart by putting heavier items close to your back and higher up your pack. Be organized and think of keeping important things ...

May 3rd, 2019: The beautiful murals that make Whistler Train Wreck the magical place it is today, began appearing in 2011. Artists ranging from aspiring ...

May 5th, 2019: The summer of 2011 was the time when some local Whistler artists ventured into the wilderness between the crashing Cheakamus River and ...

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 ...

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 ...

November 23rd, 2021: Wonderful winter 2021/2022 hiking gear rental sale. 25% off everything! Use code: WINTER on checkout. We now rent 4 season tents! MSR ...

Sept 25th, 2019: Newt Lake is a fantastic, emerald coloured and very hidden lake up on the far side of Cougar Mountain. In the busy summer months you are not ...

Oct 10th, 2019: Jane Lakes consist of three lakes that are well hidden in the vast wilderness adjacent to Whistler’s Interpretive Forest. West Jane Lake, ...

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 fairly ...

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 ...

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 ...

August hiking in Whistler definitely has the most consistently great, hot weather. You can feel the rare pleasure of walking across a glacier shirtless and ...

Best Whistler Hiking Trails by Month

Whistler & Garibaldi Hiking

January February March April May June July August September October November December

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 ...

Black Tusk is the extraordinarily iconic and appropriately named mountain that can be seen from almost everywhere in Whistler. The massive black spire of crumbling rock juts out of the earth in an incredibly ...

Hiking and biking trails are so abundant in Whistler that many go unnoticed, neglected or taken for granted. The Flank Trail is one of these. Most people in Whistler don't even know about it, but the ones ...

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 ...

More Whistler Hiking Trails & Maps

HikeInWhistler.com

Garibaldi Park

Joffre Lakes

Rainbow Falls

Parkhurst Ghost Town

Black Tusk

Cirque Lake

Whistler Train Wreck

Wedgemount Lake

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