The Alta Green Lost 15k is a fantastic 15 kilometre(9.3 mile) trail run that takes you past three of Whistler's wonderful lakes and several gorgeous parks. Almost entirely on the wide, paved, two lane Valley Trail, this run is constantly changing as you pass numerous stunning vantage points. Easy to navigate and several gradual hills make this a relaxing and constantly interesting trail run. If you are a fan of beautiful sunrises, this run is packed with spectacular ones. If you like to jump in a lake in the middle of your run, you have many opportunities, including a naked plunge from the clothing optional pier on Lost Lake!
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
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Whistler Golf 5k Blueberry Hill 6k Lost Lake 6k Alta Lake 8k Fitzsimmons 9k Alta Green Lost 15k
Running the entire length of Alta Lake gives you a horizon of snowy mountains, blue sky and a south facing, sunny views. The Alta Green Lost 15k, as with the Whistler Golf Course 5k and the Alta Lake 8k, is accessible from several convenient locations. You can access this route directly by parking at the end of Lorimer Road, or from Whistler Village via the pedestrian and car underpass off of Whistler Way. If you run between Buffalo Bills and the Conference Centre you will come to Whistler Way and see this underpass under the Sea to Sky Highway. Running under the underpass you will come to the Whistler Golf Course parking lot and clubhouse with the Valley Trail branching both left and right. Taking the Valley Trail to the left you immediately enter a deep forest with the golf course on your right. The Valley Trail follows the edge of the golf course as it bends left and right as well as gradual ascents and descents. You consistently gain a slight bit of elevation as you reach one end of the golf course and emerge from the forest where the Valley Trail bends right for about 20 metres along the edge of Blueberry Drive. Here you will catch your first stunning view of Whistler Golf Course and mountains in the distance. Wedge Mountain, with its starkly wedge shape fills the sky in the distance, poking above Blackcomb Mountain.
Guides to the Best of Whistler
Best Dog Friendly Hiking Trails
Whistler is very dog friendly and the number of wonderful hiking trails that your dog will love is huge. The massively varied hiking trails range from easy, short, close to Whistler Village to challenging, long and deep in the endless wilderness around Whistler. You can find dog friendly trails in and around Whistler Village that take you through deep, dark and magical forests. Or you can drive beyond Whistler Village and take your dog to spectacular alpine lakes. Some requiring little or no hiking, while others are found after hiking challenging and long trails. Many of these places are comparatively quiet and often you and your dog will have the the wilderness to yourselves. In and around Whistler Village you have Lost Lake with its spider web of trails... Continued here.
Best Free Whistler Camping
Whistler is surrounded by an immense wilderness dotted with spectacular, hidden lakes and amazing places to set up a tent. Decades of logging activity has left a network of forest service roads that has opened easy access to these places. Some of these you can drive to and some you may need a 4x4 to comfortably get to. Some places to camp for free you can drive to, some require a short hike and others are fairly long hikes to reach. Beautiful Callaghan Valley is home to several incredible and free places to camp. Callaghan Lake has a great free drive-to campsite just steps from this spectacular alpine lake. If you have a canoe, you can paddle to the end of Callaghan Lake and hike the short, but steep trail up to Cirque Lake. This gorgeous lake is deep in the alpine wilderness... Continued here.
No Car? No Problem! Whistler Trails
Whistler as a resort has a wonderful car-free core. The Village Stroll runs through the heart of Whistler Village and is entirely car free. If you are visiting Whistler or living here and you don't have a car, it's no problem. On foot or on a bike you can travel the extensive network of non-motorized trails. The Valley Trail snakes through Whistler Village and extends in several directions, all of which lead to beautiful parts of Whistler. The Sea to Sky Trail and the Lost Lake trails continue this massive, car-free network of trails running almost everywhere in Whistler. When it comes to many of the best hiking trails, getting to the trailheads on foot, by bike or public transit can be tricky at best or complicated and impractical at worst. Many trailheads are far from Whistler Village and... Continued here.
On a sunny day this spot will stop you for a moment to take in this wonderful view. Wedge Mountain is the highest mountain in the Garibaldi Ranges and Blackcomb Mountain lays to its right in the foreground. To the left are Parkhurst, Rethel and Cook, all mountains surrounding Wedgemount Lake. Wedgemount Lake is one of the most amazing hiking destinations in Whistler and Garibaldi Provincial Park. After taking in this beautiful view, cross Blueberry Drive and continue running down St. Anton Way along the Valley Trail that runs along the right side of the road. The Valley Trail bends left down Archibald Way, then right on Carleton Way, then left on Lakeside Road before reaching Lakeside Park. From here you follow the Valley Trail along, or close to Alta Lake all the way to Rainbow Park. You don't have to worry about losing your way as the Valley Trail will guide you. When you do come to a fork in the trail you will have an excellent direction signpost and often a mapboard.
Lakeside Park is quite a nice and big park that is very popular in the summer. There are a couple wharves, concession stand and washrooms. As you run past the park you will see a small trail on the right. It leads to a beautiful viewpoint and further along a little log cabin. Definitely worth a quick look for the great view. Back on the Valley Trail you will be ascending up into the forest and then descending down to Wayside Park. Another cute park on Alta Lake, Wayside Park is known for its secluded feel, great swimming and for canoe and kayak rentals in the summer. After Wayside Park you reach the end of Alta Lake and turn right and hug the shore of the other side of Alta Lake. Almost immediately you will see Alta Lake Park on your right. Even if you are rushing through on your run, you should run through this cute park. It is only slightly longer than continuing on the Valley Trail and it takes you through a nice forest with two piers on either end and several old relics from the past. An ancient truck and tractor lay rusting in the forest along the path as well as some great art installations. The short, Alta Lake Park path continues to a fork in the trail. Right takes you immediately to the park's huge L-shaped pier and the left fork brings you back out to the Valley Trail.
The Valley Trail turns sharply left and crosses the train tracks, then ascends up to Alta Lake Road. Turn right on Alta Lake Road and just run along the road for a kilometre before getting back on the Valley Trail in Rainbow Park. This kilometre long stretch of road is actually quite nice to run along as it ascends up to give you great views of Alta Lake and the background of mountains. There is a shortcut from Alta Lake Road into Rainbow Park just a couple hundred metres before the parking lot entrance. You will see it on the right as a wide trail into the trees. This trail zig-zags you down to Rainbow Park at the train track crossing. There are washrooms here as well as a water fountain. After you cross the train tracks and the bridge you can take a right to go to the lovely pier, or take a left and continue your run along the Valley Trail.
Leaving Rainbow Park you enter the forest and cross the River of Golden Dreams. A few hundred metres later you come to another Valley Trail junction at the end of Lorimer Road. This is about the halfway point of the 15k run. Turn left here and cross the River of Golden Dreams and the train tracks. The Valley Trail here runs through the forest along a pretty flat route for a couple kilometres to Meadow Park. Meadow Park is a large sports centre with an ice rink, gym, huge pool, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, ball hockey/basketball court and a huge kids play park. As you run through the park you will be turning right as you pass the parking lot on your left. Crossing the River of Golden Dreams the Valley Trail bends right and you have to cross the highway at the crosswalk.
Across the highway you will then follow the Valley Trail left into the forest and take your first right. The River of Golden Dreams will now be on your left and in a couple minutes Green Lake appears on your left and you cross a wetland on a very long boardwalk that ends at the float plane dock. At the float plane dock you have to turn right and follow the Valley Trail across the Nicklaus North Golf Course entrance. You just go straight and aim for the train tracks, where you will see the Valley Trail cross. Turn left on the Valley Trail and run along this gravel section with the train tracks on your left and Fitzsimmons Creek on your right. The trail bends right and crosses the river, now ascending into the forest along a wide gravel road toward Lost Lake.
After almost two kilometres you should continue left along the left side of the lake. You will pass the beautiful pier on your right and an amazing place for a swim. The Lost Lake trail continues around the lake and through the sandy beach at the far end. Keep bearing right until you wrap around the bottom of the lake, cross a small creek and ascend up to the main trail junction. Take a sharp left and the wide, gravel Lost Lake trail gradually descends back toward Whistler Village. The next fork in the trail appears at the Lost Lake Passivhaus. Turn left just before the big bridge over Fitzsimmons Creek and then your next right. This takes you down to the underpass under Lorimer Road with the beautiful painted murals. This trail ascends up into the forest keeping Fitzsimmons Creek on your right. The gravel trail merges into the paved Valley Trail, bends right and crosses over Fitzsimmons Creek via the covered bridge adjacent to Rebagliati Park. Continue down the Valley Trail to Whistler Village. At the Passivhaus you could have continued straight across the bridge over Fitzsimmons Creek, then turn left to go under Lorimer Road. Follow this newly constructed paved trail with Fitzsimmons Creek on your left. This route takes you through the forest and past the skateboard park and the mountain bike jump park before running into the Valley Trail. Turn right onto the Valley Trail and you immediately run into Whistler Village and the end of the Alta Green Lost 15k Trail Run.
More Whistler Running
There are plenty of great running trails in Whistler. The Whistler Golf Course 5k is one of the easiest and most convenient. The Blueberry Hill 6k follows part of the same route along Whistler Golf Course, as well as an interesting and challenging section that runs up and over Blueberry Hill. Though only a kilometre longer than the golf course route, the Blueberry Hill 6k has some steep uphill and downhill sections. Much more challenging and rewarding than the golf course run, it requires a bit more routefinding and a couple streets to navigate through. The Whistler Golf Course 5k is easy, relaxing and you don't have to think about where you are going as the route is quite clear. The Lost Lake 6k is similarly easy to follow and quite a bit of nice scenery. As with the Whistler Golf Course 5k and the Blueberry Hill 6k, the Lost Lake 6k starts right from Whistler Village. The trail takes you out and around Lost Lake and back to the Village through an amazingly serene and relaxing forest. The Alta Lake 8k is another beautiful running route that starts and finishes in Whistler Village at the Whistler Golf Course clubhouse. It takes you around Alta Lake, through several beautiful lakeside parks and hardly a minute goes by without a gorgeous mountain, lake or forest view. The Fitzsimmons 9k also begins in Whistler Village and takes you around one side of Lost Lake before continuing out to and across Fitzsimmons Creek, where you then run alongside the river back to where you started in Whistler Village. The Alta Green Lost 15k is a beautiful combination of parts of the previous trails. It takes you from Whistler Village, around Alta Lake along the Alta Lake 8k route. Instead of bending back to Whistler Village, you continue running north, along the River of Golden Dreams until you reach Green Lake. After you run across the amazingly scenic boardwalk bridge across Green Lake, you cross Fitzsimmons Creek and run along the far shore of Lost Lake and back to Whistler Village.
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