Spring Hiking Has Arrived!
Spring is here and summer is not far off! The road to Parkhurst Ghost Town is accessible now! Whistler Train Wreck is free of snow too. Check out Hike in Whistler May 2022 for inspiration!
Jane Lakes are a very remote feeling set of lakes in the beautiful wilderness near Cheakamus Crossing. Consisting of three lakes, West Jane Lake, East Jane Lake and Little Jane Lake, they have a great network of hiking trails that link and circle them all. The area has been logged for decades and an old logging road once led to West Jane Lake. Many years ago, you could have driven a 4x4 all the way to lake. In recent years the growing forest narrowed the old road into an overgrown trail.
Quiet area, not a lot of visitors- Terrific lakes for swimming & fishing
- Excellent and free camping!
- Black Tusk visible across the lake
- Very dog friendly wilderness trails
- Great viewpoints along the trail
- Fantastic geological rock formations
No wow factor like Wedge or Cirque- Not a whole lot to see at the lakes
- No magnificent alpine scenery
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
In the last couple years renewed interest in Jane Lakes as a hiking, biking and camping destination has led to considerable trail construction. The trails have now been expanded and upgraded. The old, overgrown 4x4 road has been permanently converted into a hiking/biking trail. Dozens of water channels have been dug across the old road to allow creeks to flow unhindered. The creek channels are quite large and the large excavator needed to dig them shredded its way through the old road. The once overgrown 4x4 road to West Jane Lake is now several metres wide and crossed by new creekbeds a couple metres deep. The heavy machinery finished this construction and sealed off the old road with a two metre deep creekbed in October of 2019. A bit of a mess now with the chewed up road and no trailhead signs except the old road signs propped up along the road. It is not hard to visualize this new trail soon becoming very beautiful with the eventual addition of bridges across the numerous newly dugout creeks. The Jane Lakes West trail is already quite remarkable with several vantage points to distant Mount Fee way down the valley. The trail also passes through several bewildering rock formations. Vertical pillars of rock that look absolutely unnatural are in fact a common feature that occurs when lava meets a glacier. This columnar jointing is the result of rapidly cooling lava that solidified here roughly 12,000 years ago as it pooled against the glacier that filled Cheakamus Valley. Quite an impressive sight to see this columnar jointing from the viewpoint at Brandywine Falls, but to be close enough to touch it on the Jane Lakes trail, fantastic!
Finding the Jane Lakes West Trail
Jane Lakes West trailhead is a bit tricky to find as it may not be marked, though the original Jane Lakes Road signs are still there. From Whistler Village you drive south to Cheakamus Crossing and turn right to follow Jane Lakes Road. You then bear right onto the Cheakamus River FSR(previously Jane Lakes FSR). You drive down this fairly smooth logging road for 3.4 kilometres before the old Jane Lakes FSR ends at a row of boulders and a deep ditch. This is the new trailhead that follows a fairly steep old logging road for 4.1 kilometres to West Jane Lake. The old road ends at a nice flat clearing that was evidently once used for 4x4 parking, but is now a great spot to camp. There is a nice fire ring set up there and you can see glimpses of the lake through the trees a few hundred metres away. The Jane Lakes trails go around the three lakes and continue out to the Westside Main FSR which bends around to follow the west side of Cheakamus River. Westside Main FSR come out at Cheakamus Crossing.
The Expanding Jane Lakes Trail Network
The Jane Lakes trails consist of three connecting trails that extend in an arc linking the Cheakamus River FSR to the Westside Main FSR. These two forest service roads meet at opposite ends of Cheakamus Crossing, the southernmost residential neighbourhood in Whistler. The Westside Main FSR ends at a locked gate about 7 kilometres from where it starts near Cheakamus Crossing. This locked gate has a large, unmarked parking area near it. This is the parking area used for hiking to Jane Lakes from this side. From here you have to hike or bike 2.4 kilometres up the Westside Main FSR and you will see the Jane Lakes East trail on your right. The Jane Lakes East trail is 1.5 kilometres long and takes you to the shore of East Jane Lake. From here the 2.8 kilometre Jane Lakes North trail takes you over the top of East Jane Lake, across to West Jane Lake, then around the north end of West Jane Lake to connect to the Jane Lakes West trail. The Jane Lakes West trail then quickly descends down 4.1 kilometres to the new trailhead on Cheakamus River FSR. The driving, biking, hiking distance between the two parking areas for Jane Lakes is just over 10 kilometres.
Jane Lakes West Trail Stats:
Driving There: 15 minutes south of Whistler Village(12.5 kilometres/7.8 miles) Hiking Distance: 4.1 kilometres/2.5 miles, one way from the trailhead to West Jane Lake. Hiking Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes there and 50 minutes back. Start Elevation: 636 metres/2087 feet. End Elevation: 942 metres/3091 feet. Elevation Gain: 306 metres/1004 feet. Fees: None Campsites: Yes Camping Allowed: Yes Difficulty: Moderate, constantly steep but short trail, easy to follow Kid Friendly: Yes, short enough to be fun, not too exhausting Stroller Friendly: No Dog Friendly: Yes
The Jane Lakes West Trailhead
As the Jane Lakes trail was recently built, the trailhead may not be well marked, though it is easy to find at the end of the logging road barricaded by boulders and a ditch. This overgrown access road is now the Jane Lakes West trail and pictured below is the parking area and trailhead.
These are the old signs to be replaced in the fall of 2019 when the new trail was finished. The Jane Lakes Rough 4x4 Road 3.8km is the new Jane Lakes West trail.
The Jane Lakes West trail was a 4x4 logging road, now a biking and hiking trail.
Columnar Jointing on the Way to Jane Lakes
Beautiful columnar jointing along the trail at a few different places. Caused when lava from a volcano flows up against a glacier. The rapid cooling where it meets the glacier causes strangely symmetrical fractures in the rock that look bizarrely unnatural. Nearby Brandywine Falls is another great place to see this weird phenomenon. During the last Ice Age Whistler Valley was under a glacier about one or two kilometres thick and there were active volcanoes everywhere.
Jane Lakes Trailhead Directions
The Jane Lakes West trailhead is found near the Whistler neighbourhood Cheakamus Crossing, 8 kilometres south of Whistler Village. Bus transit to Cheakamus Crossing is frequent from Whistler Village and walking to the trailhead from the bus stop is just 3.4 kilometres. Driving directions from Whistler Village: From Village Gate Boulevard in Whistler Village zero your odometer and drive south on the Sea to Sky Highway. At 7.9km you will come to the intersection with Function Junction to the right and Cheakamus Crossing left. Turn left onto Cheakamus Lake Road and drive toward Cheakamus Crossing. After crossing the bridge over Cheakamus River at 8.6km turn right onto Jane Lakes Road. At 9.1km look for the Cheakamus River Forest Service Road on your right. Turn onto the Cheakamus River FSR and follow it until 12.5km where you will arrive at the unmarked trailhead/parking for Jane Lakes. Previous to October 2019 this was the Janes Lakes Forest Service Road. Now this road has been permanently deactivated and has been blocked by large boulders as well as a huge ditch. The ditch is actually a water channel to allow the natural creek to flow through here. The 4.1 kilometre old road, now trail to Jane Lakes West has dozens of these water channels dug across.
Printable Directions Map to Jane Lakes
You might want to save this map to your phone or print it out for reference. To print: right click on the map below, click "Save Image As...", save it to your desktop and open and print.
Two Fantastic Books About BC Hiking!
Here are two excellent books on hiking and geology of British Columbia. Matt Gunn's Scrambles in Southwest British Columbia includes the various routes to the summit of Wedge Mountain as well as summit routes to the neighbouring peaks, Weart, Cook, Parkhurst and Rethel. Mount Weart is the second highest mountain in Garibaldi Park and is located just north of Wedge Mountain, separated by the Wedge-Weart Col. Published in 2005, Scrambles in Southwest British Columbia is still the best guide in print or online. A Passion for Mountains by Kathryn Bridge is a fascinating look at Don and Phyllis Munday's prolific exploration of the mountains in BC. Based out of Vancouver, they were dominant figures of the climbing community in the early 1900's. In 1923 they visited their friend Neal Carter in Alta Lake(Whistler) and explored the mountains around the valley.. many for the first time!
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 ...
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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 and ...
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Moraines are glacially deposited ridges of debris that accumulate at the sides or terminus of a glacier. Lateral moraines form at the sides of glaciers ...
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Twentyone Mile Creek begins its long and steep journey from Rainbow Lake, high up and between Mount Sproatt and Rainbow Mountain. Cutting between the two ...
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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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Erratic or Glacier Erratic is a piece of rock that has been carried by glacial ice, often hundreds of kilometres. Characteristic of their massive size and ...
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Waterbar and Cross-Ditch: the purpose of a waterbar or cross-ditch is to capture and redirect surface water from the road and channel it across the road ...
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Cirque: a glacier-carved bowl or amphitheater in the mountains. To form, the glacier must be a combination of size, a certain slope and more unexpectedly, a ...
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Hidden in the tangle of forest along Green Lake where the old Parkhurst Sawmill once operated, is the bizarre and beautiful Parkhurst Plow Tree. A very ...
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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 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
Jane Lakes are a very remote feeling set of lakes in the beautiful wilderness near Cheakamus Crossing. Consisting of three lakes, West Jane Lake, East Jane Lake and Little Jane Lake, they have a great ...
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Madeley Lake is a beautiful, remote mountain lake hidden high up in the Callaghan Valley. From Whistler Village expect to take 40 minutes to drive there. You can drive directly to the lake, however the ...
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The Sproatt East trail is a beautifully wild, steep, but relatively short trail to the magnificent, wide open alpine and summit of Mount Sproatt. Mount Sproatt (1834 metres) towers over Whistler Valley ...
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