Best Hiking Routes                                                               Top 5 Best Whistler

Whistler is packed with tremendously beautiful hiking trails.  Whistler, as a resort community, is only decades old but the enormous number of hiking trails is staggering.  The huge number of trails ensures that most remain sparsely hiked and incredibly diverse.  You can find hikes with majestic waterfalls, enormous glaciers, heart pounding summits, impossibly blue lakes, and fantastic views.  Lots of fantastic views.  Two hikes listed below even have user maintained huts that are free to use by anyone.  It is of course difficult to narrow a top 5 list down to only five hikes out of so many wonderful hikes.  Black Tusk tops the list mainly for the its extraordinary view and its incredible geology.  It is constantly amazing.  From its crumbling sides to its alarmingly dangerous looking approach, you can't help but marvel at everything about this mountain.  And standing on its summit, you stare down at everything.  Recalling how impossibly steep the sides look from every angle, you can barely believe it when you reach the top.  Another wonderful aspect of the Black Tusk is simply the hike itself.  It is really three hikes in one as you can hike to Garibaldi Lake on the way and Taylor Meadows on the return journey.  Both of these hikes are worthy destinations on their own, but combined with Black Tusk are incredible.  The roundtrip hike, trailhead to trailhead for Black Tusk is 30k.  Wedgemount Lake comes in the top 5 here as it is such a wonderful alpine hiking paradise.  There is a perfect turquoise lake, a nice, free hut to use, tent platforms everywhere you look and all with jaw dropping views from all of them.  There are several great hikes that emanate from the lake and the Wedgemount Glacier is easily accessible.  The hike to Wedgemount Lake is only 7k, trailhead to lake and only takes about two hours to hike but the elevation gain is huge, so you'd better be in good shape.  Wedgemount Lake is 14k roundtrip, trailhead to trailhead.  Russet Lake is another amazing hike listed here that has a hut free to use by anyone.  Russet Lake is usually accessed via the Whistler Gondola then hiking via the Musical Bumps Trail or the High Note Trail, then Musical Bumps Trail.  Either way the views are incredible.  Russet Lake is located in a wonderful, usually snow filled valley and just like Wedgemount Lake, there are amazing hikes in all directions.  Cirque Lake enters the list here for many reasons.  Its remote feel, its difficult though, short trail is quite an adventure.  It requires canoeing to its trailhead at the far end of Callaghan Lake, which is a wonderful way to start a hike.  Cirque Lake is a beautiful and compact world.  The cirque that the lake exists in shuts the world out and the invariably mirrored surface of the lake reflects the mountains and clouds hypnotically.  Cirque Lake is also so far off the radar that it remains infrequently hiked and almost always a serene paradise far from humanity.  Panorama Ridge has to be included on a top 5 list for hiking for Whistler.  The hike is beautiful and challenging and the views from the ridge are unbelievable.  You can see in all directions and Garibaldi Lake far below is impossibly blue.  Panorama Ridge stretches for over a kilometre then descends down the valley, finally reaching Garibaldi Lake.  Once in a while you see a tent at the far end of Panorama Ridge and it immediately brings to mind the thought... Where on earth could you find a better tent view?  In Whistler, evidently, there are plenty of contenders.  Certainly a testament to the wonderful hiking around Whistler is the runners up for this list.  Joffre Lakes and Rainbow Lake are not on this list.  Joffre is a bit far at over an hour to the trailhead from Whistler, but it is marvellously beautiful.  You would be hard pressed to find a more incredibly coloured lake.  The turquoise colour is extraordinary at Joffre Lakes.  Rainbow Lake is a great hike as well.  The trail on the way to the lake is quite beautiful.  You see several waterfalls, two impressive bridges, and an unexpectedly wonderful meadow on the way to the picture-perfect lake.  As Rainbow Lake is Whistlers water supply, camping, swimming and dogs are prohibited, so that weighs on its attractiveness as a hike.  For a list of easier and shorter hikes take a look here..

Top 5 Best Whistler Running Routes >>

Best Running Routes                                                             Top 5 Best Whistler

For pure scenery and beauty, the Roundhouse to Whistler Village via Singing Pass trail run is hard to beat.  24km and all of it up and down.  This is arguably the #1 trail run in Whistler.  It is spectacular, just spectacular. Taking the gondola up to the Roundhouse start is both beautiful and a relief as you relax on a big part of the elevation gain.  You still face a lot hills and valleys.  Takes about 2.5 hours and of course only free of snow and doable when the alpine opens for hiking in Whistler and the Whistler Gondola is open.  If the High Note trail is open(late July to October), then this route should be free enough of snow to run.  If you don't want to pay for the gondola, you can do this route in reverse for free by taking the Singing Pass Trail up from near the Whistler Gondola and return via the Whistler Gondola (they don't check for tickets when downloading)....

Cheakamus Lake is a wonderfully relaxing way to get trail running in the wilderness easily and quickly from Whistler Village.  There are so many aspects of this trail run that make it exceptional.  First is the terrain.  It is gently rolling hills in deep forest.  Not your average forest.  This forest is wonderful.  It's big.  Big, wild and amazing.  Then the Cheakamus River appears.  Beautiful.  It's that bright, surreal turquoise that seems almost normal in Whistler.  Cheakamus Lake has it.  Garibaldi Lake has it.  Green Lake has a more green hue to it, which gives it it's name. After about two beautiful kilometres you run along this incredible river, still amongst the absurdly dramatic trees.  Then you spot it.  Through the trees.  The turquoise.  The impossibly blue colour...

The Whistler Train Wreck is a very convenient and amazingly beautiful trail run.  It's convenient as it is just south of Whistler with parking just metres from the Sea to Sky highway.  And it's amazingly beautiful as it runs through a wonderfully varied terrain of dense forest, train tracks, sunny clearings overlooking the crashing Cheakamus River and of course the wildly beautiful train wreck itself.  Decades ago a train derailed south of Whistler.  The cost to clean up the mess was deemed too high, so seven train cars were left scattered next to the Cheakamus River.  As it turns out, time and local effort has transformed this mess into a wonderful work of art, an extraordinary bike park, and a great place to trail run.

For half of the year in Whistler, from mid November to April, jogging and trail running becomes difficult due to snow.  During this time there are only a few areas of the Valley Trail system that are plowed consistently.  The beautiful 4.8k route around Whistler Golf Course is a great, scenic and convenient option to run year round, and right in the Village.  Convenient and free parking can be found at the dead end of Lorimer Rd near Whistler Village.  As you run around this beautiful golf course you will run through a magnificent grove of ancient cedars, see jaw dropping views of Rainbow Mountain, Whistler and Blackcomb as well as Wedge Mountain in the distance....

This is a nice 5k trail running route that runs from Whistler Village out and around Lost Lake and back.  This beautiful lake is linked to Whistler Village by the wonderful and seemingly endless Whistler Valley Trail.  Grab one of the ubiquitous whistler.com Valley Trail maps.  You will find them just about everywhere to go in Whistler, and marvel at the running possibilities. This run is worthy of being in the top 5 of Whistler trail runs because of its beauty, convenience and variety.  The route possibilities are limitless.

Top 5 Best Whistler Running Routes >>

Best Snowshoeing Trails                                                        Top 5 Best Whistler

The extraordinary Parkhurst Ghost Town can be reached by snowshoeing the wonderful new section of the Sea to Sky Trail that runs along the far side of Green Lake.  The trail starts at both ends of Green Lake.  One end is near Whistler Village close to Lost Lake and the other is north of Green Lake at the turnoff to Wedgemount Lake from the Sea to Sky Highway.  In the winter the Lost Lake area has a entry fee and the Sea to Sky Trail can only be accessed from that end by going through Lost Lake.  The far end of the Green Lake section of the Sea to Sky Trail is free to enter and closer to Parkhurst Ghost Town.  It is easy to find.  Just north of Whistler, past Green Lake you will see the Wedgemount Lake sign on the highway.  Turn right and park where you can...

The Brandywine Falls to the Whistler Bungee Bridge is a beautiful 6 kilometre, roundtrip snowshoeing adventure that takes you to two amazing Whistler area sights. Brandywine Falls, though extremely popular in the summer and fall months, hides behind a massive, snowplow formed, wall of snow from (usually) December to March.  The gate to the parking lot is closed and buried.  Attempting to hike to the falls on foot is tough as you find yourself thigh deep in snow right from the start.  But if you have snowshoes this trail becomes a winter paradise.  The snowplows intentionally clear a winter parking area for the park near the (buried) gate.  There are plenty of Sea to Sky Trail signs and even a beautiful mapboard in the parking lot.  Just across the bridge at the parking lot you will see the first sign for the Sea to Sky Trail...

Decades ago a train derailed south of Whistler.  Over the next fifty years this wreckage has evolved into an absolutely amazing place to snowshoe, the Whistler Train Wreck.  The cost to clean up the wreckage was deemed too high, so seven train cars were left scattered next to the Cheakamus River.  As it turns out, time and local effort has transformed this mess into a wonderful work of art, an extraordinary bike park in the summer, and a great place to snowshoe in the winter.  The Cheakamus River winds its way, crashing and emerald green along the length of the Whistler Train Wreck, and there are several spectacular river vantage points that shouldn't be missed.  To wind your way in and out of the trails between the Cheakamus River and the train tracks runs for 2.7k...

Cheakamus River is located just 8k south of Whistler Village just off of the Sea to Sky Highway.  This well marked, though beautifully remote feeling snowshoeing trail takes you along both sides of the wildly crashing Cheakamus River.  Snow begins to fall in earnest in the Whistler area in November so the best months for snowshoeing the Cheakamus River are from late November to early April.  The best routes is to walk/snowshoe from your car for about 100 metres following the road to Cheakamus Lake.  At about 100 metres you will see a branching road go to the right and a large, vehicle bridge cross the Cheakamus River.  Cross the bridge and you will immediately see a trail on your left running along the river.  This trail, with Cheakamus River on your left will descend and ascend through a beautiful forest.  Sometimes close to the river, sometimes 100 metres away...

Rainbow Falls is a fantastic way go get yourself into some deep snow quickly from Whistler Village.  The trailhead is located just a couple hundred metres from Rainbow Park on Alta Lake which is another great place to snowshoe in Whistler.  The Rainbow Falls trailhead is the same as the Rainbow Lake trailhead, located halfway along Alta Lake Road on the far side of Alta Lake.  The Rainbow Falls Trail is short, varied and relatively easy.  This well used trail never goes in a straight line and goes up and down through a beautiful and deep forest.  There are no signs to Rainbow Falls and you will just see signs for Rainbow Lake and Madely Lake.  To find Rainbow Falls you just follow the Rainbow Lake trail from the trailhead for about a half kilometre until you reach the water treatment building (Rainbow Lake is Whistler's water source).  Just before the building the trail forks...

Top 5 Best Snowshoeing Trails >>