Year-round | Paved Trail, Gradual Hills, Beautiful Views | Trail Running Access from Whistler Village or Free Parking on Lorimer Rd
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 4.8km 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. Also, with the exception of the winter months you will likely spot a bear along the trail or on the golf course.
The trail runs continuously around the beautiful Whistler Golf Club. If you are staying in Whistler Village, you can right right from your doorstep. The red, dotted line is the 4.8k run around the golf course and the blue dotted lines are the Valley Trails that connect to it.
April-November| Gravel Trail, Beautiful Views | Access from Whistler Village
This is a nice 5k trail running route that runs from Whistler Village out and around Lost Lake and back. You can run right from the village as the Valley Trails (blue dotted lines), connect to the 5k route around the lake (red dotted line). Lost Lake is a great run around this cute lake in the forest. Trails run in various directions from the main, Valley Trail, so it is possible to create a longer or different route to run.
March-November | Moderate, Hilly, Densely Forested Terrain (5.4k Roundtrip) | Spectacular River Views and Unbelievably Surreal Train Wreck | 10 Minute Drive South of Whistler
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.
Though somewhat short, running to the end of the trail at the train tracks is only 2.7k then returning along the tracks to your car make the circuit only 4.9k. Retracing your steps through the train wreck make the run 5.4k. And of course repeating the run, which allows for some variation within the spider web of trails near the wreck can enjoyably double the run distance to 10.8k.
It's recent evolution into a manicured bike park has made it into a wonderful trail run as well. It's growing use as a convenient running route from people arriving and departing Whistler on holiday is apparent, though barely.
It's still almost always wonderfully serene, and always wonderfully surreal.
April-November | Paved Trail, Gradual Hills, Beautiful Views | Access from Whistler Village or Free Parking on Lorimer Rd
This is a beautiful 7.7k trail run with everything. Beautiful views above the Whistler Golf Club. Almost constant panoramic views of Whistler, Blackcomb and Wedge mountains. A little old growth forest of massive Western Redcedars, and more than half of the route along the majestic Alta Lake. This trail, like the Whistler Golf Course 4.3k, is accessible directly from Whistler Village, or from the convenient and free parking at the end of Lorimer Rd, just a 5 minute drive from anywhere in Whistler. Print this excellent whistler.com map shown below or get one from almost anywhere in Whistler Village.
April-November | Paved Trail, Gradual Hills, Beautiful Views | Access from Whistler Village or Free Parking on Lorimer Rd
This is a beautiful 15k figure 8 trail run which extends off of the Alta Lake 7.7k, then continues on to pass along the massive and appropriately named Green Lake for 7.3k returning to the start and centre of the figure 8, at Lorimer Rd.
Beautiful views above the Whistler Golf Club. Almost constant panoramic views of Whistler, Blackcomb and Wedge mountains.
A little old growth forest of massive Western Redcedars, and beautiful views of Alta and Green Lakes.
This trail, like the Whistler Golf Course 4.3k and the Alta Lake 7.7k is accessible directly from Whistler Village, or from the convenient and free parking at the end of Lorimer Rd, just a 5 minute drive from anywhere in Whistler. Print this excellent whistler.com map shown below or get one from almost anywhere in Whistler Village.
July-October | Very Rugged, Steep Trail (1220m in 7k) | Trailhead is a 10 Minute Drive North of Whistler Village
The increasingly popular trail run to Wedgemount Lake (14km round trip, mid June to late October) is as magnificent as it is brutal.
It's brutal in elevation gain, 1220 metres in only 7km. But a wonderful challenge due to the ruggedness and steepness of the trail.
You will be focussed on the trail so much as to become mesmerized into a runners trance. At a good pace, often not running, but hiking fast, many make it to the top in around one hour and twenty minutes.
It's Whistlers Grouse Grind with the added bonus of a spectacular lake to jump into at the top. If you can run the Wedgemount trail, you should have no problem with a 3 degree lake.
July-October | Rugged, Steep Trail Between Mountain Peaks and Valleys | Trailhead is Next to Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler Mountain
For pure scenery and enjoyability, trail running the Roundhouse to Whistler Village via Singing Pass is hard to beat. 24km and all of it up and down, from mountain peak to mountain valley. Takes about 2.5 hours and of course only free of snow and doable when the alpine opens for hiking in Whistler. 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). The Singing Pass trailhead is located about .8km up Whistler mountain. To find it walk up the broad stairs, past the Dubh Lihn Gate Pub, towards the main bus stop. Just before the bus stop you will see a gravel road winding up Whistler mountain. Walk up this road for about five minutes, when you see the large water tower on your left, you should see the trailhead sign just past that on your left. The signs are very clear from there on the wonderfully maintained Singing Pass Trail.
July-October | Rugged, Steep Trail, 890m Up, 1220m Down | Trailhead is a 20 Minute Drive South of Whistler Village
The Rubble Creek Classic, an annual trail run in Whistler that has slowly gained popularity is a wonderful brutal 25k race from the Cheakamus Lake trailhead to the Rubble Creek trailhead. This route is free of snow, mostly by mid to late July. Bring a map for this one though as the area near Black Tusk gets confusing. Give yourself three hours at least as the current record is 1:56, set in 2009 by Canmore's Phil Villeneuve.
July-October | Continuously Steep Trail (1520m in 14.5k) | Trailhead is a 25 Minute Drive South of Whistler Village
Panorama Ridge, one of the most amazing hikes in Garibaldi Park, has inevitably become a popular trail running route as well. It is fantastic for several reasons. The first of course is the magnificent view from the top, the second is the challenging distance, 30k return. Because of the long distance the elevation gain is gradual, at least more gradual than the Rubble Creek Classic or Wedgemount Lake. Another great feature is a little variation in the route between Taylor Meadows and Garibaldi Lake. Even though it is starts and finishes at the Rubble Creek trailhead, the trail splits part way up, branching into a trail to Taylor Meadows and another to Garibaldi Lake allowing for one route up and the other down. And another bonus is passing Garibaldi Lake which allows for a detour to a beautiful swim.
