The Parkhurst Sawmill operated on the triangle of land that juts out into Green Lake and also extended along the shore between the train tracks and the shore. The old sawmill was almost certainly crushed under heavy snow in the years following its closure in 1956. With the town abandoned there were no caretakers to maintain any of the old structures and the crushing weight of spring snow eventually flattened all but two of the old houses and the old sawmill.
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 Mount Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck 
Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain
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Today, when you wander around where the old sawmill was you will notice a strange lack of trees growing in certain areas. After a bit of poking around you realized that under the forest floor layer of dirt, moss and grass are huge sheets of metal that once covered the roof of the Parkhurst Sawmill. Some of these can still be seen where there once was a covered area over train tracks that branched off from the railway we see today and extended to the sawmill near the end of the point of land. With some digging you may uncover the old train tracks under all the collapsed debris, but it seems likely that the tracks were removed and salvaged. The giant steel chimney from the sawmill is still easy to find sprawled across the forest floor in a few pieces. The brick building that housed the furnace is now a pile of bricks crumbling around the old furnace. Also in the forest you will encounter yet another abandoned tractor. An old Cletrac tractor, similar to the the nearby Caterpillar RD8, but smaller and lacking an enormous plow. As with the Caterpillar RD8, the forest has consumed and hidden it quite well.
The image above is the old Cletrac tractor abandoned here in 1956 when the old Parkhurst Sawmill closed. Below is some of the exposed sheet metal that used to be the roof of the sawmill. Most of the metal roof is now buried under the forest floor and prevents large trees from growing were it lays. This explains the large area of few large trees in the middle of the forest here.
The triangle of land where the Parkhurst Sawmill once was is now covered in thick forest and reaching the shore of Green Lake is tricky. Shown below is a typical sunrise view of beautiful Green Lake.
The flat clearing in the middle of the Parkhurst Sawmill site makes for a beautiful campsite. Sunrise on a spectacular and frosty fall morning in Parkhurst Ghost Town.
Cement foundations at the old Parkhurst Sawmill site in Parkhurst Ghost Town.
The big furnace remains and the huge smokestack that rose from it several dozen metres has long since toppled to the ground and now lays sprawled over the old Parkhurst Sawmill site.
The second Caterpillar tractor at Parkhurst Ghost Town is considerably harder to find despite being just a few metres from the hulking Caterpillar at the shore of Green Lake. If you bushwhack through the dense forest toward the point of land that the Parkhurst sawmill was located you will find this second tractor also abandoned in 1956. This tractor is much easier to identify than the other one and appears to be a Caterpillar RD8 built in 1936. Caterpillar made just 9999 1H series RD8 and D8 Caterpillars from 1935 to 1941 and this one was one of the early RD8's at number 334. In 1937, a year after this one came off the assembly line Caterpillar dropped the 'R' from the RD8 name and continued the line as D8. The other Parkhurst Caterpillar, just a few metres away on the shore of Green Lake is a D8 of the same 1H series, and was built in 1939. The Caterpillar RD8 tractor was hugely popular and became renowned worldwide after their widespread use by the Allies during World War II. This Caterpillar at Parkhurst is so hidden by the forest that even standing a couple metres from it you can barely see it. Even in winter when the surrounding trees and bushes have shed their leaves, you still have to get fairly close to spot it. Considering the age of this tractor and that it has been sitting in this spot through 65 winters, it is remarkably intact.
It sits in the forest with its massive 4 ton plow stretching out in front of it. Consumed by the forest, the enormous plow is being lifted off the forest floor by several trees. Still attached to the 36,500 pound tractor the huge old steel plow weighs well over 8,000 pounds and yet this plow, squeezed by several growing trees, has been lifted off the ground about 40 centimetres. One tree at the edge of the plow seems to be straining against much of the plow's weight as its thick, muscular trunk bends away from the plow a few centimetres before rising straight up into the forest canopy. The steering control levers and gas, brake and clutch pedals are all nearly as they were in 1956. You can even climb in the driver's seat and work the wonderfully solid iron levers that once controlled this huge beast.
Parkhurst Ghost Town is a beautiful and comparatively quiet place to hike in Whistler. An ever increasing network of hiking and biking trails over the years have made it quite an accessible place to get to from either the Sea to Sky Trail/Green Lake Loop Trail from Lost Lake near Whistler Village or via the Parkhurst Trail at the far end of Green Lake. A short drive from Whistler Village along the Sea to Sky Highway past the north end of Green Lake takes you to the trailhead for the Parkhurst Trail and the short hike to Parkhurst. The highlights of Parkhurst Ghost Town are not just the interesting old relics of the abandoned town, but the gorgeous views of Green Lake from several places along the Parkhurst Ridge Trail.
More Information, Maps & Images of Parkhurst Ghost Town
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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 Mount Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain
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