Back in 2011 Kups, a Whistler local and now professional muralist painted a hauntingly surreal, blue face on the side of this house. This beautiful mural, along with the fact that this is the last fully intact house in Parkhurst makes it the most well known and photographed structure in the old ghost town. It is difficult to figure out why the Blue Face house outlasted all the others, but it appears to still be quite structurally sound.
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The old metal roof is very well intact and all the walls are surprisingly solid. The only significant damage seems to be from visitors yanking curtains down or smashing floor boards and wall panels. Any windows that may have existed are long gone and there is no longer a door. A hole in the ceiling has been clawed open to look into the attic which is also somewhat intact with insulation still lining between the two by four ribs. There is even a cute little chimney poking out of the roof, though of course the stove is long gone. There was an old rickety metal bed frame covered with a foam mattress, but now that is mangled across the floor. There was some mention by the Resort Municipality of Whistler when they purchased this land in 2017 to restore this old house. The long term plan is to make Parkhurst into a park somewhat similar to Rainbow Park in that surviving relics would be cleaned up and interpretive murals set up on front of them. One tricky feature of Parkhurst that stands in the way of any development is the train tracks running through. Developing Parkhurst into a park would encourage visitors to an area with multiple railroad crossings and an access bridge that is disintegrating.
The mural painted on the front of the house dates back to 2011 when local muralist Kups painted it. Back then the house was a blank canvas, now the inside is mostly covered in colourful murals and graffiti.
The Blue Face House in 2011
The Parkhurst Ghost Town Trails
There are quite a few trails in and around Parkhurst and it can be confusing as you rarely see trail signs and several trails overlap. For example, the Green Lake Loop is the original trail that ran along the back side of Green Lake and then did a loop through Parkhurst. Because the more recently built Sea to Sky Trail overlaps much of Green Lake Loop, the two trails are almost interchangeable. With the Sea to Sky Trail following a newer, more defined route, it tends to overshadow the Green Lake Loop. Also, half of the loop in the Green Lake Loop has morphed in recent years to be called the Parkhurst Trail, as it is the most direct route to the old ghost town. There are several ways to get to Parkhurst Ghost Town and they range from alright to amazing. You can hike from the far end of Green Lake via the Parkhurst Trail (pretty good), the Parkhurst Ridge Trail (amazing), the Green Lake Loop (some of it is nice) or the Sea to Sky Trail(not great) ranging in length from 2.9 kilometres to 3.4 kilometres (one way). Or you can hike or bike in from the south from Lost Lake near Whistler Village along the Sea to Sky Trail and/or the Green Lake Loop. Starting from Lost Lake near Whistler Village, you can hike or bike to Parkhurst along the Sea to Sky Trail/Green Lake Loop in 6.2 kilometres. It is a very nice and wide, gravel trail with a few hills as you ascend up the back of Green Lake. There are several panoramic vantage points over the lake as you wind through the nice forest in a comparatively quiet corner of Whistler.
The Parkhurst Loop Trail
The Parkhurst Loop Trail is roughly a triangle with each side about 300 metres long. This trail runs through the now deep forest where most of the houses once stood in Parkhurst. Part of the loop trail was once an old gravel road which explains how the various wrecked vehicles managed to get there. Wrecked, old trucks from the 1950’s, an old car from the 1970’s and dozens of collapsed houses lay rotting along this trail. It is fun to wander through the forest here as you can never tell what you will find around the next bend in the trail. The triangle shaped loop trail surrounded by deep forest is strangely disorienting. You find yourself wandering for a while in a direction you are sure is away from Green Lake, only to suddenly emerge from the forest just steps from the water. Unlike other hiking trails in Whistler where you have a set destination, at Parkhurst you have a non-stop series of curious structures, beautiful sections of forest and endless great lake views.
The Parkhurst Sawmill Site
The old Parkhurst Sawmill was located on the peninsula adjacent to the old Caterpillar tractor. A little bit of bushwhacking takes you into a surprisingly big clearing in tangle of forest. The clearing is caused by the collapsed sawmill's metal roof covering the forest floor and preventing big trees from taking root. You can only see some of the huge metal sheets as most of it lays under a carpet of forest that has settled in over the past 65 years. The clearing is serene and cut off from the world by a thick perimeter of jungle, making it a sunny paradise on a nice day.
Venturing into the forest around the clearing you will encounter the huge, old chimney from the sawmill as well as a pile of bricks that once housed the sawmill's furnace that powered everything. Further into the forest you will find two more logging tractors. An old Cletrac tractor that dates from the mid 1940's and an unexpectedly impressive Caterpillar buried in the forest with its huge plow being lifted off the ground by several trees. You will probably find yourself crawling around in amazement, peering under the 4000 kilogram plow, wondering how it is possible.
The History of Parkhurst
The small logging town called Parkhurst came into being in 1926 when the Barr Brothers Logging Company purchased the land from a recent widow looking to sell. Mrs. Parkhurst sold the land and a small house which quickly transformed into several small houses, bunkhouses and a steam powered sawmill on the point of land that still conspicuously juts out from the shore. Soon there were 70 loggers working the mill and living much of the year in the town that was now named after the original owners of the land, Parkhurst. The Great Depression hit the logging industry hard and unable to sell what they produced and the mill went into receivership. In 1932 the mill was purchased by another logging company and was back in business under a new name, Northern Mills. It was to be short lived however, as a fire destroyed the mill in 1938. It was rebuilt and the town once again grew in size to include a school and a store. Parkhurst continued as a small logging town until the logging industry slowed down in the 1950's and in 1956 Parkhurst was finally abandoned.
The Famous Toad Hall Poster
When Whistler Mountain opened as a ski resort in the winter of 1965/66 and Highway 99 was constructed thousands of skiers flocked to Whistler. Transient skiers discovered Parkhurst and lived in some of the remaining houses. Ski bums inhabited every available space to sleep in Whistler and gave birth to the legendary Toad Hall on Alta Lake. Toad Hall, a rented house, became a party house that gained a reputation known Canada wide. In 1969, when the owners discovered what was happening they evicted the residents and demolished the house. Within months, Toad Hall was resurrected near Parkhurst at the north end of Green Lake. The Soo Valley Logging Company had recently vacated their logging camp and it was taken over by skiers. This second incarnation of Toad Hall became the one famously memorialized in the photo of the naked skiers. The second Toad Hall was scheduled for demolition in the summer of 1973. That spring, knowing their time there was nearing its end gathered for a photo in their ski gear and nothing else. Photographer Chris Speedie printed 10000 copies in poster size and sold for two or three dollars each. Terry “Toulouse” Spence sold copies along the World Cup ski circuit. Terry “Toulouse” Spence brought a box of the original posters to Whistler Museum. The museum sold the remaining posters from the original 10000 and was able to proudly boast that the original run of the Toad Hall poster sold out almost 45 years after it was first printed. Reprints of the original Toad Hall poster are currently available for purchase at the museum.
Toad Hall Then and Now
Below is a picture taken at the same location in 2021. Where the Soo Valley Logging houses and Toad Hall once stood is now a beautifully serene little corner of Whistler. With no access from the Parkhurst side of Green River this piece of land is a bit isolated and hard to get to on foot. You have to walk in from the Sea to Sky Highway and finding parking along the highway is a bit sketchy, especially in snowy months. Parking is easy to find down the highway at the Cougar Mountain turnoff.
The Future of Parkhurst
In 2017 the Resort Municipality of Whistler purchased the Parkhurst lands (200acres/81 hectares), including the land where the famous Toad Hall picture was taken. The intent is to preserve the historic land and remaining features into a park, however it is likely to remain mostly unchanged for the foreseeable future.
Trailhead & Parking Directions to Parkhurst
There are several ways to get to Parkhurst, but the access from the Wedgemount Lake turnoff on the Sea to Sky Highway is the most direct if arriving on foot or bike. If you zero your odometer at Village Gate Blvd in Whistler Village and drive north on Highway 99, at 11.9 kilometres you will see the Wedgemount (Garibaldi) turnoff on your right. Turn here, cross the train tracks and then the bridge over Green River, turn right and follow the gravel road for a few hundred metres. You will pass Whistler Paintball on your left and then see a yellow gate and a sign for the Sea to Sky Trail. Park on the clearing across from the yellow gate and walk straight ahead along the old gravel road, passing the yellow gate, road and Sea to Sky Trail on your left. Biking or hiking the 10 kilometres to Parkhurst from Whistler Village is a very nice option as well. Biking from Whistler Village to Parkhurst takes only about 20-30 minutes and follows the beautiful Sea to Sky Trail up around Green Lake. Hiking to Parkhurst from the Village will take the average hiker 2-3 hours each way.
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