June Hiking Update!
Looking forward to summer hiking opening up in Whistler as the mountain trails emerge from the deep winter snow? Check out our Whistler hiking guide for June! Escape to the wilderness and rent gear today at WeRentGear Whistler.
Ancient Cedars is a nice, easy/moderate 2.5 kilometre(1.6 mile) hiking trail on the far side of Cougar Mountain, just 13.1 kilometres north of Whistler Village. A small, untouched grove of huge western red-cedars hidden high up in the mountains. Often overlooked by hikers, certainly there are other groves of massive cedars found in other Whistler area hikes.
Easy trail to thousand year old cedars- A quick, far feeling escape from civilisation
- A relatively quiet hiking trail that is dog friendly!
- Serene backcountry, drive-in camping for free
- Lots of hidden tent clearings with paradise views
Lots of mosquitoes in July & August- ATV's nearby are loud
- The access logging road is brutally potholed
- Access road usually blocked by snow well into May
- Showh Lakes has no beach or shore to walk
If you hike the short 3 kilometre trail to Cheakamus Lake and you will marvel at the size, frequency and wonderful aroma of these massive and numerous giant cedars. The Wedgemount Lake trail also has some majestic cedars along the hike. You can even walk through an impressive grove of huge cedars on the Valley Trail at the north end of the Whistler Golf Club. None of them compare, however, to the giants at Ancient Cedars. They are extraordinarily huge and some are estimated to be a thousand years old. Most of these giants stretch toward the sky, but some lay along the forest floor giving you an even closer grasp of their size. If you bring kids along, they will disappear into the endless, natural playground. Ancient Cedars is great to visit in the spring and fall months as you rarely see people and never feel mosquitoes. The problem is the trailhead is up a long way into the mountains and snow at this elevation persists until April and sometimes May. Snow, along with the steep access road make driving to the trailhead impossible for most cars until it disappears. Summer is great for seeing Ancient Cedars and Showh Lakes in particular. If you have a 4x4, you can drive right to the shores of Showh Lakes and crack a beer with little chance of humanity disturbing you. If you don't have a 4x4, you can make it to a short walk to the lakes and if you have some sort of inflatable boat or canoe, you will find yourself in paradise. Floating in a mirror under a blue sky, surrounded by deep and wild forest.
The trailhead to Ancient Cedars is just a short drive north of Whistler. Just past Green Lake on Highway 99, you turn left on Cougar Mountain Rd and drive 4.5 kilometres up a bumpy logging road. As logging roads go its pretty bad with a lot of deep potholes. If you are driving a car you should be OK as long as you take it slow. The Ancient Cedars trail is well marked and well worn and only gradually uphill for the 2.5 kilometre hike. At the Ancient Cedars forest there is a short circle trail that takes you throughout the giants then leads you back to the main trail for the return journey. An unmarked trailhead to Newt Lake starts at the end of the Ancient Cedars trail. The Newt Lake trail is wild, overgrown and fairly steep, but surprisingly enjoyable. Lots of wild forest scenery and constantly changing topography. At the end of the wild Newt Lake trail is the beautifully wild Newt Lake. Relatively unknown, this lake is rarely visited and you will often have it all to yourself. Fantastic!
Back in the late 1980's workers building a bike trail on the lower part of Cougar Mountain discovered a small grove of stunningly enormous Western Red Cedars. Several noted at the time were over 10 feet in diameter. Core samples were taken and indicated that the trees were likely close to 1000 years old. The Douglas fir's in the grove were similarly ancient and estimated to be no less than 650 years old. Suddenly it became evident that word of these monsters would reach the logging companies and the magnificent ancient grove would be turned into lumber. More...
More Ancient Cedars Info Here...
More Whistler Hiking Maps & Guides
Alexander Falls Maps Ancient Cedars Maps Black Tusk Maps Blackcomb Maps Brandywine Falls Maps Brandywine Meadows Maps Brew Lake Maps Callaghan Lake Maps Cheakamus Lake Maps Cheakamus River Maps Cirque Lake Maps Garibaldi Lake Maps Helm Creek Maps Joffre Lakes Maps Keyhole Maps Logger’s Lake Maps Madeley Lake Map Meager Hot Springs Maps Nairn Falls Maps Panorama Ridge Maps Parkhurst Maps Rainbow Falls Maps Rainbow Lake Maps Ring Lake Maps Russet Lake Maps Skookumchuck Maps Sloquet Hot Springs Maps Sproatt Maps Taylor Meadows Maps Train Wreck Maps Wedgemount Lake Maps Whistler Mountain Maps
May 5th, 2019: The summer of 2011 was the time when some local Whistler artists ventured into the wilderness between the crashing Cheakamus River and ...
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Sept 11th, 2019: The notoriously difficult biking trail in the wilderness between Emerald Forest and Rainbow Park is a pretty fun place to wander around. It ...
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January 1st,2020: Happy new year in Whistler and the snow is finally falling. We have winter down sleeping bags for rent that are incredibly compact, ...
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October 20th, 2018: A little knowledge before you head out into the wilderness is a good idea. Especially if you are new to hiking or in unknown terrain. ...
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September 20th, 2018: Alexander Falls, high up in the Callaghan Valley in Whistler has some interesting historical murals and a mysterious plaque. The ...
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April 29th, 2019: Back in 2011 a group of Whistler artists met at Whistler Train Wreck and transformed it from a bland array of wrecked train cars into a ...
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May 10th, 2019: Whistler Train Wreck is home to several stunning murals painted on the old wrecked boxcars. Mixed with graffiti art, some of murals stand ...
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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 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
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Wedgemount Falls can be seen along the trail to Wedgemount Lake. As the falls flow directly from Wedgemount Lake, they are located about three quarters ...
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Cirque Falls crashes down from Cirque Lake to Callaghan Lake, connecting these two remarkably beautiful and very different lakes. Where Callaghan Lake is ...
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Rainbow Falls is located just a short hike from the start of the Rainbow Trail to Rainbow Lake. The trailhead is along Alta Lake Road on the far side of ...
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Brandywine Falls is one of the must see sights on the way to or from Whistler. The falls drop from a 70 metre(230 feet), unnaturally abrupt looking cliff ...
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Cheakamus Lake is a wonderfully relaxing way to get in the wilderness easily and quickly from Whistler Village. The trail begins on the far side of Whistler Mountain, 8 kilometres from the Sea to Sky ...
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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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Black Tusk is the extraordinarily iconic and appropriately named mountain that can be seen from almost everywhere in Whistler. The massive black spire of crumbling rock juts out of the earth in an incredibly ...
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The Sea to Sky Trail is a 180 kilometre multi-use trail that runs from Squamish to D'Arcy. The trail is still under construction in many parts, however, the amazing route through Whistler is finally in ...
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