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Whistler Train Wreck

Black Tusk

Brandywine Meadows

Wedgemount Lake

Adit Lakes

Logger's Lake

Cirque Lake

Black Tusk

Newt Lake

Wedgemount Lake

Callaghan Lake

Northair Mine

Joffre Lakes

Spectacular Whistler!

Whistler hiking is wonderful! Check out our Best Whistler Hiking by Month guides! WeRentGear.com rents tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, camp stoves, packs, complete kits and more!

Best Trails This Week!

Best This Week: Whistler Train Wreck and Parkhurst Ghost Town are easy, fun and dog friendly. Check out our July and August Whistler and Garibaldi Park guides here!

Black Tusk Hike RatingBlack 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 distinct way that appears like an enormous black tusk plunging out of the ground.  Whether you spot it in the distance from the top of Whistler Mountain or from vantage points along the Sea to Sky Highway, its appearance is breathtaking.

  • Stunning icon in Garibaldi Park
  • Challenging and rewarding hike
  • Wonderful look at an ancient volcano
  • Always changing scenery on the hike in
  • Great campsite options and further hiking options
  • Multiple access routes
  • Towering & surreal view from the summit
  • The final chute is exhilarating!
  • You can skip the summit & still be amazed
  • Often crowded with other hikers

Whether you see it from the highway or from closer vantage points such as Taylor Meadows, Helm Creek, Panorama Ridge or Garibaldi Lake, all views make climbing to the top look impossible.  In fact, Black Tusk seems to look more impossible to climb the closer you get to it.  Even when you are close enough to touch its vertical, black and crumbling sides, you wonder in amazement how anyone can ever reach the top.  Black Tusk is accessible from three different trailheads, all accessible via old access roads. From the nearby microwave tower(also visible from the Sea to Sky Highway), from the Garibaldi Park, Cheakamus Lake trailhead, and from the Garibaldi Park, Rubble Creek trailhead.  Of the three routes, only the Cheakamus Lake trailhead and the Rubble Creek trailhead are officially used for access to Black Tusk.  These two have large and free parking lots equipped with an outhouse at each as well as big map and information boards.  Along both trails you will find good signs indicating where to hike as well as kilometre markings.  Most hikers use the more direct and popular Rubble Creek trailhead.  The microwave tower access road takes you very close to Black Tusk, and has a fairly good gravel 4x4 road to it, however is blocked several kilometres away by a vehicle gate. This is potentially a good way to hike to Black Tusk, however this annoying gate makes what should be a short hike, a long and tedious one. Also, there are of course no signs indicating where to go once you reach the microwave tower.  This route is currently being considered to be opened to allow vehicles to park at or near the microwave tower, however, little progress has been made so far.  Occasionally you will find this gate open, however driving past this point may get you in trouble.

Black Tusk Map

Black Tusk Map Overall v13

The Cheakamus Lake trailhead route to get to Black Tusk is a good option as it is quiet, serene and takes you over the beautiful Cheakamus River via suspension bridge and through the wonderfully remote Helm Creek campground.  It is, however, quite long at over 15 kilometres each way to the summit of Black Tusk and part of this route is unmarked, requires some route-finding, and a wet crossing of Helm Creek.  It is a good option if you are keen on avoiding crowds as the beautiful Helm Creek campground has only about a dozen tent platforms and more often than not, are mostly deserted. Helm Creek is also the gateway to quite a few other great hikes.  A quick look at a map indicates several accessible mountains close by as well as the elusive Corrie Lake.

Black Tusk View

Black Tusk in Garibaldi Park

Rubble Creek Trailhead to Black Tusk

The Rubble Creek trailhead is, for most hikers, the best trailhead option for Black Tusk. It is easy to find, clearly marked and the most direct route.  The Cheakamus Lake trailhead is a bit longer and you have to leave the marked trail to ascend to Black Tusk.  Though this unmarked route is straightforward and surprisingly easy, as it is unmarked it requires a bit of guesswork that may be intimidating.  The Cheakamus Lake trailhead route also lacks one other wonderful attribute that the Rubble Creek route has, a pit-stop at Garibaldi Lake.  This less than 30 minute detour(one way) allows for a spectacular place to cool off in an always frigid, glacier fed lake!

Black Tusk Map v19a

More Great Hiking Around Black Tusk

More Hiking Near Black TuskThe hiking options around and beyond Black Tusk in Garibaldi Park are quite good. Most hike to Garibaldi Lake to camp on the way to Black Tusk. Taylor Meadows is another route to Black Tusk and another campground. If you are hiking in a day, you can hike Rubble Creek to Taylor Meadows, then Black Tusk, returning via Garibaldi Lake. Garibaldi Lake barely adds any hiking distance to the overall journey with just a couple extra kilometres. Panorama Ridge, Helm Creek and Cheakamus Lake are found beyond Black Tusk if hiking from the Rubble Creek side. Added to this you will find a wealth of alpine terrain leading to various mountain peaks and even the wonderful Helm Glacier.  Garibaldi Provincial Park is an enormous park, but the huge outdoor playground around Black Tusk is absolutely phenomenal!

Black Tusk Large Map v20a

Trailhead & Parking Directions to Black Tusk

Rubble Creek Access is Paved to the Parking LotRubble Creek is the most popular route to Black Tusk and consequently the most chaotic.  The three big parking areas fill up on busy weekends, however the long access road seems to have enough room to accommodate the busiest long weekends. This road is the only paved(not a heavily potholed, gravel road) to access a trailhead to Black Tusk. Though very busy, the Rubble Creek trail to Black Tusk is constantly maintained to a high standard.  Plenty of helpful BC Parks Garibaldi Park mapboards and trail signs keep you on track and aware of where you are.  The tidy, natural dirt trail is wide enough to hike side-by-side most of the time.  The constant ascent from here gets you to the summit of Black Tusk in 13.5 kilometres(8.4 miles).  To get to Rubble Creek, drive south from Whistler Village(zero your odometer at Village Gate Boulevard) on Hwy 99.  At 24.7 kilometres look for the Black Tusk(Garibaldi) sign on the highway indicating you to turn left.  There is a nice, and long dedicated left turn lane on the highway here to allow you to safely exit the highway.  There is a fork in the road a couple hundred metre up Daisy Lake road. Take the right fork and continue up the paved road for 2 kilometres to the Garibaldi Park, Rubble Creek trailhead for Black Tusk, Taylor Meadows, Panorama Ridge, Garibaldi Lake and much more.

Rubble Creek Trailhead Parking 2019

Rubble Creek Directions Map v3c

Guides to the Best of Whistler

Best Whistler Dog Friendly Hiking TrailsBest Dog Friendly Hiking Trails

Whistler is very dog friendly and the number of wonderful hiking trails that your dog will love is huge. The massively varied hiking trails range from easy, short, close to Whistler Village to challenging, long and deep in the endless wilderness around Whistler. You can find dog friendly trails in and around Whistler Village that take you through deep, dark and magical forests. Or you can drive beyond Whistler Village and take your dog to spectacular alpine lakes. Some requiring little or no hiking, while others are found after hiking challenging and long trails. Many of these places are comparatively quiet and often you and your dog will have the the wilderness to yourselves. In and around Whistler Village you have Lost Lake with its spider web of trails... Continued here.

Best Free Camping in WhistlerBest Free Whistler Camping

Whistler is surrounded by an immense wilderness dotted with spectacular, hidden lakes and amazing places to set up a tent. Decades of logging activity has left a network of forest service roads that has opened easy access to these places. Some of these you can drive to and some you may need a 4x4 to comfortably get to. Some places to camp for free you can drive to, some require a short hike and others are fairly long hikes to reach. Beautiful Callaghan Valley is home to several incredible and free places to camp. Callaghan Lake has a great free drive-to campsite just steps from this spectacular alpine lake. If you have a canoe, you can paddle to the end of Callaghan Lake and hike the short, but steep trail up to Cirque Lake. This gorgeous lake is deep in the alpine wilderness... Continued here.

Best No Car Whistler TrailsNo Car? No Problem! Whistler Trails

Whistler as a resort has a wonderful car-free core. The Village Stroll runs through the heart of Whistler Village and is entirely car free. If you are visiting Whistler or living here and you don't have a car, it's no problem. On foot or on a bike you can travel the extensive network of non-motorized trails. The Valley Trail snakes through Whistler Village and extends in several directions, all of which lead to beautiful parts of Whistler. The Sea to Sky Trail and the Lost Lake trails continue this massive, car-free network of trails running almost everywhere in Whistler. When it comes to many of the best hiking trails, getting to the trailheads on foot, by bike or public transit can be tricky at best or complicated and impractical at worst. Many trailheads are far from Whistler Village and... Continued here.

Whistler Hiking Trails for KidsKid Friendly Whistler Hiking Trails

There are plenty of excellent, kid and family friendly hiking trails and destinations in and around Whistler. Kid and family friendly generally means an easy and somewhat short trail that a toddler can happily manage. Some of these trails are flat enough to be stroller friendly, such as Brandywine Falls, Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain. Others such as Logger’s Lake, Cheakamus River and Madeley Lake have short enough trails to reach them that you can manage with little kids that don't want to hike too far. Some of these hikes and walks are popular and close to Whistler Village, like Whistler Mountain, Blackcomb Mountain, Lost Lake Park, Rainbow Park and Meadow Park. Others are a beautiful, but far drive into the mountains and tricky to find... Continued here.

 

More Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking Maps!

Joffre Lakes Maps

The three Joffre Lakes are some of the most stunning lakes you are likely to ever see. Each lake gets progressively more beautiful and impossibly turquoise from one to the ...
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Ancient Cedars Maps

Ancient Cedars is a nice, easy/moderate 2.6 kilometre(1.6 mile) hiking trail on the far side of Cougar Mountain, just 13.1 kilometres north of Whistler Village. A small, ...
Read more

Russet Lake Maps

Russet Lake is a surreal little paradise that lays at the base of The Fissile. The Fissile is the strikingly bronze mountain visible from Whistler Village.  From the Village ...
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Keyhole Hot Springs Maps

Keyhole Hot Springs (aka Pebble Creek Hot Springs) is located 100 kilometres from Whistler(Village Gate Blvd). Though most of the 100 kilometres is on logging roads, it is ...
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More Whistler Hiking Trail Maps

Incredible West Coast Trail Guide

Whistler & Garibaldi Park Glossary A to Z

Wedge Creek cuts through the valley that separates Wedge Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain and empties into Green River near the north end of Green Lake.  ...
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Glacier Window: the cave-like opening at the mouth of a glacier where meltwater runs out.  Glacier windows are often extraordinarily beautiful.  A blue glow ...
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Hidden in the tangle of forest along Green Lake where the old Parkhurst Sawmill once operated, is the bizarre and beautiful Parkhurst Plow Tree.  A very ...
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Hoary Marmots are the cute, pudgy, twenty plus pound ground squirrels that have evolved to live quite happily in the hostile alpine areas around Whistler.  ...
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Scree: from the Norse “skridha”, landslide.  The small, loose stones covering a slope. Also called talus, the French word for slope. Scree is mainly formed ...
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Along the shore of Green Lake, you will find a monstrous old Caterpillar tractor that dates from the 1930’s.  Abandoned here in the 1950’s, it looks as if the ...
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Coast Douglas-fir trees are medium to extremely large trees that you will encounter in Whistler and Garibaldi Park. They are the second tallest conifer ...
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Erratic or glacier erratic is a piece of rock that has been carried by glacial ice, often hundreds of kilometres.  Characteristic of their massive size and ...
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More Hike in Whistler Glossary

Rent Hiking Gear Whistler and Garibaldi Park

The Best Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking Trails!

Cheakamus River is a beautiful, crashing, turquoise coloured river that flows from Cheakamus Lake, through Whistler Interpretive Forest, then down past Brandywine Falls to Daisy Lake, then all the way to ...
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Ring Lake is a fantastically serene and wonderfully remote lake similar to Cirque Lake, but considerably farther to hike to reach it. The 10 kilometre(6.2 mile) hike takes you through a rarely hiked forest, ...
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The alpine hiking trails on Whistler Mountain are the ultimate in luxurious, quick-access alpine hiking. Little effort gets you amazing views of turquoise lakes, snowy mountains, valleys of flowers and ...
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Keyhole Hot Springs (aka Pebble Creek Hot Springs) is located 100 kilometres from Whistler (Village Gate Blvd). Though much of the drive to Keyhole is on logging roads, the route is driveable by most cars ...
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More Whistler Hiking Trails & Maps

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