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February 14th, 2023: What trails are good this week? With the freezing level around zero in the valley and occasional rain, driving up into the mountains is a great way to seek out a winter wonderland. Alexander Falls is beautiful these days with deep snow everywhere. Not really a hike as the walk from your car to the viewpoint is just a hundred metres or so, it is worth the drive, especially on a sunny day!
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
Sproatt East
Sproatt West
Taylor Meadows
Train Wreck
Wedgemount Lake
Whistler Mountain
Blueberry Trail
Brandywine Falls
Cheakamus River
Elfin Lakes
Flank Trail
Joffre Lakes
Nairn Falls
Parkhurst Ghost Town
Rainbow Falls
Rainbow Lake
Rainbow Park
Sproatt East
Taylor Meadows
Train Wreck
Wedgemount Lake
High up in the Callaghan Valley, Alexander Falls is easy to get to in any weather and amazing in February. The falls crash down 43 metres into the snow filled valley below. When Whistler Valley is slushy and wet, everything in the Callaghan Valley is insanely buried in snow. Finding Alexander Falls is easy. From Whistler Village: Drive south on the Sea to Sky highway, 13.8 kilometres from Village Gate Boulevard, turn right onto Callaghan Valley Road at the sign to Whistler Olympic Park. Follow this road for 9.6 kilometres, keep an eye out on your left for a little sign that directs you to Alexander Falls. The sign/turnoff is just before Whistler Olympic Park. Anytime of the year is great to go to Alexander Falls. In the summer, the weather makes the drive more scenic and you are likely to see bears on the way there. At the viewing area you have several picnic tables that are wonderful in the summertime. In the winter months, the valley is a massive, snowy playground.
Walking through the Alexander Falls parking lot covered in almost 2 metres of snow on a beautiful, sunny winter day. The outhouses can be seen on the right almost entirely buried in snow. The viewing platform just past the outhouses is completely obscured by snow.
On the drive to or from Alexander Falls you can check out another one of Whistler's impressive waterfalls, Brandywine Falls. Brandywine Falls is another wonderful place to visit in February, though it is a bit tricky to get to in the winter months due to BC Parks keeping the parking gate locked and towing cars parked outside the gate. To get to the falls in the winter you have to drive to the Whistler Bungee Bridge and snowshoe in from there. The three kilometre trail is quite nice and the Bungee Bridge is quite an amazing sight to see as well. Whistler Bungee operates year-round and makes sure the access road is plowed all winter to the Bungee Bridge parking area almost directly under the towering bridge far above. The Three kilometre trek through the forest is pretty easy and the elevation change is minimal. It's a great trail for kids as it is nice and easy as well as having two great attractions at either end. Along with the viewpoint across from Brandywine Falls there is a nice viewing area overlooking Daisy Lake. On a sunny day the views are breathtaking. South facing, Daisy Lake and the entire valley stretches into the distance in a sea of white. Black Tusk seems very close from this viewpoint and juts above the microwave towers that sit on the broad plateau in the foreground. An interpretive board at the viewpoint illustrates how Black Tusk came to have this striking appearance. What we see today is the solidified core of an extinct volcano that has been revealed by the surrounding cone crumbling away over thousands of years. Extraordinary!
Bungee Bridge to Brandywine Falls Continued...
There are dozens of great snowshoe and hiking trails in Whistler this time of year. Rainbow Falls is a fun and easy 1.1 kilometre(one way) trail to the cute and hidden waterfalls. They are not huge and impressive, but the trail is fun as it bends and ascends quickly up the forest along Twentyone Mile Creek. The snow is deep all winter and you almost always need snowshoes to get there. If you hike a bit further beyond Rainbow Falls you connect to the Flank Trail which crosses Twentyone Mile Creek. The bridge across is always deeply buried in snow and you always feel like you are in a winter wonderland! Huge boulders below the bridge are buried in massive pillows of snow and it is quite easy to snowshoe along the creek which crashes through. You can continue along the Flank Trail and connect back down to the Rainbow trailhead where you started. This circle route is fantastic and you can easily snowshoe the route un under an hour. The Sproatt East trail is another great trail to snowshoe in February. This trail begins high up in Stonebridge, the neighbourhood across the valley from Whistler Village. The trailhead begins very high up the side of Mount Sproatt, allowing you to start snowshoeing way up the mountain. The Sproatt East trail winds through the forest, across several winding bridges, and up to several great views across the valley. The trail to the summit of Sproatt is a very steep and challenging 5 kilometres, one way. There are several stunning plateaus along the trail and make worthy destinations on their own. The second plateau along the trail is just 2.4 kilometres from the trailhead. Still challenging in the winter with snowshoes, but much easier than going all the way to the summit of Sproatt. The first plateau is fairly easy and just 1.4 kilometres from the trailhead and still with wonderful views.
There are plenty of beautiful and free snowshoe trails in Whistler and Garibaldi Provincial Park. From the surreal paintings of Whistler Train Wreck to the magnificent mountain serenity of Wedgemount Lake in Garibaldi Park. Trails range from easy trails like the short one to Rainbow Park. To challenging and long trails to places like Elfin Lakes, Taylor Meadows and Wedgemount Lake. Whistler even has a growing network of snowshoe trails to Parkhurst Ghost Town on the far side of Green Lake.
Best Whistler Hiking and Snowshoe Trails February