I haven’t done a lot of hiking in Abbotsford or Mission, but my friend Simmer just moved to Abbotsford and I was excited to explore the Chadsey Lake trail this Fall. The trailhead is located ~20 minutes outside of Abbotsford on Sumas Mountain Road. It’s a 10km trail with 550m of elevation gain and it took us 4 hours with a break at the lake for lunch and a swim.
The entire hike is in the forest, with a maximum elevation of 650m, so it’s a good shoulder season hike, or even a summer hike if you’re looking for shade and a nice swim. I went the first weekend in October and I thought it was a nice option for Fall because lots of the trees on the lower part of the trail change colour and it wasn’t so late in the season that I couldn’t swim. It was a gorgeous day and while the water was cold, it’s not too bad since it’s had the entire summer to heat up.
What surprised me most about this trail was how empty it was. I don’t think this is an obscure hike, but we barely passed anyone on the trail all morning. There are a lot of different trails around Sumas Mountain, so maybe people are accessing the lake from other trails. In any case, the trail was in decent condition and we followed it up from the road until we reached an old logging road. You turn right onto the road, but you quickly leave it behind to rejoin the Centennial Trail on the left, so watch closely for the trail or you could easily miss it.
From there, you hike the steepest part of the trail and the trees thin, so it’s a bit hotter in this section. Eventually you go back into the forest and the trail levels out as you hike around the backside of the mountain. This was my favourite part of the trail, there’s a few peak-a-boo views and I liked hiking along the side of the mountain. There’s one final uphill push and you arrive at the lake. There were a few people at the lake when we got there, but it still wasn’t too busy and I quickly went for my swim before having lunch.
From the lake, you can continue for another 4.5km round trip hike up to the Eastern Sumas Lookout. It includes another 250m of elevation gain, so we opted to skip it on this trip. I don’t know what the view is like from the top, but the trail continues through the forest, so we hiked back to the road instead.
It’s not one of the most memorable hikes I did throughout the summer, but like I said, it’s a great hike for shoulder season or if you just want to get outside for a good walk. I liked that it wasn’t too far away from my house in Coquitlam and that I didn’t have to give up my entire day to hike it. We got in a few hours of exercise and were able to return home mid-afternoon. The hike is dog friendly, so I brought Sadie with me and she loved the lack of people around. So overall, we all had a great time!
Iceberg Lake is a popular trail in Whistler that’s ~15km round trip with 900m of elevation gain. The trail hikes up through the forest north of Whistler, exiting to a beautiful alpine meadow and a steep climb up to the lake. It’s nestled at the base of the mountain and regularly has bergy bits floating in it, making for a cold swim and scenic photos.
The first time I hiked to Iceberg Lake was in August 2022. Rather than do the there-and-back trail to the lake, we opted to do a loop along the Skywalk North trail. This does add considerable distance to the hike, but not a lot more elevation gain. We tracked just over 1000m of gain along the entire Skywalk North trail over 21km. It’s a beautiful trail and I highly recommend adding the extra kms to avoid hiking in and out on the same trail.
Adriana wanted to hike Iceberg Lake in mid September and we opted to do the Skywalk South trail this time. It’s similar to the North trail, but I’d say it’s a little more challenging. I tracked 21.5km and over 1200m of elevation gain, so there is a bit more climbing. Both trails share the main trail to Iceberg Lake, but Skywalk North is accessed from Mountain View Drive and heads North from Iceberg Lake, whereas Skywalk South is accessed from Alpine Way and heads south from Iceberg Lake. I hiked both trails clockwise, but I think I would recommend hiking Skywalk North counterclockwise instead. The direct trail to iceberg lake is the easiest way to get there, the Skywalk trails are quite steep. I prefer to hike the steepest part uphill (I have bad knees), so I recommend hiking out on the Iceberg Lake Trail.
Both trails are beautiful and it’s hard to differentiate between them. Skywalk North is a bit steeper, but has a second, warmer lake (Screaming Cat Lake) where you can swim, whereas Skywalk South has incredible views looking down to Whistler and an optional extra summit to a small peak below Rainbow Mountain (we didn’t bother). Since I already wrote about Skywalk North, I’ll focus on Skywalk South for the rest of this post.
The trailhead to Skywalk South is on Alpine Way. There’s no parking lot and you do have to park along the street, so pay close attention to the parking signs, because it’s not allowed everywhere. Be prepared to do some road walking to the trailhead which starts with a long section of trail on an old FSR that is in good condition and easy to follow. After approximately 3km, you reach a junction where you can take a left onto the Skywalk South trail, otherwise you will continue directly to Iceberg Lake. We opted to get the hardest part of the hike done early, which is why we veered left onto the Skywalk South trail. Watch out for mountain bikers in this section as they do use part of this trail as a connector.
At first, the trail is quite flat as it traverses along the backside of the mountain, but eventually it gets steeper. It’s not a technical trail and it is nice to have the shade from the trees on a hot day. After a few kilometres, you will start to pop out into some of the alpine meadows and the trail gets less steep before a final push to the high point. Once we got to the highest point, we stopped for lunch underneath the optional trail to the summit. I’d recommend pushing just a little bit further. Past the junction, there is a small pond that looked great for swimming, and past that there are fantastic views down to Whistler. I think this would be the best place to stop for a break, but we just took some photos instead.
After that, you have to hike back down towards Iceberg Lake. It’s nestled in the side of the mountain, so you can’t see it until the very end, but there’s beautiful views of the alpine. This section is a little bit tricky and hard to follow, so pay close attention. You have to hike down a boulder field, which is steep, but not too challenging. Our problem was that we ended up getting off the trail at some point and by the time we realized, it was a bit tricky to navigate back to the trail. We managed, but my advice is to keep a close eye on the GPS track. It’s a wide open area, so it seems deceptively safe, but once you get off trail, it is not easy to get back on it. It’s easy to get cliffed out, so avoid having to backtrack.
Eventually the trail merges with the Iceberg Lake trail. There’s an outhouse at the junction and a beautiful meadow along the river. Follow the river and you’ll hike back up through one final boulder field before arriving at the lake. This is a steep section as well, but the trail isn’t hard to follow.
The sun sets early over the mountain behind the lake, so if you arrive late in the day, you may be in the shade. We arrived just in time, right before the sun dropped behind the mountain, and we were able to go for a quick swim before losing the light. We still had lots of daylight, but the temperature dropped very quickly after the sun disappeared.
The only part that sucks about the Skywalk South trail is that you have to re-do the hike back to the junction. On the Skywalk North trail, it’s one continuous loop that hikes north from the lake. We walked back to the outhouse and then had a nice walk along the Iceberg Lake trail to the car. I enjoyed the section in the forest, but once we rejoined the lower part of the trail along the old road, I quickly lost interest.
It’s a long hike and I found it pretty challenging on my knees for the last section. It’s pretty boring along the road and it felt so much longer on the way down. Me and Adriana both ended up more or less hobbling off the trail for the last 3kms because our knees were so done. Since it’s such a long trail, make sure you give yourself lots of time and daylight, especially if you’re going later in the season. It took me 9 hours to do the full Skywalk North loop in 2022 and 10 hours to do the full Skywalk South loop in 2026.
Both trails are beautiful and I think they offer a lot of extra views that you won’t get if you just do the Iceberg Lake trail. I won’t be in a rush to go back now that I’ve done both, but they did offer different enough perspectives that I didn’t mind returning for the Skywalk South trail. I highly recommend both!
I’ve lived in BC for over 12 years now. I started ranking my top 10 favourite hikes in the southwest part of the province in Fall 2016 and I have been creating a new list every two years since then. By 2024, I had 5 lists featuring a total of 50 hikes, so I narrowed it down to a special list of my overall top 10 hikes in the last decade. I’d like to continue the trend, so welcome to Part VI of this list, featuring my favourite hikes of the past two years.
I’m surprised it’s taken 12 years for this hike to make the list, but there’s always a shorter hike close to home that never fails to surprise me. Despite hiking to Brockton Peak many times over the years, I only hiked to Pump Peak for the first time in 2026. It’s located very close to Vancouver in Mount Seymour Provincial Park and is a great option for a sunset/sunrise hike, or a short overnight. (8km, 400m gain)
Tricouni Berg Lake (not to be confused with Tricouni Lake or Iceberg Lake) is a newly popular hike past Squamish. It only came on my radar pretty recently, but it’s a fun day hike or overnight trip with a huge payoff at the lake. Turn off Highway 99 onto Chance Creek FSR and follow the Chance Mainline (~8.5km) as far as you can go. It’s a gravel road that most vehicles can handle. From there, park and hike up to a beautiful alpine lake nestled under Tricouni Peak. (10km, 500m gain)
Brandywine Meadows made my very first top 10 list in 2016, but having recently hiked closer to the mountain summit, I’m adding the mountain to this list. There are two trailheads for this hike, a lower one accessible by any vehicle, and an upper one accessible by 4×4. I really recommend the upper lot if you’re hiking to Brandywine Peak. This is a beautiful hike through the meadows and up and over the side of the mountain. Some wayfinding is required over the mountain and it is extremely steep, so only recommended for experienced hikers. I haven’t actually summited, but enjoyed hiking up the ridge. (10km, 800m gain)
This is another hike that I can’t believe had to wait 12 years to make my top 10 list. This is a beast of a trail, so despite its close proximity to Vancouver, it took me a long time to finally work up the nerve to hike it. Located in Golden Ears Park, this is an iconic trail that overlooks Pitt Lake and the surrounding mountains. There’s over 1500m of elevation to summit the mountain, so it’s very steep and should only be attempted by experienced hikers. You can complete it as a day hike, or reserve a campsite to spend the night at the scenic Panorama Campsite. (24km, 1600m gain)
San Josef Bay and Raft Cove are both located on the far north coast of Vancouver Island in Cape Scott and Raft Cove Provincial Parks. Both hikes require a long drive on gravel road from Port Hardy (65km+), so they are not easy to access, but well worth the drive. Both hikes are short and visit iconic sandy beaches, but San Josef Bay is a fairly straightforward flat hike, while Raft Cove is fairly technical. San Josef Bay has stunning sea stacks that you can visit at low tide, but it has the downside of being much busier than Raft Cove. (San Jo: 6km, 0m gain; Raft Cove: 7km, 100m gain)
South Chilcotin Provincial Park was featured on both my 2024 list and my overall best hikes list, so I was excited to return to the park in 2025, this time accessing it from Taylor Creek. I spent 3 days hiking and camping in the park, visiting both Windy Pass and Camel Pass. Camel Pass is accessible as a day hike, but you’d need to backpack in order to access Windy Pass. Both are stunning alpine features of the park. (20-40km, significant gain)
This is my last double feature, I promise. I know Wells Gray is a bit of a stretch to be considered Southwestern BC (it isn’t), but I always stretch the bounds on this list to pretty much anything east of the Rockies. I couldn’t bear to leave Wells Gray off the list, often known as the waterfall park, it’s incredibly scenic. My favourite waterfall was Moul Falls, which has the special feature of being able to walk behind the waterfall. But I also loved hiking to Trophy Meadows to see the wildflowers, so I had to include both on the list. (Trophy: 6km, 300m gain; Moul: 6km, 150m gain)
This hike was a surprise contender for the list. I often just scroll around Gaia for the fun of it, looking for interesting trails, which is how I stumbled upon Cirque Lake. It’s a remote lake in the Callaghan Valley, which can only be accessed by driving 10km down a gravel road with water bars, paddling across Callaghan Lake, and then hiking up a steep trail to Cirque Lake. It’s not a long paddle, nor is it a long hike, but added together, it is a bit of effort to get to the lake. Once there, enjoy the gorgeous alpine views. (4km RT paddle; 4km, 250m gain hike)
Cathedral Provincial Park is a stunning, some would say spiritual, park south of Princeton. It’s just far enough away from Vancouver that it’s not too busy and the long access into the park restricts visitors. You can’t do this hike as a day trip and I visited as a 4 day backpacking trip. When operating, you can take a shuttle into the core area of the park and complete the beautiful Rim Trail, which features a number of rock monuments, as a day hike. The shuttle wasn’t running when I visited due to a recent forest fire, which is why I needed more time to hike an extra 15km each way in and out of the park. (Rim Trail: 18km, 900m gain)
I finally hiked the West Coast Trail and it’s not surprising that this lands as my number 1 hike of the last two years. The West Coast Trail is one of the most iconic trails in BC and is famous for a reason. It’s a multi day coastal hike that features roaring waterfalls, pristine beaches, and stunning sea stacks and sea caves. I completed the trail over 7 days and I would only recommend it to experienced hikers. There are over 100 ladders on this trail and it is a very challenging multi-day trek. But if you’re up for the challenge, you will be rewarded! (75km)
