I don’t often write about some of the smaller hikes I do, but there are some really nice, lesser known, short hikes out there that can make for a great adventure in the right conditions. Starvation Lake is one of those trails! 

I laughed a bit when I stumbled upon this trail, because the name really doesn’t sell the location. The lake is located not too far out of Squamish, but it’s often overlooked in favour of more ambitious hikes. I stumbled upon it in early July 2024 when I was looking for somewhere to hike that wasn’t still inundated with snow (it was a late snowmelt year). 

Starvation Lake is actually a thru-hike trail, measuring ~7km in length. It can be accessed from either Paradise Valley Road or from the Sea to Sky Highway. The lake is located pretty much exactly at the halfway point, so you can choose either end, or park a car on both sides. We opted for the Paradise Valley side of the trail because we didn’t want to park off the highway, but mostly because we also wanted to visit Fergie’s Cafe! 

Fergie’s Cafe is a popular brunch restaurant in Squamish. It’s located on Squamish Valley Road, right before the branch to Paradise Valley Road. It’s nestled along the Cheakamus River and serves the best food! They don’t take reservations, so be prepared for a wait. We managed to get a nice outdoor table where Sadie could “chill”, while we enjoyed our meal. 

From Fergie’s, you take the branch on to Paradise Valley Road and drive to the end of the road. Eventually the road turns to gravel for about 400m, so you can either park before the gravel section or drive to the end. If you have the appropriate vehicle, you can continue further along the road by the river, but we opted to just enjoy walking it (to Brandon’s dismay). There’s several FCFS rec campsites along the river, which would make a nice place to camp. 

It’s ~3-3.5km to the lake along fairly well maintained trail. The trail diverges from the river after a kilometre and you start an uphill hike towards the lake. It’s a bit rocky in places, but it flattens out again in the middle of the trail. There’s a final uphill push through the trees and then you end up at the south end of lake. There are a few pocket beaches on the south side, but it’s a small lake, so I recommend continuing around to the other side. There’s a rec site on the north side and there’s more space to have a bit of a beach day. To be clear, there is no beach, it’s just rock, but there’s more space to set up some chairs and relax for a few hours. 

It was a hot day, so our main reason for doing this trail was to laze around at the lake. We ended up spending several hours swimming before heading back down to the car. In my opinion, Starvation Lake is the perfect swimming lake! It’s not very big, so it warms up very quickly. I don’t think it’s glacier fed, which also contributes to it being warmer. It only took me about 10 minutes to swim across the lake, which Brandon also did from his floatie. A few other people stopped by while doing the hike or a bike ride and did a quick dip in the lake, but we were the only ones spending extended time there.

I really liked this hike because it’s easy and a great location for swimming. By committing to a 1 hour hike, we managed to avoid the kind of congestion that you find at swimming holes that are directly accessible by car (like Brohm Lake and Murrin Lake). Generally I do prefer to take advantage of the summer season to do bigger hikes, but if you’re looking for a relaxing lake day, this is a great choice! I really enjoyed the experience.