Favourite Hikes in Southwestern BC: Part V

December 4, 2024November 15, 2024 / Maria / 1 Comment

It’s been over 10 years since I moved to British Columbia, so every 2 years I compile a list of my favourite hikes from the past 2 years. You can view my other favourite hikes in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. This collection is my favourite trails that I hiked in 2023 and 2024. It’s always a mix of day hikes and backpacking trips!

Two hikers lay on Starvation Lake on floating pads with the mountains and forest in the background on a warm, sunny day in Summer, near Squamish, BC.

#10 Starvation Lake

This hike is super easy and accessible, but chances are, you’ve never heard of it. The alpine snow was pretty slow to melt in the summer of 2024, so one day in July we decided to check out some of the lesser known trails in Squamish. We wanted to stay at a low elevation and take advantage of lake swimming season. We had Brunch at Fergie’s and then continued to the end of Paradise Valley Road to start this hike. The trail follows the Cheakamus River before a gentle hike uphill on the Sea to Sky Trail. We hiked as far as the Starvation Lake Rec Site and spent several hours lounging around and swimming in the warm water. You can continue hiking further to connect with the Sea to Sky highway (if you have two cars), but we enjoyed a round trip from the lake. (6km roundtrip, 130m elevation gain)

A group of snowshoers head downhill in winter on a snowy mountain with snow covered trees and a view of Vancouver city in the background from Brockton Point in Seymour Mountain Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada.

#9 Brockton Point

Brockton Point is well known among the skiing and snowshoeing crowd. It’s a hike I’ve done several times, but I only started to appreciate it in the past few years. I recommend doing it in the winter, just make sure to book a free parking pass for Mount Seymour Backcountry or you’ll be denied access. Recently I’ve been ski touring up to Brockton Point and then skiing back down through the resort trails, but it’s also a really nice snowshoeing trail. The trail starts at the back of the parking lot and hikes parallel to the ski run. Most users continue past Brockton Point to Pump Peak, but this takes you into avalanche terrain, so don’t go further without the proper gear and training. I always stop at Brockton because the view is great there anyways! (6km roundtrip, 270m elevation gain)

A photo of a tent in a meadow just before sunrise, as the sun turns the surrounding mountains orange on a clear sky day overlooking the alpine and forest around Jade Lake in Mount Revelstoke National Park in BC.

#8 Jade Lake

In line with my other posts, I’m not afraid to stretch the boundaries of what is considered “southwestern BC”. Jade Lake is located 6 hours away from Vancouver in Mount Revelstoke National Park, so it’s definitely a bit of a stretch to include it in this list, but it’s a great hike! Eva and Jade Lake can be done as either a backpacking trip, or a long day trip. It’s a little over 20km round trip if you want to do both lakes in a day, so I opted to visit overnight. The hike starts from the top of Mount Revelstoke and meanders through beautiful alpine meadows. After Eva Lake, the hike climbs up the pass for a beautiful view of Jade Lake. Most people stop at the Pass, but it’s definitely worth it to add the extra 2km down to Jade Lake, which is a gorgeous alpine lake that receives limited visitors compared to the rest of the park. (20km roundtrip, 525m elevation gain)

A hiker stands on the edge of a rock next to Widgeon Creek with the forest and mountains in the background on a sunny day

#7 Widgeon Falls

Widgeon Falls is a really unique hike because it’s only accessible by boat! In the summer, you can rent canoes from Pitt Lake and paddle across the Pitt River and up Widgeon Creek to the Widgeon Campsite (~1.5 hour paddle). It’s a pretty safe paddle, but you definitely want to be prepared if you’ve never canoed before. The Pitt River is tidally influenced and can become pretty fast moving, so research the current conditions before visiting. I think the best time to go is early spring or early summer. Avoid freshet, which causes high flows in the river, but also avoid late summer because then the flows in the creek can get too low. From the campsite, you can hike through the forest and along the river to Widgeon Falls. It’s an easy hike, but makes for a great adventure! (9km roundtrip paddle, 6km roundtrip hike)

A photo of Palmers Pond on a summer day, with the green meadows, forest, and mountains in the background, on the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC Trail) near Hope in British Columbia, Canada.

#6 HBC Heritage Trail

If you know me well, you might be surprised to see this hike on the list. I did not have a great time on this hike. It’s 80km long and me and Carolyn completed the entire trail in 3 days, resulting in a foot injury. I was quite miserable along a lot of the trail, but it was definitely a type 2 kind of fun because I still think about this trail all the time. Like the name suggests, it’s a heritage trail that connects Hope to Tulameen and was used during the fur trade and by First Nations. The trail has a lot of forest walking and is not for the faint of heart after the 2021 flood caused a lot of blowdowns and washouts. Most of the trail has now been repaired by amazing volunteers, but the real reason you do this hike is for the solitude. We encountered a lot of people when we passed through Lodestone Lake Rec Site, but otherwise, we didn’t see a single person on the trail in the entire 3 day weekend we were hiking. Despite the challenges, I think this is a really special trail and you will be rewarded with views at Conglomerate Flats and Palmer’s Pond. It’s a great option if you like a challenge! (80km, 3300m elevation gain, 4-6 days)

A female hiker stands next to a fence, looking out at the fast moving water of Sechelt Inlet near Skookumchuck Narrows, with the mountains in the background on a sunny, summer day, on the Sunshine Coast, BC.

#5 Skookumchuck Narrows

This is a small and easy trail on the Sunshine Coast, but I really enjoyed visiting it. After you take the ferry to Langdale, drive all the way north to Earls Cove and take the turn off to Egmont. It’s a relatively easy hike, so make a day of it and visit the small village of Egmont and go for a swim in Waugh Lake on the way back. There’s a tiny cafe along the trail, so you can reward yourself with a little treat. The trail hikes through the woods to a series of viewpoints at the Sechelt Rapids. The main reason to visit is to see the series of rapids that develop during tide change, which are popular among kayakers and whitewater enthusiasts. The views of Sechelt Inlet are gorgeous, and it’s really fun to watch the thrill seekers playing in the rapids! (9km roundtrip, 150m elevation gain)

A female hiker floats in an alpine lake while swimming at Blanca Lake, with the mountains in the background on a blue sky, sunny day, north of Squamish, BC

#4 Blanca Lake

Blanca Lake is still a relatively little known hike, but it is quickly becoming popular. It’s located really far down the Squamish River FSR, off the Elaho Mainline on E300 line. 4WD is required to get to the trailhead. You could try taking a car partway up the E300, but it’s 10km long and completely exposed. We picked up a few hitchhikers who were getting ready to quit from the heat. If you make it to the trailhead, it’s a short but steep hike up to the alpine. There’s a steep climb in the first 1.5km, but then the incline is more gentle for the remaining 3km up to the lake. You can visit as a day hike or an overnight. We stayed one night and there is a lot of space for tents. If you have the time, stay 2 nights to explore the surrounding alpine area. There’s no trails, but there’s lots of terrain to explore! (9km roundtrip, 500m elevation gain)

A landscape photo of the trees, mountains, and ponds, from the top of Mount Steele in Tetrahedron Provincial Park on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada.

#3 Tetrahedron Park

Tetrahedron Park is located on the lower Sunshine Coast and has an amazing hut system that can be utilized all year round. Drive to Sechelt and take Sechelt Inlet Road out to the Gray Creek FSR. A normal car will get you to the lower parking lot, or with 4WD, you can save 1km extra and drive to the upper lot. You can visit Tetrahedron as a day trip, but I really recommend overnight to take advantage of the huts (great for beginners). There’s ~30km of hiking and 4 huts. Batchelor Cabin is best for families, Edwards Cabin is a good base camp for day hikes, and the cabins at Mount Steele and McNair Lake are great for more adventurous hikers. I highly recommend summiting Mount Steele, but exercise caution in the winter and watch for avalanche terrain.

A photo of the hiking trail in South Chilcotin Provincial Park that runs to Lorna Pass. The trail is covered in yellow wildflowers in the middle of the forest, with the mountains peaking out in the background on a cloudy day in British Columbia.

#2 South Chilcotin Provincial Park

South Chilcotin is a huge park with so many options for hiking. It’s definitely not a trip you can do for a day, unless you’re a mountain biker, but it’s great for multi day backpacking trips. I visited the park in mid-summer and did a 90km loop around the core area of the park, from Tyaughton Creek, over Deer Pass, to Spruce Lake. Other trip options include exploring the park via the Castle Creek trail or through adjacent Big Creek Park. For a price, you can take a float plane into the core area of the park and stay at fancy mountain lodges with full catering. What’s really nice about this park is the limited number of people and we had the backcountry sites to ourselves most nights.

A photo of Russet Lake with the grassy meadows and the mountains in the background on a smoky summer day in Garibaldi Provincial Park near Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

#1 Russet Lake

I decided on Russet Lake as my favourite hike of the last two years. It’s a popular hike in the Garibaldi backcountry, but due to trail length and campsite maximums, it’s hard to do as a day hike and not as busy as other trails in the park. You can access the lake via the Singing Pass Trail (free from Whistler base), or take the gondola and peak chair up to the top of the mountain and hike via the Musical Bumps trail (this is what I did). There’s a lot of up and down along this trail, but you’re in the alpine the entire time and it’s absolutely breathtaking! Once you reach the lake, you can pay more to stay in the very beautiful Kees and Claire Hut, or you can stay in the BC Parks campsite at the lake. Stay an extra day if you want to explore the surrounding area. (24km roundtrip, 550m elevation gain)

South Chilcotin Backpacking Trip – The Lakes

October 9, 2024December 18, 2024 / Maria / 5 Comments

Continuing on from Part I, Part II, and Part III. After arriving at Trigger Lake on Day 4, we were firmly in the second part of our trip. We planned to hit Spruce Lake for the next evening, which was 14km away. The hiking was pretty easy on Day 5, and we left Trigger Lake, hoping the next lake would be better for swimming. After a few kilometres, we arrived at Hummingbird Lake. The edge of the lake is located on a rock slide, so you have to cross several boulder fields as you walk along the length of the lake. The campsite is located on the east end of the lake, which is where we were heading, but I could tell it looked pretty shallow on that end. So we stopped before the campsite, on the edge of the boulder field, to go for a swim.

It was an excellent choice. We found a big rock to hang out on and Brandon had a snack while I went for a swim. It was cold, but refreshing and I had a good bath, it was the first time I actually felt clean on the trip. The rocks were still pretty muddy and every one you touched would knock off an inch of mud into the water, but at least you don’t sink down into it! A product of the remoteness I guess, and lack of visitors.

Most of the hiking for the day was in the forest. There’s not a lot of landmarks, so it was hard to decide where to stop for lunch. Eventually we found a nice meadow and took a break for lunch before climbing up towards Spruce Lake. There’s another small campsite called Cowboy Camp along the way, but it doesn’t have any amenities and seemed a bit buggy.

Spruce Lake is interesting because only the east side of the lake is actually located in the Park. There’s a small cutout on the west side of the lake where people own lakefront properties, and we saw some people out on the water in boats. There’s two BC Parks campsites on the lake, but the south site is currently closed. I think there’s a bunch of dead trees in the area that are a fall hazard, so you can’t stay there.

The walk around Spruce Lake to the North campsite is pretty disappointing because you can’t actually see the lake from the trail, so it felt like a long walk. The Spruce Lake campground is by far the largest and most widely used campsite in the park. In was a Thursday, so we were the only ones there when we arrived, but the solo hiker we ran into on our first day told us there had been 11 tents there when she stayed on a Saturday Night.

It’s a large campsite, with lots of space for tents. It has 2 outhouses, a bear cache, and a ton of picnic tables. We claimed the campsite closest to the lake and took over the picnic table. There’s a large wharf, which is used for the float plane operation, and the Tyax lodge is located 10-minute walk away. I went for another swim, but Spruce Lake is also very mucky. I jumped in off the end of the wharf, but it’s not very deep and I could still feel the vegetation tickling my toes. There’s no ladder, so I had to brute strength my way back onto the dock.

Eventually some other mountain bikers passed through and went for a swim on their way to the lodge. A bike packer showed up around sunset and camped for the night, but otherwise no one else arrived. It was a warm evening and the sky was clear, so I decided to do a bit of star photography from the dock. Once it got dark, I lay out to take some photos of the milky way. I was still hoping for a glimpse of the northern lights, but no luck! I had to lie super still so as not to rock the wharf and ruin the photos, but I had fun! I also had a good laugh when I realized I could hear Brandon’s snores from the tent echoing across the water!

We’d planned to stay another full day in the park, but we decided to head out one day early. We were going to do another day hike and then re-locate to WD Camp, but it was a Friday heading into the long weekend and we decided we were ready for a real bed. The float plane was running back and forth all morning with a steady stream of long weekend visitors. One couple stopped at Spruce Lake while we were packing up, dropped a pile of giant Rubbermaid containers at the site, and then took off in the plane again, telling us they had a party of 12 on the way in.

To get ahead of the crowds, we decided to do a big day and hike the full 22km back to the car. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty brutal, but I don’t regret it. The first 6km back to WD Camp were pretty good, but re-doing the Tyaughton Creek Trail sucked. There’s a huge climb through some really exposed meadows, which we hit around noon. It was getting really hot and we crawled up it, before stopping for lunch near a stream. The black flies were also pretty relentless, so it was hard to take any good breaks. We passed several groups of hikers and bikers later in the day, who were entering the park for the weekend, which was probably the most people we’d seen all week!

We were a sweaty mess and covered in dirt by the time we reached the car, but so happy to be done! We took a river bath at Tyaughton Creek Rec Site on the way out, and then drove straight to the lodge for supper. It was a lot busier than when we’d entered the park, but they made room for us on the patio, which was nice. There’s not many things more rewarding than a cold beer after a long hike!

Friburg Rec Site was totally full with all the long weekend visitors, so we drove to Mowson Pond Rec Site instead. We easily found a site and Mowson Pond is so much nicer than Friburg! I definitely recommend it as the preferred option if you ever visit. It’s still really close, but it has actual campsites, rather than just a parking lot. There’s also the Gun Creek Rec Site, which is a bit further, but we checked it out on our way back, and it’s also really nice.

So we exited the trail on Friday night and returned home on Saturday. We took the Hurley Forest Road again and discovered an awesome little famers stall in Pemberton Meadows on the way home. It’s basically a little produce stand with a couple of refrigerators. The local farmers stock it and it’s just run on the honour system. Take what you want and put your cash in the money box. I got carrots and beets, and they were the juiciest vegetables I’ve ever had! So good!

So overall, I would definitely consider this trip a success. I’m thrilled that the trip finally made it off my bucket list, but I’ve now added 3 other trails in the park to my list, so it’s really been a net gain. Either way, I’m happy we did it and I would absolutely return again in the future!

South Chilcotin Backpacking Trip – Tyaughton Creek

September 18, 2024December 18, 2024 / Maria / 7 Comments

South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park has been on my bucket list for a long time. I’m not really sure why, because no one else really seems to know about it, but it’s been recommended to me several times by various Guiders and I’ve been trying to find the time to visit for years. I think the challenge with this park is that it’s not close enough to Vancouver to visit on a long weekend, and the trails are so remote that you need a longer time period for your trip. Other trips have always seemed to take priority.

I’m so glad I finally got the opportunity to visit, because I really loved this park! I wasn’t supposed to go this year at all, I had actually planned to do a 5-day hike in the Kootenays called the Earl Grey Trail (also very unknown). But as you might be able to guess, I had to cancel that trip because of the raging forest fires all over the province. The western trailhead caught fire before my trip and even though I could have done a modified trip, I was weary of the smoke and evacuation notices. Jasper burned down a few days before I was supposed to go, so I ended up canceling the whole trip the day before I was set to leave.

The good thing about Chilcotin being on my bucket list for so long was that I already had several trip itineraries in mind. So after we cancelled the trip to the Kootenays, I was able to pivot pretty easily to this trip. The air quality was still relatively good near Vancouver and there weren’t many fires burning along the coast, so we committed to South Chilcotin and packed the car literally an hour later.

The trip ended up being just me and Brandon. We were supposed to meet another friend from Calgary, but understandably, she didn’t want to drive across BC. Instead, me and Brandon packed up his car and took off towards Squamish around noon. There’s a few ways to get to Chilcotin – you can go via Lillooet (either through Pemberton or Highway 1), or you can go directly on the Hurley Forest Service Road. It’s ~6 hours through Lillooet and there were several fires burning in that area, so we opted for the Hurley.

Since the Hurley is a forestry road rather than a highway, it has a bit of a reputation. It’s a joke/point of pride to be able to say “I survived the Hurley”. I would have been too nervous to do it in my Hyundai Tucson, but Brandon was thrilled to drive in his 4Runner, and it did save us an hour of driving. The Hurley is accessed by driving Pemberton Meadows Road across the river and then branching off. There’s a sign at the start of the road that indicates it’s a 4×4 road, but in reality, most cars can handle this road.

It’s a little rough as you climb up the mountainside, but you can travel on it in pretty much any car if you go slow enough. I definitely would have been fine in my Tucson and we even saw Tesla’s and sports cars up there. The Semaphore Lakes trailhead is located at the top of the mountain. It’s a really popular hike, so a lot of people use the road to access that trail. Once you get to the top, the road is pretty flat and maintained all the way to Gold Bridge. So it was a much less scary experience than I anticipated!

Since this was a last minute trip, we didn’t have any bookings and planned to make use of one of the free BC Rec Sites for our first night. There’s a site right on Tyaughton Lake called Friburg Rec Site. It’s not very nice. It’s basically just a parking lot with room for a few tents, but it was fine for a night. I think it used to be nicer, but the nearby residents complained and they changed the campsite to day use only, leaving only the parking lot for camping now.

There’s a vibrant mountain biking and ski community in Chilcotin that I think is worth explaining in order to really understand the park. Like I said, the park is super remote and difficult to access. If you want to hike into it, you need quite a bit of time. However, hikers aren’t the primary park users and we encountered very few of them during our six days in the park (we only passed 2 solo female hikers and 1 couple). Mountain biking is the most popular sport in the park during the summer and a lot of them take advantage of an outdoor adventure company called Tyax to execute their trip.

Tyax runs a float plane operation out of Tyaughton Lake and flies to 3 different locations in the park (Spruce, Warner, and Lorna Lake). They have a huge lodge located at Tyaughton Lake, as well as 3 luxury wilderness campsites throughout the park. We still didn’t encounter many mountain bikers in the park, but most of the people we met were staying at the Tyax camps. It makes for a much easier trip because then you don’t have to carry a tent, sleeping bag, or pad. Plus, Tyax caters all of your meals, so you pretty much can just travel with a day pack!

In contrast, BC Parks has 7 formal campsites in the park, some of which have outhouses and bear caches, and some of which have nothing. Two of the sites are currently closed, but wilderness camping is allowed in the park. No permits are required to camp in the park and since we also stayed at free campsites, this was essentially a cost-free holiday, aside from the gas to drive there.

We decided to have dinner at Tyax Lodge instead of our campsite. It was a great choice. The lodge is located right on the lake and the restaurant has a huge patio. The food is fantastic, so we were happy to treat ourselves before 6 days of dehydrated food. It was a little hazy from smoke in the area, but there was some rain in the forecast, which we hoped would clear out all the smoke.

The following day we got up early to start our hike into the park. Hikers and mountain bikers can use the float planes to more easily access the core area of the park, but if you want to hike in, there are several entrances. You can enter through Gunn Creek, Taylor Creek, or Tyaughton Creek. Gunn Creek is currently closed from a forest fire a few years ago. Taylor Creek is accessible in any vehicle and Tyaughton Creek is advertised as 4×4 access, but similar to the Hurley, the road is in pretty good condition and I would do it in my Tucson.

We chose Tyaughton Creek because it’s a shorter distance to enter the park from there, but I think Taylor Creek is the more scenic route. There’s a shorter loop you can do from Taylor Creek, so I opted to save that for a future trip with Seth. Our goal on this trip was to get to the core area of the park as quickly as possible, so we chose Tyaughton.

It’s 16km from the Tyaughton Creek Trailhead to the first campsite (WD Camp). The hike starts with 200m of elevation gain, but after that, the net elevation gain is pretty minimal. We thought it would be a pretty easy hike to the campsite, but it’s actually a tiring trail. It’s not technical, but it climbs up and down from creek to creek over and over again, so we still ended up doing 650m of elevation gain over the entire day.

To make matters worse, Brandon seemed to be coming down with a cold and he struggled all day. Fortunately, I was feeling really good, so we pushed through. The trail is mostly in the forest, but it would frequently pop out into meadows where you could get a glimpse of the mountains. There were still some wildflowers in the meadows, but overall they were looking pretty dry.

We started the hike around 11am and got to the campsite shortly after 6pm. We only encountered one person on the trail, a hiker heading back to her car. The campsite was completely empty, but was a really nice site. It has a brand new outhouse and bear cache and a great water source. The site was pretty overgrown and you can tell it doesn’t get used much, but there’s room for several tents throughout the meadow. A family of 3 showed up on mountain bikes just before sunset. It was calling for rain overnight, so we got the tent set up and went to bed early. Continue to Part II.