Callaghan Lake Provincial Park is a relatively untouched wilderness of rugged mountainous terrain. The valley walls were formed by relatively recent glaciation. Evidence of this can be seen in the considerable glacial till and slide materials visible across the lake. Around the lake you will see talus slopes, flat rock benches, cirques, hanging valleys, tarns, waterfalls and upland plateaus with bogs.

Beautiful drive through Callaghan Valley
Drive right to free campsites & lake shore
Beautiful mountain lake in deep wilderness
Lots of secluded places to paddle to
Cirque Lake trail starts at the far end of the lake
The Callaghan Valley is relatively serene
Plenty of exploring if you have a boat
Snow often blocks access road into June
No marked hiking trails around the lake
Campground is notorious for loud parties

Whistler Hiking Trails

Alexander Falls Ancient Cedars Black Tusk Blackcomb Brandywine Falls Brandywine Meadows Brew Lake Callaghan Lake Cheakamus Lake Cheakamus River Cirque Lake Garibaldi Lake Helm Creek Joffre Lakes Keyhole Logger’s Madeley Meager Nairn Falls Panorama Ridge Parkhurst Rainbow Falls Rainbow Lake Ring Lake Russett Lake Sea to Sky Skookumchuck Sloquet Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck Wedge Whistler

The wildlife that reside in the area include bobcats, cougars, coyotes, minks, wolverines, wolves, bears, deer, mountain goats and occasionally moose and grizzly bears. Callaghan Lake is not really a hiking destination but more of a drive to campsite on a beautiful lake, and gateway to some beautiful intermediate hikes. The campsite is small and looks a bit like a parking lot with about a dozen spots to put up a tent near your vehicle.

There is a small boat launch at the campsite and the lake is large and beautiful to paddle. Surrounded by snowy mountains and nice rock outcrops the lake is good for fishing. If you have a canoe or boat of some kind you can find numerous, breathtaking places to camp. There is even a small island a short five minute paddle away that has a beautiful clearing for a tent, a fire ring and crystal clear water all around, deep enough to dive into.

If you don't have access to a boat you should pick up one of those hilarious, $20 inflatable boats that you find for sale everywhere and bring it along. You could easily use one to ferry your gear/tent across to this above mentioned island as a trail leads to the island with just a 8 metre gap of 1 metre deep water. Either that or walk with your pack above your head. Either way camping at this little island is an absolute paradise when compared to the parking lot of a campsite 300 metres away.

The hiking trails are minimal here due to the steepness and deep forest surrounding the lake. From the main parking area some short trails extend in either direction. The trails to the left go for just a few dozen metres before ending at the lake and river outflow. The trail in the other direction(right if facing the lake from the parking area), takes you around the bottom of the lake and quickly fades into a bit of a bushwhacking route. You can, if you are determined, follow this route around the right side of the lake to its top end and connect to the Cirque Lake trail. The bushwhacking is not that bad and you can stay within sight of the lake the entire time.

More info for Callaghan Lake Provincial Park.

More Great Hiking Around Callaghan Lake

The Callaghan Valley lays quietly across from Whistler despite being home to some incredible hikes. Ring & Conflict Lake and Cirque Lake are two phenomenal hiking destinations in the valley that few people have even heard of. Cirque Lake resides high above Callaghan Lake at the end of a very steep, though very short hike that runs startlingly close to the almost vertical falls that empty Cirque Lake. Ring & Conflict Lake sit high up in the mountains 10k west of Callaghan Lake. You will never, or at least comparatively rarely see anyone on the trails to Cirque Lake, Ring & Conflict Lake for several reasons.First is location. Despite the Callaghan Valley being tremendously beautiful geographically. The distant mountains are snow covered, even in September. The lakes are emerald coloured and crystal clear. The forests are an untouched blanket of beautiful green. The creeks, rivers and waterfalls are everywhere in your view or if not in view, heard as distant sounds of running water. Despite this beauty, it seems that the biggest reason for the Callaghan Valley's lack of use as a hiking destination is its location next to Garibaldi Park. The beautiful and well known park focuses all the throngs of hikers in the justifiably popular areas of Garibaldi Lake, Black Tusk, Taylor Meadows, Wedgemount Lake and Elfin Lakes. Laying outside this monstrously famous Provincial Park exists the relatively untouched and unknown Callaghan Valley. The second big reason of course is that the hikes in the Callaghan Valley are unmaintained or at least rarely maintained. The campsite at Callaghan Lake is maintained to a very high standard, however the trail to Cirque Lake evidently doesn't fall into any park jurisdiction and finding the unmarked trailhead is a challenge. There are flagging tapes along the trail after the trailhead. The third reason, at least for Cirque Lake, for being hardly hiked is the fact that the unmarked trailhead starts at the far end of Callaghan Lake. So you need to canoe or otherwise, boat there. This added impediment surely contributes to this wonderful trail, continuing to be infrequently hiked. The fourth, more practical, yet inexplicable reason is that the road to Callaghan Lake Provincial Park is horribly unmaintained. Obviously grading this poor logging road is expensive, however it is beyond neglected. Boulders, waterbars and potholes exist on this road to such a high degree that the neglect seems malicious. In fact, the moment you leave the deluxe road to the Olympic Nordic Centre the monstrous potholes begin, presumably scaring away any 4x4 lacking tourists Callaghan Lake Provincial Park bound. The Callaghan Valley gets a lot of drive in traffic since the recent paving of the road and installation of the fabulous Whistler Olympic Park for the 2010 Olympics. This road is open year-round and in the summer is frequented by bear watchers. The grass along the road is a favourite for bears and in the summer months consistently ensures at least a couple bears along the route to the Callaghan Valley. Whistler has quite a few beautiful waterfalls to see. From Squamish there is Shannon Falls, then Brandywine Falls closer to Whistler. Rainbow Falls in Whistler and Nairn Falls twenty minutes north. Out of these, Alexander Falls in the Callaghan Valley is both impressively huge and convenient to see. It is located just before the turnoff to Callaghan Lake. You can drive to the viewing platform and actually see the falls without leaving your car.

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Hike in Whistler & Garibaldi Provincial Park

Alexander Falls Ancient Cedars Black Tusk Blackcomb Brandywine Falls Brandywine Meadows

Brew Lake Callaghan Lake Cheakamus Lake Cheakamus River Cirque Lake Garibaldi Lake

Helm Creek Joffre Lakes Keyhole Logger’s Madeley Meager Nairn Falls

Panorama Ridge Parkhurst Rainbow Falls Rainbow Lake Ring Lake

Russett Lake Sea to Sky Skookumchuck Sloquet Sproatt

Taylor Meadows Train Wreck Wedge Whistler

Hike in Squamish & Garibaldi Provincial Park

Alice Lake Black Tusk Brandywine Falls Brew Lake Cirque Lake Elfin Lakes Garibaldi Lake

High Falls Levette Lake Panorama Ridge Ring Lake Sea2Sky

Shannon Falls The Chief Taylor Meadows The Lions Upper Shannon

Hike in Vancouver & the North Shore

Black Mountain Brunswick Mountain Burnaby Lake Burnaby Mountain Coliseum Mountain Crown Mountain

Cypress Falls Deeks Peak Deep Cove Deer Lake Dog Mountain Goat Mountain Goldie Lake Grouse

Hollyburn Mountain Kitsilano Beaches Lighthouse Park Lynn Canyon Lynn Peak Mt Elsay

Mt Fromme Mt Hanover Mt Harvey Mt Seymour Mt Strachan Mystery Lake

Pacific Spirit Rice Lake St Mark's Stanley Park The Lions Unnecessary

Whistler Hiking Maps

Nairn Falls is a wonderful, crashing and chaotic waterfall that surrounds you from the deluxe viewing platform that allows you to safely watch it from above. The beautiful, ...

Brandywine Falls is one of the must see sights on the way to or from Whistler. The falls drop from a 66 metre, unnaturally abrupt cliff to the valley below. Such a popular ...

Cheakamus River is the beautiful, crashing and turquoise coloured river that flows from Cheakamus Lake, through the Cheakamus Valley to Daisy Lake. Also a popular kayaking ...

Ring Lake is a fantastically beautiful and wonderfully remote lake similar to Cirque Lake but considerably farther to hike to reach it. The 10k hike takes you through a ...

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