Fall Hiking in Whistler!
Fall is here and hiking in Whistler is spectacular! Check out our Best Whistler Hiking by Month for inspiration!
Alexander Falls is located far up in the Callaghan Valley just before the turnoff to Callaghan Lake Provincial Park. The falls are very impressive with its 43 metre or 141 foot drop into the boulder filled chasm below. A beautiful viewing area directly across from the falls gives you a great view and several picnic tables entice you to have a picnic. There are no hiking trails in Alexander Falls Provincial Park and it consists of a large parking lot with information boards, picnic tables, outhouses and a viewing platform.
Whistler & Garibaldi Hiking
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
Whistler Aerial Views
Alexander Brandywine Blackcomb Callaghan Cirque Joffre Keyhole Logger's Madeley Panorama Sproatt Parkhurst Rainbow Russet Train Wreck Wedge Glacier Wedgemount Whistler
In the months preparing for the 2010 Olympic Games in Whistler the old Callaghan Valley Road was paved to the newly constructed Whistler Olympic Park just past Alexander Falls. The park, after the Olympics remained and is now a tourist attraction with the enormous ski jumps and sightseeing. The entry gate is just past the top of Alexander Falls and you can only access the Olympic Park when it is open during the summer and winter months. The once bumpy and potholed gravel road up the Callaghan Valley is now paved and quite a beautiful drive from Whistler Village. Expect to take about 40 minutes to reach Alexander Falls from Whistler Village. Along with the beautiful scenic drive to the falls you will often spot black bears alongside the road in the summer months. Nearby Madeley Lake and Callaghan Lake are both in the area and well worth a visit in the summer when the roads are free of snow.
Alexander Falls Provincial Park Aerial Views
Hiking Around Alexander Falls
There are plenty of reasons to go to Alexander Falls Provincial Park. The drive up Callaghan Valley is very nice with mountain views everywhere and often bear sightings. You can drive right to the viewpoint, so you have hardly any effort to get a great wilderness waterfall view. There is no camping in the park, but quite a few excellent and free camping choices nearby. The park has an interesting information board with historical and geological information and photos. Another great feature of Alexander Falls is its location near other beautiful places. Whistler Olympic Park is nice to see if you are lucky enough to find it open as it is gated in the off season and in the early evening. Madeley Lake is a wonderfully serene mountain lake that you can drive to the shores of. Northair Mine is an extraordinarily surreal and beautiful oasis in the wilderness, also close by. Callaghan Lake Provincial Park is just up an 8 kilometre gravel road that starts just past Alexander Falls. Callaghan Lake is a huge, very serene mountain lake surrounded by snowy mountains and endless wilderness.
Down the end of the lake you will find a tough, but short hiking trail to the absolutely breathtaking Cirque Lake. Cirque Lake lays in the shadow of Mount Callaghan which is home to a mysterious, decades old Canadian Air Force plane crash that was only located in the 1990's. The ejected jumpseats as well as the two pilots are still to be located in the vast wilderness of Mount Callaghan. Another beautiful alpine lake can be found via a hiking trail that starts from the Callaghan Lake Provincial Park campground, Ring Lake. The Ring and Conflict Lake trail bends around Mount Callaghan and up into yet another mountain paradise to Ring Lake. The most recent find from the Mount Callaghan plane crash was a helmet of one of the pilots which was found along the Ring and Conflict Lake trail.
More info, maps, details and directions to Alexander Falls Provincial Park
Fantastic Books About Geology in BC
Here are two excellent books on the Geology of British Columbia. In Search of Ancient British Columbia by Barbara Huck is one of our favourites. It focuses on southern BC and covers each individual region separately. The Lower Mainland chapter explains the geology, paleontology and archaeology of the region stretching from Vancouver, Sea to Sky, Garibaldi Park and north to Mount Meager and Meager Hot Springs. Quite a lot of the book is devoted to how the last ice age shaped the land and inhabitants of southern BC. The chapters on Vancouver Island are particularly good as the geological history was particularly chaotic and the history of glaciation around present day Victoria is very interesting. Geology of British Columbia: A Journey Through Time by Sydney Cannings, JoAnne Nelson and Richard Cannings is a beautiful history of BC's geology and the 200 million year history of creatures living in this extraordinary corner of the world. The authors take us on a journey through time, describing the collisions of island chains called terrains, the sliding of plates, the erupting of volcanoes, and the movement of glaciers that created British Columbia as we know it today. They also describe the rich legacy of fossils left behind as a result of all this geological activity.
Whistler Aerial Views
Alexander Brandywine Blackcomb Callaghan Cirque Joffre Keyhole Logger's Madeley Panorama Sproatt Parkhurst Rainbow Russet Train Wreck Wedge Glacier Wedgemount Whistler
Bench: a flat section in steep terrain. Characteristically narrow, flat or gently sloping with steep or vertical slopes on either side. A bench can be ...
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Emerald Forest is a cute little forest that is well hidden between Whistler Cay and Alpine. From Whistler Village, if you go down to the end of Lorimer ...
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Moraines are glacially deposited ridges of debris that accumulate at the sides or terminus of a glacier. Lateral moraines form at the sides of glaciers ...
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The Pacific yew or western yew is a coniferous tree that grows in Whistler and along the coast from Alaska to California. The Pacific yew’s unique ...
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Whistler, the surrounding mountains, and Garibaldi Provincial Park are home to two types of bears. Black bears and grizzly bears. Black bears are ...
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Whistler can be expensive. Everything worth doing seems to cost a lot of money. But if you step back from the noise and crowds you may spot some secret ...
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Paper birch, also known as white birch is a type of birch tree that grows in northern North America. Named for its paper-like, white or cream coloured ...
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The Green Lake Loop is the original trail that runs around the back side of Green Lake. Before the Sea to Sky Highway was cut through the valley in 1964, ...
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Whistler & Garibaldi Hiking
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
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Meager Hot Springs(aka: Meager Creek Hot Springs) is located 93 kilometres northwest of Whistler, was beautifully developed into gorgeous pools, with a caretaker and usage charge. At its height of ...
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Joffre Lakes Provincial Park is a gorgeous park with extraordinarily coloured lakes, waterfalls, stunning mountain peaks and ominous glaciers pouring into the valley. Joffre Lakes is one of those incredible ...
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Brew Lake is beautiful mountain lake just a short drive south of Whistler and is relatively unknown and seldom hiked. Laying at the base of Mount Brew, Brew Lake lays in a massive alpine valley of enormous ...
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Ancient Cedars is a nice, easy/moderate 2.5 kilometre (1.6 mile) hiking trail on the far side of Cougar Mountain, just 13.1 kilometres north of Whistler Village. A small, untouched grove of huge western ...
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