Whistler is Paradise!
Whistler is a winter wonderland paradise! Check out our Best Whistler Hiking by Month for inspiration!
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, green water rushes through the deep and angular channels of rock. Nairn Falls Provincial Park is centred around a very large campground and the short, 1.2 kilometre trail to the falls.
Very nice trail along the river to the falls- Informative signs at the falls explaining geology
- Accessible year-round, even during snowy days
- Campground is elaborate and well laid out
- Easy, family friendly hiking trail
- Very dog friendly trails
Campsites are crowded together- Not too much to see except the falls
- Campground gets very busy
- Fun to swim near the campsite, but cold!
Though the BC Parks website describes Nairn Falls as 60 metres high, the description is a bit misleading. You won't find a marvellously abrupt drop into a deep chasm like to see with Brandywine Falls. Nairn Falls has a very different shape to it, but is every bit as interesting and scenic. More so, in fact, due to the interesting geological information you find at the main viewpoint over the falls. Nairn Falls crash through various narrow and wide areas, and though the cumulative drop is 60 metres, what you see is a series of 10 to 20 metre falls through a deep, zig-zagging canyon. There are very nicely constructed railings, fences and viewing areas as well as a walkway that guides you to the best views. With such abruptly steep rock all around, the area would be potentially dangerous. Evidently there have been deaths here before. A cross, reverently placed across the chasm from the viewing platform, indicates of some tragic event. Nairn Falls Provincial Park is located just a short 20 to 30 minute drive north of Whistler. From the large parking lot the well marked trail runs along the Green River for 1.2 kilometres to Nairn Falls. The trail is very easy and is hike-able year-round. Though considerable snow falls in the winter months here, the popular trail remains easy to follow, and snowshoes are usually not needed. You will find the parking lot gate locked in the winter, so you can park outside the gate and walk in. In cold winter weather you may find some treacherous sections of trail. The trail is quite narrow and follows a course next to a very steep slope down to the rushing river. On many winter days you will find the trail icy and extremely slippery.
Though the main trail to Nairn Falls is the main focus of visitors to Nairn Falls Provincial Park, there are more trails to more sights. The Sea to Sky Trail and various other trails zig-zag to the south. A cute trail off the campground brings you down to the river and quite a scenic area at a large bend in the river. This is the place you can jump in the water on a hot day.
Nairn Falls Provincial Park Map
Most visitors to Nairn Falls Provincial Park just see the falls, however, to the left, beyond the campsites the Green River is beautiful. A short trail takes you down to a wide bend in the river and you find yourself in what looks like a large beach. It is a hidden bit of paradise with the crystal clear, green water flowing over polished rocks. The whole are is in almost constant sunlight despite being in the middle of the forest. On warm, summer days you will find people swimming, sipping beers on the rock cliffs across the river and generally having an amazing time in this usually forgotten corner of the park.
Getting to Nairn Falls
Nairn Falls is very easy to find, just a 20-30 minute drive north of Whistler. From Whistler Village, zero your odometer at Village Gate Boulevard and head north on Highway 99(towards Pemberton), 29.1 kilometres from Whistler Village you will see the parking lot on your right and a huge Nairn Falls Provincial Park highway sign. There is a large, free parking area as you enter the park. If you drive further into the park you will find all the drive-to camping areas as well as the park warden's cabin. If you are just visiting the falls, parking at the main area just off the highway is best. If you find the gate locked(after hours and in the winter), you can park along the edge of the highway.
Brandywine Meadows is a nice, relatively short hike to a massive flower filled valley high up in Callaghan Valley. Located 40 minutes south of Whistler, this tough and ...
Read more
The three Joffre Lakes are some of the most stunning lakes you are likely to ever see. Each lake gets progressively more beautiful and impossibly turquoise from one to the ...
Read more
Cheakamus Lake is a wonderfully relaxing way to get in the wilderness easily and quickly from Whistler Village. The trail begins on the far side of Whistler Mountain, 8 ...
Read more
Russet Lake is a surreal little paradise that lays at the base of The Fissile. The Fissile is the strikingly bronze mountain visible from Whistler Village. From the Village ...
Read more
Cirque Falls crashes down from Cirque Lake to Callaghan Lake, connecting these two remarkably beautiful and very different lakes. Where Callaghan Lake is ...
Read more
Holloway Falls is the beautiful waterfalls you see partway along the Joffre Lakes Provincial Park trail. Located between Middle Joffre Lake and Upper ...
Read more
Wedgemount Falls can be seen along the trail to Wedgemount Lake. As the falls flow directly from Wedgemount Lake, they are located about three quarters ...
Read more
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 ...
Read moreFantastic 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.
Surprisingly often in Whistler's forests you will find a tree growing on an old fallen tree or out of a decaying tree stump. Decaying logs and stumps in ...
Read more
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, ...
Read more
Western redcedar is a very large tree commonly found in the Pacific Northwest. Frequently growing up to 70 metres and with a trunk diameter of 7 metres, ...
Read more
Bushwhack is a term often used in Canada and the United States to refer to hiking off-trail where no trail exists. Literally means 'bush' and 'whack'. To ...
Read more
Glacier Window: the cave-like opening at the mouth of a glacier where meltwater runs out. Glacier windows are often extraordinarily beautiful. A blue glow ...
Read more
Northair Mine is wonderful, hidden world high up in Callaghan Valley. It was a gold mine run by the Northair Group from 1976 until was abandoned in 1982 ...
Read more
Crevasse: is a split or crack in the glacier surface, often with near vertical walls. Crevasses form out of the constant movement of a glacier over ...
Read more
The rocky and narrow row of islands in Garibaldi Lake just offshore from the Garibaldi Lake campsite are known as Battleship Islands. Named by the ...
Read more
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
January February 
March April May 
June July August 
September October November December
Sloquet Hot Springs is a wonderfully wild set of shallow, man-made pools fed by a small, all natural, and very hot, waterfall. The pools stretch from the waterfall to the large and crashing Sloquet River. The ...
Read more
Brandywine Meadows is a nice, relatively short hike to a massive flower filled valley high up in Callaghan Valley. Located 40 minutes south of Whistler, this tough and sometimes muddy trail gains a huge 550 ...
Read more
Logger's Lake is an amazing little lake hidden up in the deep forest above the more well known Cheakamus River. The lake, almost unbelievably exists in a long extinct volcano. However, as soon as you see ...
Read more
Brandywine Falls is one of the must see sights on the drive to or from Whistler, and arguably the nicest of Whistler’s numerous beautiful waterfalls. Located about halfway between Squamish and Whistler, the ...
Read more