Sept 11th, 2019: The notoriously difficult biking trail in the wilderness between Emerald Forest and Rainbow Park is a pretty fun place to wander around. It zig-zags through the deep stretch of forest with Alta Lake Road along one side and the train tracks and the River of Golden Dreams on the other. A River Runs Through It, or ARRTI as it is more affectionately called by the locals who love it, is buried in such a thick forest that you often only see slivers of sky above and wandering off the trail leads you to bizarre and beautiful places.
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 Mount Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck 
Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Alexander Falls Brandywine Falls Cirque Falls Holloway Falls Keyhole Falls Nairn Falls Rainbow Falls Shannon Falls Train Wreck Falls Wedgemount Falls
A skeleton relic of a 1976 Chevrolet Vega is so consumed by the forest that it is nearly invisible. A dirt road once existed here that now ends in a tangle of forest with this decades old abandoned car near its end. A trail appears to have been cut in the previous week here and upon encountering this obstacle, the trail had to be cut in an abrupt arc around the car. The recently chainsawed trail continues through the forest for a couple hundred metres to a big clearing a stones throw from the train tracks. Back on ARRTI, just up from the bridge over Twentyone Mile Creek is a tranquil little emerald world. An enormous water pipe under Alta Lake Road allows the huge torrents of water pass under and continue to meet the River of Golden Dreams. This time of year, Twentyone Mile Creek is not so much a huge crashing creek, as it is a tame little creek. With such a small amount of water flowing through, the huge creek bed of large polished boulders is dry and unexpectedly beautiful. A big and tranquil emerald coloured pool is nestled next to Alta Lake Road. The water pipe, which is big enough to drive a car through, is channelling barely a trickle. With the road so far above it is easy to forget it is there. Serene and beautiful in September, but in a few weeks the rainy days of October will transform this quiet creek into a chaotic, crashing creek once again.
Twentyone Mile Creek begins its long and steep journey from Rainbow Lake, high up and between Mount Sproatt and Rainbow Mountain. Cutting between the two mountains, Twentyone Mile Creek flattens out somewhat, passes under Alta Lake Road, then winds its way through a deep and dark forest before flowing into the River of Golden Dreams near the end of Lorimer Road. This hidden forest extends from Rainbow Park to Emerald Forest and between Alta Lake Road and the River of Golden Dreams.
If you look closely at one of the parking lots in Rainbow Park, you will see a small trail sign for the wonderful trail that takes you through this secluded forest, all the way to Emerald Forest. A River Runs Through It is an insanely winding trail that follows a dizzying route through this captivating forest with Twentyone Mile Creek running through it. A popular, though brutally challenging bike trail, A River Runs Through It has numerous, elaborate ramps, small bridges, and one large bridge that spans Twentyone Mile Creek. A River Runs Through It has a couple shortcut trails that cut a couple kilometres off of it to make it a more manageable and enjoyable hiking trail. If you add in another two connecting trails, you can turn A River Runs Through It into a beautiful 6 kilometre circle route. You can start this circle route from a couple spots on Alta Lake Road, or at Rainbow Park, or at the end of Lorimer Road. The end of Lorimer Road starting point has the advantage of being very close to Whistler Village. You can drive to this starting point from Whistler Village in 3 minutes, or bike there in 8 minutes, or walk there in 22 minutes. From the end of Lorimer Road you get on the Valley Trail, cross the bridge over the River of Golden Dreams, then cross the train tracks and enter Emerald Forest on your left. Climbing up the trail that skirts the gravel pit leads you to the top of the gravel pit and you then enter the deep, dark, emerald coloured forest.
More hiking info, directions and maps for A River Runs Through It
Ablation Zone Accumulation Zone Adit Lakes Aiguille Alpine Zone Arborlith Arête ARRTI Armchair Glacier The Barrier Battleship Islands Bears Bench Bergschrund Bivouac Bungee Bridge Bushwhack Cairn Carter, Neal Chimney Cirque Cloudraker Coast Douglas-fir Coast Mountains Col Columnar Jointing Cordilleran Cornice Corrie Lake Crevasse Dalgleish, Alec Deadfall Emerald Forest Erratic The Fissile Fitzsimmons Creek Fitzsimmons Range Fyles, Tom Garibaldi Ranges Garibaldi Volcanic Belt Gemel Glacier Window Green Lake Hoary Marmot Krummholz Lodgepole Pine Moraine Mt Garibaldi Mt James Turner Mountain Hemlock Northair Mine North Arm Nunatuk Nurse Stump Overlord Pacific Yew Paper Birch Parkhurst Cat Parkhurst RD8 Parkhurst Cletrac Parkhurst Plow Tree Parkhurst Ridge Parkhurst Sawmill Parkhurst Wye Peak 2 Peak Rainbow Lodge Roundhouse Rubble Creek Scree Spearhead Range Tarn The Table Townsend, Charles Usnea Waterbar Western Hemlock Western Redcedar Whistler Spruce Winram, Mills
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 Mount Sproatt Taylor Meadows Train Wreck Wedgemount Lake Whistler Mountain
January February March April May June July August September October November December
