User:Ktims

Introduction

Garibaldi Lake is located in the large (and aptly named) Garibaldi Lake park, located about half an hour from Squamish. Both trailheads are easily accesible by car and well marked with ample parking year-round. The Barrier trail hike to the lake makes a good day hike (18km round trip), several good day hikes are available from the lake and meadow sites. There's lots to do; a five or six day trip would be best to see most of the trails around the lake.

Access & Fees

Access is well-marked and quite direct from Highway 99. To access the Barrier trailhead, turn right off the highway past Rubble Creek. The park service has a sign to direct you. Follow the road to the parking lot. For access to Cheakamus Lake, take a right from Highway 99 a few kilometers before Whistler. There's a logging road through an observation forest for a few kilometers before the parking lot. A loop is possible with two vehicles; allow for a minimum of two days.

Fees are paid at the parking lot, $5 a night per person and include parking.

Sites

The Garibaldi/Black Tusk trail ring has three camping areas.

Garibaldi Lake

This is the largest and most well-equipped site on the hike. There are four large cooking shelters with picnic tables, counters, sinks a line for hanging food bags. These are well maintained, but often busy. Several pit toilets are provided, and a staffed ranger station is a few hundred metres from the camping area. The site is quite large, and finding space is usually not a problem. This site is on the lake, with spectacular views of the Sphinx Glacier across the lake and the Black Tusk. Burton Hut is visible across the lake, and the Glaciology huts can be seen with binoculars. This site is probably where you'll want to base your trip. Water is available from the lake, but should be filtered or boiled.

Mt. Price & Battleship Islands

Taylor Meadows

I've never visited this site. According to BC Parks, this site has a single cooking shelter, some picnic tables and food hanging facilities. Tent platforms are provided, presumably in a meadow setting. Someone who's visited should add more information.

Helm Creek

This site is located about halfway between Garibaldi Lake and Cheakamus Lake, in a grassy clearing. There are about half a dozen tent platforms and pit toilets. A food hanging rig is provided. Drinking water can be drawn from the nearby creek. In early July 2004, mosquitos were rampant here, bring lots of repellant or plan to arrive late and leave early. Mostly this is a place to stay the night on the way to the Cheakamus trailhead, there's not much of interest nearby.