May 15, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Squamish, Hiking
Find more information about Squamish - Hiking
This past weekend brought beautiful weather to Vancouver, Coast and Mountains so to take advantage of it, a small group of us went to
Stawamus Chief (aka “The Chief”) for a hike just outside of Squamish. The Chief is a Provincial Park with picnic tables, grass area, full running washrooms, camping, a little info booth/gift shop where you can snack on ice cream bars and a nice little walk to view BC’s 3rd highest waterfall -
Shannon Falls.
The hike up the Chief is a little more intense than the walk to Shannon Falls. I found the trail level to be intermediate-difficult. I'm not a big hiker but I found it was a good work out and it's much more scenic than the Grouse Grind. The age range of hikers varied from 7 years old to 65+ and some pet dogs. I would ensure you wear proper footwear, take extra clothing, water and a little snack before you go up. Although we did see a fellow walking up the trail barefooted… he looked like the extreme/outdoorsy type and probably was ‘callousing’ up his feet for some other sport?! Perhaps training for a hot-coal walking contest or he could be just plain crazy.
Anyways, the trial had some man-made steps, ladders and chains to assist you on the steep inclines but majority of the trial was composed of rocks and mother-earth. There are 3 peaks you can hike; one path leading to peak 1 & 2 and another path leading to peak 3. You can also get to peak 3 via peak 2 (
map). We only climbed to the 1st peak where we soaked in the view of the Howe Sound and overlooked the town site of Squamish and the surrounding mountains. It was very breathtaking and serene minus the stark-white topless male teens who were trying to work on their tans (a sure sign that summer is on it’s way...)
We managed to fi