There are walks and hikes in Squamish to suit every taste and skill level. Take a short walk along the Eagle Run dyke at Brackendale; a longer one through the meadows, old-growth forest and dykes of the Squamish Estuary; a short but strenuous hike up the Stawamus Chief; or a full-day or multi-day trek through the volcanic and glaciated terrain of
Garibaldi Provincial Park.
Squamish boasts some of North America's best climbing and mountain biking conditions. If you're new to climbing, try top-rope climbing at Little Smoke Bluffs; if you're an expert, challenge yourself on the big-wall climb at The Chief. The best bike routes in the area are Valleycliffe Trails, Mamquam Forest Service Road Trails and Garibaldi Highlands Trails.
The vehicle-accessible, provincial park campgrounds around Squamish are some of southwestern BC's most popular. Porteau Cove Provincial Park has many waterfront campsites.
Alice Lake Provincial Park is a favourite with families.
Brandywine Falls Provincial Park's campsites are just a short distance from the park's namesake 70-m (230-ft) waterfall.
Squamish is handy to many spectacular golf courses, including
Squamish Valley Golf & Country Club and
Garibaldi Springs Golf Resort. Nearby
Furry Creek Golf & Country Club has one of BC's most scenic courses.
Chateau Whistler Golf Club,
Whistler Golf Club and
Nicklaus North are all located in the resort community of
Whistler, just an hour north of the city.
There are horseback riding trails around Squamish to suit every skill level. Hour-long, half-day, full-day and overnight guided tours are available spring, summer and fall. In winter, you can take a guided eagle-viewing tour on horseback.
Copper was discovered at Britannia Mountain in the late 19th century, and by 1929 the Britannia Copper Mine was producing more copper than any other mine in the Commonwealth. The BC Museum of Mining, south of Squamish, offers a fascinating underground train tour of the old mine. You'll ride down into a 1910 mine tunnel and see a 1921 gravity-fed concentrator mill.
Attracted by the drama and beauty of the landscape, many artists have made Squamish their home. Works by local artists can be viewed in studios and galleries as well as throughout the Squamish Town Centre in parks and on the walls of businesses, shops, cafés and the library. The arts scene in Squamish is particularly lively in September, when the annual Studio and Gallery Tour plus the annual Sea to Sky Film Festival happen. Squamish is also home to the West Coast Railway Heritage Park and the BC Museum of Mining.
Squamish is home to two unique museums. The West Coast Railway Heritage Park is one of the most visited railway parks in Canada, with 4.9 ha (12 ac) of open-air exhibits that you can tour on the park's West Coast Mini Rail. The BC Museum of Mining is a National Historic Site that brings the area's mining history to life with activities, displays and underground tours.
Squamish hosts events of various kinds throughout the year: in January, the Brackendale Winter Eagle Festival celebrates the presence of thousands of bald eagles along the Squamish River with dinners, dances, art displays and workshops; 800 riders compete in the Test of Metal cross-country mountain bike race in June; and, during the BC Day long weekend in August, you can watch competitive loggers compete in events such as tree climbing, tree topping, birling, axe throwing, the chokerman's race and the springboard chop at the Squamish Days Logger Sports Festival. Both the annual Studio and Gallery Tour and Sea to Sky Film Festival happen in September.
There are seven provincial parks within easy reach of Squamish. Porteau Cove Provincial Park has a seaside campground and a scuba diving area that features a number of manmade reefs. Shannon Falls Provincial Park is home to one of BC's highest and most accessible waterfalls. Another spectacular waterfall can be found in
Brandywine Falls Provincial Park, which is also known for its camping, hiking, mountain biking and picnicking opportunities. The central feature of Stawamus Chief Provincial Park is a massive, free-standing, granite monolith called The Chief - considered the ultimate local rock climbing challenge.
Garibaldi Provincial Park is a wilderness park favoured by hikers and backpackers. It has many walk-in wilderness campgrounds and five distinct hiking areas. Another wilderness park, Tantalus Provincial Park, offers fishing and mountaineering in addition to hiking.
If you visit in winter, you should take advantage of the fact that the Squamish River Valley is one of North America's most important bald eagle wintering areas. Access to
Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park is restricted, but you can get a good view of eagles feeding on salmon from the public eagle viewing facility at the municipal dyke on the Squamish River. You might also opt to take one of the eagle viewing float trips offered by local rafting companies.
If it's fun and water-oriented, you can probably do it in Squamish. Murrin Lake and Alice Lake Provincial Parks are great places to swim. Porteau Cove Provincial Park, with its many manmade reefs, is a scuba diver's delight. Whitewater rafters will enjoy the Elaho-Squamish and Lower Cheakamus Rivers. Kayakers have a wide range of possibilities: beginner rivers such as the Mamquam; intermediate-to-advanced rivers such as the Cheakamus; beginner ocean kayaking spots such as Porteau Cove; and intermediate-to-advanced ocean kayaking spots such as Anvil, Bowen and Gambier Islands as well as Pam Rock. Calm waters suitable for canoeingcan be found at the Squamish River Estuary and at Alice Lake, while the Spit (where the Squamish River meets Howe Sound) has the perfect windy conditions for windsurfing.
Easy access to four large rivers and a dozen or so lakes attract anglers to Squamish. Salmon and trout, the most prized local catches, are plentiful in the Squamish, Mamquam and Cheakamus Rivers. You'll also find trout in Browning and Brohm Lakes. Anglers will want to mark every odd-numbered year on their calendars, for that is when millions of pink salmon migrate up the area's rivers in the summer months, providing exceptional fishing opportunities.
The mountains surrounding Squamish get an average of 2,300 mm (90 in) of precipitation annually, which means a generous amount of snow accumulates in the winter months.
Garibaldi Provincial Park, to the northeast, is a popular spot for backcountry ski touring and snowshoeing. Local heli-skiing operators can get you to vast runs of deep, untouched powder.
Whistler, about an hour north of Squamish, is North America's largest ski area and one of its best. It has more than 2,832 ha (7,000 ac) of terrain and over 200 marked runs. Other activities include heli-skiing, cross-country skiing, dogsledding, snowmobiling and snowshoeing. Whistler will host many alpine, Nordic and sliding events in the
2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The Squamish River Valley is an important wintering area for bald eagles. Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park, in the valley, had a world-record, single-day count of 3,769 eagles (1994). Access to the park is restricted, but you can get a great view of the eagles from a public viewing facility at the municipal dyke on the Squamish River. For more information on eagle viewing, visit the Brackendale Art Gallery in Brackendale. For a unique vantage point, take one of the half-day, guided eagle viewing trips offered by local rafting companies from mid-November through mid-February.