Day Hike to Panorama Ridge from Vancouver

The Garibaldi Provincial Park in British Columbia is home to some of Canada’s most spectacular hikes. Draped in verdant forest, framed by towering peaks, and home to glistening lakes, it is a wonderland for lovers of the outdoors.

The crown jewel of the provincial park is Garibaldi Lake—a brilliantly blue body of water surrounded by soaring snowcapped mountains. After seeing photos of Garibaldi Lake from the Panorama Ridge hike, Dan and I immediately knew we would have to make the trip to Canada.

So on a warm sunny weekend in mid-October—at the tail end of hiking season in the Pacific Northwest—Dan and I drove to Canada in order to undertake the 21 mile Panorama Ridge hike in British Columbia’s Garibaldi Provincial Park.

With our newly acquired Nexus Passes in hand, we left early Saturday morning and returned late Sunday night. Our short weekend getaway gave us time to explore Vancouver’s green spaces on Saturday afternoon, as well as an opportunity to hike to Panorama Ridge the following day.

GARIBALDI PROVINCIAL PARK

The next day, we awoke at the crack of dawn and dragged our tired bodies an hour and a half northward, to the entrance of the Garibaldi Provincial Park.

The Garibaldi Provincial Park is among the most beautiful places in Canada. This 1950 square kilometer wilderness  is justly renowned for hiking trails and its panoramic vistas.

Though Dan and I would have loved to explore the park’s various hiking trails and spend time by the shores of Garibaldi Lake, our lack of camping reservations and limited time meant we only had time for the Panorama Ridge hike.

 

PANORAMA RIDGE HIKE

The hike to Panorama Ridge begins at the Rubble Creek Trailhead. The first five miles of the trail meander upwards through coniferous forest. As it makes its way through a dense umbrella of towering pines, the trail’s grade climbs steadily. Once past Taylor Meadow, however, the trail emerges from the trees and sweeping views of snow-capped peaks replace the zig-zagging tunnels of green.

Many people choose to divide the hike to Panorama Ridge into multiple days. The campground at Taylor Meadow is the perfect base for a few days of exploring the park. From the campground, access to Garibaldi Lake’s shoreline gives trekkers ample opportunities to take advantage of swimming and boating in the area.

Since we had done very little research, neglected to book a campsite in advance and only budgeted a day for exploring the park, Dan and I didn’t visit the lakeshore during our hike. Instead, we plowed ahead–past the turnoff to the lake, past the campsites and the rippling meadows and past the ebony peak of Black Tusk Mountain.

The trail beyond Taylor Meadow yields spectacular views of Black Tusk. During our visit, a tapestry of greens, yellows and browns contrasted beautifully against the brilliant snow. Two small glacial lakes at the mountain’s base burst with vibrant shades of green, turquoise and blue.

With views so sublime, I could hardly believe that we had yet to arrive at the park’s most famed and photographed viewpoint.

After a gradual ascent from Taylor Meadow to Helm Lake, the leisurely trail takes a markedly upward turn. When we visited, the remaining three miles to the top of Panorama Ridge were icy, snowy and rocky. It was October and fresh snowfall had already begun to blanket the mountainside.

The slippery conditions forced us to slow down our pace.We scrambled carefully to the summit, stopping periodically to relish the spectacular views of Black Tusk that unfolded behind us.

Upon reaching Panorama Ridge, the stunning blues of Garibaldi Lake took our breaths away.

So we sat on the ridge for lunch and waited to catch our breaths again.

Dan and I relaxed at the top of Panorama Ridge for a while, soaking in the 360 degree views of our surroundings. The sun shone fiercely in front of us, partially drenching out the colors of the landscape with its rays.

Still, the hike to Panorama Ridge provided me some of the most stunning alpine panoramas that I have ever seen—rivaling the staggering scenery of Jasper and Banff in Canada’s nearby Alberta Province.

 

EXPLORING VANCOUVER FOR AN AFTERNOON

Though Dan and I traveled to Canada in order to visit Garibaldi Park, our visit north of the border included a half day in Vancouver.

We traveled to Vancouver on the day prior to our hike, in order to be closer to the trailhead the following day.

With just half a day to explore Vancouver’s myriad attractions, we decided to spend our time at Stanley Park. Covering more than 1,000 acres of forest and surrounded on all sides by the Vancouver Harbor, it is one of the world’s best and largest city parks–comparable to New York’s Central Park, London’s Hyde Park and Sao Paulo’s Ibirapuera.

Stanley Park has a vast network of hiking trails and cultural attractions, including totem poles, gardens and sculptures. It offers some of Vancouver’s best skyline views, as well as a perfect escape from the bustle of the city.

Visiting Stanley Park is, without a doubt, one of the top things to do in Vancouver.

After a few hours of strolling along Stanley Park’s seawall, visiting its famous totem poles and admiring Vancouver’s dynamic modern skyline, we ate a hearty Native American meal at Salmon n’ Bannock and headed straight to our Airbnb in North Vancouver. Though there are many fantastic places to stay in Vancouver, we wanted our next morning to begin as close as possible to the highway–ensuring that we could squeeze in as much sleep as possible before our daybreak adventure the following morning.

 

****

British Columbia, for example, beckons adventure-seekers with rugged mountains, alpine lakes and world-class cities. And now that Dan and I live only a couple hours away from the Canadian border, we’ve vowed to consider the opportunities that lie just beyond our doorstep.

Though Dan and I had spent nearly eleven hours of hiking in order view Garibaldi Lake from Panorama Ridge, we realized that there were countless other hiking trails, lakes and mountains in the area that we had yet to explore.

Lucky for us, this wonderland of craggy peaks, glacial lakes and alpine forests is only a short weekend trip away.