Garibaldi Lake is a turquoise-coloured alpine lake located 37 km (23 mi) north of Squamish and 19 km (12 mi) south of Whistler, BC. The lake is perhaps the jewel in the crown of Garibaldi Provincial Park.
The hike seems to have it all - a beautiful lake with glaciers flowing into it, incredible mountain scenery and bright, colourful meadows boasting beautiful wildflowers in the spring and summer months.
Getting There
The hike starts the same as it does for the Black Tusk and Panorama Ridge. Arriving at the trailhead is fairly straight forward. When you hit Squamish on Highway 99 look out for Cleveland Avenue. When you get there set your odometer to zero and head north towards Whistler for 33 km (20 mi). You will see a BC Parks sign at the side of the Highway and less than 3 km (1.9 mi) later is the turn off to the Rubble Creek parking lot. The road branches off from the highway and is easy to miss. Try and spot it first time as you have to go past quite a way to turn around safely. The parking lot has one of the highest break in rates in the park so make sure to lock your vehicle and remove any valuables.
The Hike
This is not as long as the Black Tusk and Panorama Ridge hikes but you may like to stay overnight at one of the campgrounds in order to take in the full beauty of this area. If you do decide to do it in one day you should allow for about 6.5 hours of hiking but you may wish to enjoy a lengthy stop at the lake. You must account for that in your plans.
Once you leave the parking lot the trail zig zags its way up towards the meadows. Towering around you are impressive Douglas-fir and redcedar trees. You are likely to come across the odd Whiskey Jack or 5 also! The trail is quite wide and level with few tree roots and obstacles in the way. It's not dramatically steep, but long and "never ending". After 6 km (3.7 mi) there is a fork in the trail. You will see a map with directions and distances to various destinations. Heading right will take you directly to Garibaldi Lake. It's possible to get a little more from the hike though and that's what we will do here. So, go left, up into Taylor Meadows.
When you arrive at the campground and shelter you will notice that everything is connected by boardwalks. The terrain is so fragile here and has been damaged by thousands of hiking boots over the years. Please help rejuvenate the area by sticking to the trails. As you continue east you will head down to Taylor Creek which you will cross and soon come to the old ranger cabin. The trail forks again and you must go left to Outhouse Junction. Once you arrive here head right at the fork. The trail winds down to Garibaldi Lake with some excellent views on the way.
When you reach the outlet of Garibaldi Lake there is a trail junction with 2 options. If you go right you will end up back at the Taylor Meadows campground and it's only another 6 km (3.7 mi) back to the parking lot. If you go left however, you will arrive at the campground beside the lake. You will also see the ranger station and Battleship Islands.
When you are ready to return you can head out past Lesser Garibaldi Lake & Barrier Lake and descend back to the parking lot the same way you came up. The trail past Lesser Garibaldi Lake and Barrier Lake is the one you would have walked along earlier had you not gone up to the Taylor Meadows loop.
Geology
Garibaldi Lake lies in a deep subalpine basin, with its surface at nearly 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level and a depth exceeding 250 m (800 ft). It is almost entirely surrounded by mountains except at its northwestern tip, with volcanoes along the north, west, and south sides and non-volcanic peaks along the northeast and eastern shores. Lava flows from the volcanoes of Mount Price and Clinker Peak to the south blocked the ancestral valley, damming the waters of the lake behind the lava formation known as The Barrier. This lava dam is over 300 m (1,000 ft) in thickness and about 2 km (1.2 mi) wide where it impounds the lake. A series of lava outcrops along the northwestern shore of the lake form the numerous tiny Battleship Islands, several of which have been connected to the shore by simple man-made stone causeways.
The turquoise color of the lake's water is due to glacial flour suspended in the meltwater from its two primary inflows, the large Sphinx Glacier to the east and the Sentinel Glacier to the south on the flanks of Mount Garibaldi. Throughout most of the year, outflow from Garibaldi Lake occurs only via seepage through cracks in the lava dam, with Rubble Creek appearing from springs at the base of The Barrier. During spring snowmelt, outflow is sufficient for surface drainage to occur via a shallow channel across the lava flow, into Lesser Garibaldi Lake and Barrier Lake about 1.6 km (1 mi) west of the main lake's shore.
Geohazards
The unstable lava formation of The Barrier has in the past unleashed several debris flows in the area below the lake, most recently in 1855-56 forming a large boulder field which gives Rubble Creek its name. Concerns about the Barrier's instability due to volcanic, tectonic, or heavy rainfall activity prompted the provincial government to declare the area immediately below it unsafe for human habitation in 1981. This led to the evacuation of the nearby village of Garibaldi, British Columbia, and the relocation of residents to new recreational subdivisions away from the hazard zone. Should the Barrier completely collapse, Garibaldi Lake would be entirely released and downstream damage in the Cheakamus and Squamish Rivers would be considerable, including major damage to the town of Squamish and possibly an impact-wave on the waters of Howe Sound that would reach Vancouver Island.
Recreation
All recreational activities in the area are governed by the regulations of Garibaldi Provincial Park. Primary access to the lake is via the 9 km (5.5 mi) long Garibaldi Lake Trail, which gains approximately 920 m (3,020 ft) of elevation from the Rubble Creek Trailhead. There are campgrounds and day-use shelters on the west shore of Garibaldi Lake, and also farther northwest at Taylor Meadows. During the summer, access to the eastern end of the lake is severely limited, since no trails have been constructed along the steep and unstable slopes which plunge directly into the lake. During winter, the lake is typically frozen from late December to late April, allowing backcountry skiers and snowshoers to easily reach the far shore. A pair of small alpine huts are located in Sphinx Bay on the eastern shore and Sentinel Bay at the southeastern tip of the lake.
Fishing and swimming are both permitted at Garibaldi Lake but please be aware that there are no lifeguards on duty and the lake is glacier fed which means the water is extremely cold!
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