The Sea to Sky Trail is a 180 km (110 mi) multi-use recreational trail in the

Sea-to-Sky Corridor The Sea-to-Sky Corridor, often referred to as the Corridor or the Sea to Sky Country, is a region in British Columbia spreading from Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Horseshoe Bay through Whistler, British Columbia, Whistler to the ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The trail begins in the south on the

Howe Sound Howe Sound (, ) is a roughly triangular sound (geography), sound, that joins a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2021. Geography Howe Sound ...

in Squamish and terminates in D'Arcy on Anderson Lake in the north, connecting the communities of Whistler and Pemberton along its route.Bourdon, Marc (2017). ''Squamish Hiking'' (1st ed.). Quickdraw Publications. pp. 218, 274, 340-342. . The trail between Squamish to Pemberton was designated as a section of the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the Arctic Ocean, Arctic oceans. The trail extends over ; it is now the longe ...

, connected to the rest of the trail system via the Sea to Sky Marine Trail. Currently, much of the trail is still in development. It features a combination of new and existing trails in the region. There are rugged wilderness sections like the Cheakamus Canyon Trail and the Shadow Lake Trail, packed gravel sections like the Ray Peters Trail as well as sections of urban multi-use paths such as the Corridor Trail in Squamish and the Valley Trail in Whistler. At this time, the trail involves significant sections of temporary alignment along roads, including on the

Sea to Sky Highway Highway 99 is a provincial highway in British Columbia that runs from the U.S. border to near Cache Creek, serving Greater Vancouver and the Squamish–Lillooet corridor. It is a major north–south artery within Vancouver and connects the c ...

. As of December 2020, there were 126 kilometres of non-motorized trail on the corridor.

History

Before the Sea to Sky Trail existed in its current form, the

Squamish people The Squamish people ( , historically transliterated as Sko-ko-mish) are an indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Archaeological evidence shows they have lived in the area for more th ...

used trails in the Sea to Sky corridor for thousands of years. Prior to 1850s, when

The Barrier The Barrier is a lava dam retaining the Garibaldi Lake system in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is over thick and about long where it impounds the lake. The area below and adjacent to The Barrier is considered hazardous due to th ...

lava dam partially collapsed, this was the main trading link with interior First Nations. The

Pacific Great Eastern Railway The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

was built in the 1910s and the Sea to Sky Highway in the 1950s, both of which used some of the old trail route. The Sea to Sky Trail Society was formed in 1991 as a volunteer organization to plan and build a trail to connect communities in the Sea to Sky region. The idea gained support from Whistler Resort Municipality and in 2005, a Standing Committee within the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District was formed to develop a master plan and develop the trail. In the future, once the trail is complete, this committee intends to expand the scope of the project south to Horseshoe Bay and north to

Lillooet Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abo ...

. In 2023, the trail received $700,000 in provincial grant funding and $1.37 million in private donations to fund improvements to the trail. Additional funding sources have been allocated toward extending the trail from Pemberton to the community of Mount Curie.

Route

Note that the trail is incomplete at this time. The route and kilometre markers are approximate based on the current status of the trail from south to north, and will change as the trail nears completion. {, class="wikitable" , + !KM ! , - , 0 , Squamish Waterfront , - , 3 , Corridor Trail , - , 10 , Through the Looking Glass Trail , - , 11 , Ray Peters Trail , - , 13 , Squamish Valley Road , - , 15 , Paradise Valley Road , - , 25 , Cheakamus Canyon Trail , - , 30 , Hwy 99 (Temporary Alignment to Chance Creek FSR) , - , 35 , Shadow Lake Trail , - , 41 , Hwy 99 (Temporary Alignment to Brandywine Falls) , - , 46 , Brandywine Falls , - , 48 , Bungee Bridge , - , 51 , Cal-Cheak Recreation Site , - , 68 , Whistler Village , - , 70 , Lost Lake (End of Maintained Trail) , - , 93 , Hwy 99 (Temporary Alignment to Nairn Falls Provincial Park) , - , 100 , Nairn Falls Provincial Park , - , 104 , Pemberton , - , 112 , Mount Curie , - , 180 , D'Arcy

References

Hiking trails in Canada Sea-to-Sky Corridor Hiking trails in British Columbia Trans Canada Trail

History

Route

See also

References