DIRECTIONS: Take Hwy #1. Drive West towards Horseshoe Bay. Take sea-to-sky Hwy to Squamish. It is about 65Km drive. Turn right on Mamquam Road where there is Canadian Tires on north-east corner. Drive about 1.7Km. The road becomes a gravel road. It is well graded with some occasional post holes. Most 2WD cars can handle it without a problem. Drive on this gravel road for 7.8Km. Look then for a turn-off on the left side with a big Garibaldi Park Rd sign. It is likely that you can drive to that turn off in Winter as the altitude there is 600m. Garibaldi Park Road is another 4.7Km to the parking and is a rougher road. It is somehow hard on 2WD but still doable. In winter, you should have chains for the tires. The snow situation can sometimes be even tough on 4x4 vehicles with chains or snowtires. There is a small overflow parking on the side at 2.7Km from the beginning of Garibaldi Park Road which can park and walk the 2Km to the trail head. The altitude at the parking lot is 950m. create
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Elfin Lakes
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Aug 31, 2019
A three night backpacking trip started with staying the night in Squamish. Shortly after 6:30 am we left the bed and breakfast, both having barely slept from excitement, and acquired our caffeine fix.
From Squamish it was about a 35 minute drive to the diamond head trailhead which leads to elfin lakes. The FSR is pretty smooth in comparison to what roads we have seen, to the point that my hiking buddy actually passed two cars on the way up. The last kilometer of the road is particularly rough, and individuals park in a pull out located a kilometer away. Or as we would find out later; just on the side of the road.
Thankfully it was an overcast day and the trail being exposed to sun the entire way was not an issue we would encounter. Up until Elfin lakes the trail is shared by cyclists and hikers so it is significantly wider and consists of mainly gravel. It actually feels like one is walking on a forest service road the entire way up-- or at least until Red Heather Hut. Most of the elevation gain is done going upward toward Red Heather Hut, and this is also where the hiking trail forks from the main road. The two trails rejoin on the ridge so there is not much concern of picking the wrong direction. At this point two cyclists passed us, and much to our surprise we later would see them again on the ridge.
The ridge wraps around a lush valley, and between the clouds we could see the campground in the distance. Having arrived quite early (before 11 am) we were able to snag tent pads that we enjoyed.