SOUTHWESTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 317

hemlock, and balsam, across high meadows crowded with spectacular wildflowers, and past
bright blue lakes, huge glaciers, and jagged volcanic peaks and lava flows.
Between Squamish and Pemberton, five clearly marked entrance roads lead off Highway
99 to trailheads providing access into the five most popular areas of the park: Diamond
Head, Black Tusk/Garibaldi Lake, Cheakamus Lake, Singing Pass, and Wedgemount
Lake. Aside from these five areas, the rest of the park is untouched wilderness, explored
only by mountaineers and experienced cross-country skiers. All major trails have backcoun-
try tent sites.
Alice Lake Provincial Park
Alice Lake, surrounded by a 400-hectare (1,000-acre) park of open grassy areas, dense
forests, and impressive snowcapped peaks, is particularly good for canoeing, swimming,
and fishing for small rainbow and cutthroat trout. A 1.4-kilometer (0.9-mile) trail encircles
the lake, while others lead to three smaller bodies of water; allow 20 minutes for the
loop. A campground (walk-in tent sites $21, vehicle-accessible $30, 519/826-6850 or 800/
689-9025, www.discovercamping.ca ) with showers and picnic tables is open year-round.
The park entrance is 13 kilometers (eight miles) north of Squamish, and the lake just under
two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the highway.
Brandywine Falls Provincial Park
If you like waterfalls, stop at this small park 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Squamish
and follow the 300-meter (0.2-mile), five-minute trail from the parking lot. It's the kind
of trail that excites all your senses: magnificent frosty peaks high above, dense lush forest
on either side, a fast, deep river roaring along on one side, the pungent aroma and cushi-
ness of crushed pine needles beneath your feet. The trail takes you to a viewing platform
to see 66-meter-high (220-foot-high) Brandywine Falls, where the waters plummet down
a vertical lava cliff into a massive swirling plunge pool, then roar down a forest-edged river
into a lake. It's most magnificent early in summer. The falls were named in the early part
of the 20th century by two railroad surveyors who made a wager on guessing the falls'
height—the winner to receive bottles of, you guessed it, brandywine.
Whistler
Magnificent snowcapped peaks, dense green forests, transparent lakes, sparkling rivers, and
an upmarket, cosmopolitan village right in the middle of it all: Welcome to Whistler (pop.