Imagine the bluest lake you’ve ever seen surrounded by tall jagged mountain peaks. If that sounds incredible to you, then you need to do the challenging Panorama Ridge hike in Canada! It will simply blow you away 🤯.
I first saw this trail when my good friends Oceanusadventure shared it on their Instagram page and ever since then I knew I needed to do it. It’s one of those landscapes that you simply can’t believe is real. My husband and I were finally driving through the Whistler area, so I made plans to do it.
Well, it truly blew me away and is easily in my ⭐️ top 5 hikes of all times ⭐️. With a challenging trek, unbeatable views, and an amazing lake to jump in- can it even get any better than that? You have to add this hike to your bucket list.
However, this trail is incredibly difficult, you should only take this trek on if you are an experienced hiker.
Below you’ll find my complete guide to the Panorama Ridge trail with everything you need to know. It includes what to pack, how to get there, how to get the free day use permits to hike it, and a thorough trail description. I hope you enjoy!
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Table of Contents
Panorama Ridge Trail Details
Quick Hike Info
Distance: 17.5-19 miles
Elevation: 5280 feet of gain
Type: Out and Back with an Optional Loop
Length: 10-13 hours total (depends on your pace and breaks)
Difficulty: Hard (One of the most challenging hikes I’ve done)
Panorama Ridge Location
Panorama Ridge is in Garibaldi Provincial Park off the Sea to Sky Highway in 🇨🇦Canada 🇨🇦. You can find this park between Whistler and Squamish BC, which is just 90 minutes North of Vancouver.
You’ll want to park at the Rubble Creek parking area 🅿️ to access this trail. There is a permit required from mid-June to early October, which you can get online a couple of days in advance.
How to Get to Panorama Ridge
Most people will need to drive to Garibaldi Lake and the Panorama Ridge trailhead. However, in the summers you can take the Parkbus on the weekends!
By Car 🚗: If you’re heading from Vancouver, you’ll take the Sea to Sky Highway (Highway 99). Drive North for about 95 Kilometers before you’ll turn right onto Daisy Lake Road, there will be signs for Garibaldi Lake. Continue on the road for 2.5 km until you get to the parking lot.
By Bus 🚌: Luckily, in the summer Vancouver now offers Parkbus rides from Vancouver to Garibaldi Lake and back. The route costs $95 and includes round trip tickets and day passes to Garibaldi Lake.
Things to Know Before You Go
💵 There is no entrance fee to visit Garibaldi Provincial Park. However, if you want to hike you must get a free day use pass two days in advance at 7 am on the website.
☀️ Weather changes quickly in the mountains, which means you should be prepared for inclement weather. While it may be warm and sunny at the base of the mountain, it can be stormy, windy, or cold at the top!
⛺️ There are two campgrounds on the Panorama Ridge Trail: Taylor Meadows and Garibaldi Lake. Garibaldi Lake is the more popular campsite, but Taylor Meadows is a good overflow option when it’s not closed. You must get a reservation online.
🐻 This is grizzly and brown bear country! Make sure that you stay bear aware and carry bear spray with you on the trails.
🦮 Pets are not allowed in Garibaldi Lake Provincial Park.
⚠️ Garibaldi Lake trails are subject to bear or weather closures. Make sure to check the websites before you go to get any updates.
🍃 Remember to follow the Leave No Trace Principles. As always, you want to leave nature looking better than you found it.
Best Time to Hike Panorama Ridge
The best time to hike Panorama Ridge is in the summer and the early Fall. There is often snow ❄️ at the tops of the mountains early in the late spring and later in the Fall. It’s best to go when the trail is snow free!
I recommend waiting until later in the summer, around Mid-July, for clear trails. Then, you can continue hiking this trail until early October when you’ll get to see beautiful fall colors 🍁🍁.
How to Get a Permit for Garibaldi Lake
Unless you already have campground reservations, you will need a free day use pass. They can quickly run out on peak weekends and nice days, so make sure to be on it!
Passes are released on the BC website 💻 at 7 am (Pacific time) two days in advance. So, if you wanted to go hiking on Saturday, you would need to book a pass on the Thursday of that week.
Once you get on the website, you’ll click on Garibaldi Lake passes and then book Rubble Creek trailhead passes. It’s very simple and free! I got lucky because passes were sold out, but I kept refreshing 🔄 the page over the next day and they actually opened up. So, don’t lose hope if you miss out at first!
Camping in Garibaldi Lake
Many hikers on the Panorama Ridge trail decide to make this trip into a backpacking adventure 🎒. Doing the hike in a day is tough, so instead you can break it up into two days if you camp! But remember, the trail is tough with the extra weight.
There are two campgrounds ⛺️ on the trail: Garibaldi Lake and Taylor Meadows. Garibaldi Lake is the more popular destination, but Taylor Meadows is good for overflow.
Panorama Ridge Camping Guidelines
- You can make a reservation four months in advance on https://camping.bcparks.ca/ at 7 am Pacific Time.
- When you get to the camp, you must sleep on a tent pad. There are 50 at Garibaldi Lake and 40 at Taylor Meadows.
- Each tent pad holds up to four people and you can book 3 tent pads at once.
- It is $10 CAD a person per night to camp in the backcountry at Garibaldi Lake.
- You must pack in and pack out everything you need!
What to Pack for Panorama Ridge
Panorama Ridge is one of the toughest hikes that I’ve done. The most important things you should bring are hiking poles to protect your legs, a good comfortable hiking pack, at least 3 liters of water 💦, and plenty of food.
If you pack those things and take your time on the trail, then you will have a better experience on the hike!
Packing List Panorama Ridge
- Comfortable Hiking Boots
- Day Pack
- Hiking poles
- Water Reservoir
- 3-4 Liters of Water
- Snacks and Food – I brought two sandwiches, a bar, trail mix, and dried mango.
- First Aid Kit
- Sunscreen
- Bug Spray
- Headlamp
- Shelter
- Rain jacket
- Light winter jacket
- Satellite phone
- Bathing Suit
- Towel
- Portable Charger
- Downloaded AllTrails Map
Panorama Ridge Trail Description
Up the Switchbacks
This trail starts in the forest and you’ll immediately feel the burn 🥵 as you start climbing up, up, up.
For the first 4 miles, you’ll have to hike up through the forest over what feels like never ending switchbacks. These switchbacks gain a total of 2500 feet in under 4 miles, which is quite a steep trek ⬆️.
You’ll pass the Garibaldi Lake cut off and continue up towards Taylor Meadows. Once you make it up the switchbacks, you’ll get a bit of a break from the uphill climb!
Through Taylor Meadows
After about half a mile further on the switchbacks in the forest, you’ll get to the opening of Taylor Meadows. Finally, you’ll start to get some rewards from your truly grueling walk so far.
The trail opens up with a few boardwalks and flat paths and over a creek. You can fill up water here if you have a filter. Behind you, you’ll start getting views 🤩 of snow-capped mountains and in front of you you’ll see other stunning rolling mountains and flowers in the summer.
Then, you’ll continue over an alpine bridge and walk past a couple gorgeous blue lakes. This is a great spot to take a photo 📸 of the landscape. Finally, you’ll get to the last third of the hike and a very challenging rock scramble.
Rock Scramble to the Top
This portion of the trail may really test your spirits, but I promise you can make it. Most people say that this part feels like the longest mile they have ever hiked, but once you get to the top, it will all make it worth it!
Just past the lake, you’ll get to the beginning of the steep rock scramble 🪨. You’ll pretty much go straight up to the summit! There are not a lot of trail markers, but follow the rocks that are more worn away for a good path.
You won’t need to do any technical climbing, but it can definitely get slippery. So, just be careful and use your hands for extra support. You’ll go around the side of a rocky ledge, which is where you’ll finally get views over Garibaldi Lake, and then you’ll be very close to the top. It’s just one last push 💪🏻💪🏻!
Panorama Ridge Summit
Finally, you’ll get over the rocks and make it onto the initial summit! This is where most people take photos and stop, because it is truly remarkable. You won’t even believe 😱😱 the color of the lake below you and the jagged mountain peaks that sit all around it.
We continued .2 further to the actual summit marker and took some epic panoramic views over the area 👀. But, you can stop anywhere along the ridge to take in the view. There’s truly no bad place to sit and enjoy it.
It does get crowded at the summit, so if you want to take pictures in the best spots you may have to wait your turn. But, people are so friendly and will help you out with photos as well.
I highly recommend eating lunch up here and stopping for at least an hour. I wish I could have stayed at the summit for days because it was one of the most unbelievable places I’ve seen. But, we had to go back down.
Garibaldi Lake Detour
You can go back the way that you came, unless you want to add the additional detour to Garibaldi Lake. I highly recommend going here, because it’s fantastic 😮!
You’ll start going down the way you came up until you get to the turn off for Garibaldi Lake about 2.5 miles down. Turn to your left and follow the path down to the lake. Once you get closer to the lake you can choose to stop at the initial shoreline or walk further to the campground.
The views from the campground area are absolutely brilliant 💙💙 and it’s a good spot to go for a swim. It was a beautiful day, so we went for a long, refreshing swim in the water. Although it added more time to our hike, it felt sooo good!
From there, you’ll continue on the path, pass two more lakes, and go until it meets up again with the initial trailhead. Unfortunately, you’ll have to take the never ending switchbacks 😩 back down until you reach your car. This may have been the most tiring part for us, but we made it!
Final Tips for Hiking Panorama Ridge
The Panorama Ridge trail is incredibly challenging. So, I only recommend doing this hike if you have experience on long trails 🥾 before. We hike all of the time and we still thought it was difficult.
If you are going to do this epic hike, then I recommend getting an early start ⏰! Bring plenty of water, food, and first aid materials so that you will have a great hiking experience. This is truly one of my all-time favorite hikes and I hope you love it as much as I did!
Let me know if you enjoyed this trail guide in the comments!
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