I've been reading a lot of Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail blogs and posts recently, and it got me thinking about long distance, point to point, hiking...

Got me thinking about hiking from Seymour to Squamish or Whistler...

Then I drew this very rough route in Backcountry Navigator, and realised it might be possible:



I'm researching this a bit now and I'm pretty certain I'll have to connect up a route of existing trails (I've sort of freestyled this on Caltopo.com):

• Start at Seymour Parking lot
• Follow the Indian Arm Loop round to it's most Northern point
• Follow the trail alongside Indian River (where it's an actual river)
• Cross over and meet the Stawamus River to Mamquam FSR (option to go into Squamish here, could stop or resupply here)
• From here traverse a web of trails and then head to Elfin Lakes Hut maybe?
• From Elfin Lakes Hut, head over to Garibaldi Lake campsite? This could be done on the Neve Traverse route but I don't have a lot of info on doing this in Summer? I couldn't find a connecting hiking trail between the two areas. Also, going over Diamond Head gives some serious elevation gain.
• Garibaldi Lake Campsite can be a point that we head down OR head on past Black Tusk then down to Whistler Creekside... at least a long day's hiking...

I mocked up a route on GPSies using their track following tool and OSM data..
However, not all of it is based on known hiking routes (especially not after Elfin Lakes). Please keep in mind that this is the longest theoretical route.

As far as I can tell, there are three sections to this route:

1. Seymour to Squamish
2. Squamish to Garibaldi PP Glaciers area (could alternatively go a lower elevation route through the valley?)
3. Glaciers to Whistler?

Can anyone advise on any of the unknowns of this? Even if it's just parts of the route.

Note that I'm aiming to create a 4-5 day route here, I'm actually willing to change the end point rather than add time.

So, thoughts? Please keep in mind this would be for hiking.

I read your post with an open mind and the wheels started turning about what may or may not be feasible. Then I saw the 4-5 days requirement and that you want this to be a hiking trip. That route you have drawn is much longer than 4-5 days if it is even possible. If it is possible, it wouldn't be considered a hike.

Have you considered:
- The Stein Traverse
- Rubble Creek trail and over to Cheakamus Lake with detours along the way

This is a good way to become featured in news as a lost person without much if any chance for your body to be ever found.

Seriously, which parts? Need more specification on the dangerous bits.

For Seymour to Squamish: I've followed known or map marked routes (see the GPSies link)...

For Squamish to Elfin: Well travelled route

Over the peaks: Ok - this part is concerning, thus the question

After that: Known routes again

I'm not familiar with the North shore/Seymour aspect of this idea, but I can add the following:

• Your first major challenge is getting from what looks to be (from your map) the Seymour alpine area to down to sea level somewhere near the head of Indian Arm.
• Next, how will you get across the Indian River?
• Indian River FSR is 35kms of (rather scenic) logging road slog, with the occasional ATVer/dirtbiker or gunplay to keep you awake. Heading back into the alpine before getting to Squamish is asking for trouble, and likely more work than it's worth.
• Just outside the Valleycliffe area of south Squamish, the Indian River FSR meets with the Shannon Creek FSR (goes up behind the S2S Gondola area), then the Mamquam River FSR (mostly E<=>W, accesses the Fool's Gold route)
• There's a connector over to the Ring Creek FSR via a foot bridge up near the top of the Powerhouse Plunge MTB trail. Then you are looking at 10-11 kms of uphill on the FSR, then 11kms to Elfin Lakes if you are thinking of the Neve traverse (I wouldn't, in summer) OR.......
• Find your way across the Mashiter Main FSR/Brohm Ridge FSR network, hike up the road past the Snowmobile cabin (see Black Tusk Snowmobile Club's Website) up to the Warren glacier, routefind your way across Table Meadows and over Mount Price/Clinker Peak to the campsite at the foot of Garibaldi Lake (some info on this on the web), then over the Black Tusk Meadows traverse (now on good PP trail) to Cheakamus lake and your parked car.

IMHO this will take way more than 4-5 days, even with the concession of relatively quick FSR walking. Steventy makes a good point of being familiar with some of the more established and documented traverses in BC.


I would say that (like the App. trail) this could be taken in bites, if I were to do it I would strongly consider taking a MTB on a watertaxi to the head of Indian Arm and cycling to Squamish from there, to pick up my backpacking gear and carry on from there.

It's very easy to draw lines on a map. Especially when they are lines of routes that you haven't done and have no idea the condition of.

Same thinking draws people into trouble regularly on the Fools Gold route

There are 2 vehicle bridges over the Indian River:

Close to sea level:
https://goo.gl/maps/uKcQ2CRbzLR2

A few kilometers from the pass:
https://goo.gl/maps/tNhgEKSkAMG2

We rode it out and back this summer on mountain bikes and at that time there was a creek washout between those two bridges that kept out most vehicles other than highly modified Jeeps. My brother was through there in the fall on a motorcycle and he tells me that the road has had a lot maintenance and repair and it now driveable by a high clearance vehicle.

Having some fun playing with the map planner. So, Seymour to Squamish = 58km via Indian Arm Route (Mt Dickens). A "bit" of bushwhacking and the river crossing are the crux. Pretty serious backcountry, but once you're on the Stawamus-Indian FSR, it's just gravel road.

Yes, I think trying this in small chunks would be wise, and having a friend with a helicopter when you've had enough...

With regard to this river crossing, please note:

Yup, that is the "close to sea level" map link I posted above.

I'm not sure why you would want to drop that much elevation though.

I have pics of both bridges on a laptop at home.

And to add to the cautionary notes from above, there has been (at least on here and a few other sites as far as I have seen and looked) little activity on the Indian Arm route in the last few years. While I could be wrong (i'm sure I will be corrected if I am!) but I would suspect a lot of the "route" (or what little existed) has since grown in again.

This is what I was looking for, tough part of the trip: Dickens to the road: https://forums.clubtread.com/8-britis...-new-info.html

Anyway, it can be done. And Garibaldi Lake has been circumvented in summer, so there's just the small matter of crossing the Neve....

I did the Indian Arm Trail in '04, it required a lot of route-finding skill and familiarity with the sub-alpine back then, I've seen very little chatter and no reports since. Without traffic, renewal of flagging and a bit of clearing it'll be worse now. Not impossible or even stupid for the right person, but a very tough challenge. If you knock off the Howe Sound Crest as a dayhike, bushwhack for the fun of it and have glacier experience and gear it's possible, but 4-5 days isn't unless you do a triple Grouse Grind in 2 hours as your after-work workout. (2 hours climbing time, you can stop the clock on the tram.)

Won't be too pleasant with all the logging road trudge, nor could you call much of the non-road sections hiking and trails, rather scrambling, 'whacking and vague routes. Better multi-day hikes and routes out there.

Neither have I.
Have you heard of anyone at all (on other sites) even attempting it in the last half a decade or so?

The eastern half is supposedly re-marked from Dilly Dally pass since ~2014.