On rock
Climbing capital of Canada
Squamish granite has been holy ground for climbers since the 1960s. Even non-climbers can watch silhouettes inching up the Chief from the boulder fields below — bring binoculars and a coffee from Counterpart.
The Canadian ExplorerDiscover Canada · Explore Beyond
Try searching for
Sea to Sky · British Columbia
Squamish
Granite walls, eagle skies, and the Sea-to-Sky's outdoor capital.
- Best time
- May – October for climbing and biking; November – February for bald eagles.
- Getting there
- 60 min north of Vancouver on Highway 99, the Sea-to-Sky.
- Suggested stay
- 1 – 2 nights
- Known for
- Sea to Sky Gondola · Stawamus Chief · Shannon Falls
A portrait of Squamish
An essential stop.
Tucked between the Pacific fjord of Howe Sound and the granite monolith of the Stawamus Chief, Squamish is the Sea-to-Sky's adventure heart — a former mill town turned rock-climbing, kiteboarding and mountain-biking obsession an hour north of Vancouver.
Field notes
Three ways to feel the place.
On water
The Squamish Spit
When the inflow winds rip up Howe Sound in summer, the Spit becomes one of North America's premier kiteboarding sites — a riot of colour above the estuary as snow-streaked peaks watch on.
On the map
The six places
to anchor your trip.
A tour through the icons and the under-the-radar corners — laid out the way a local would walk you through.
- 1
Sea to Sky Gondola
Glass cabins climb 885 m to a suspension bridge over Howe Sound.
- 2
Stawamus Chief
Second-largest granite monolith on earth; a heart-pumping day hike.
- 3
Shannon Falls
335-metre cascade, third-tallest in BC, a five-minute stroll from the highway.
- 4
Brackendale Eagles
Winter gathering of thousands of bald eagles on the Squamish River.
Sea to Sky Gondola
Stawamus Chief
Shannon Falls
Brackendale Eagles
N
Year-round
Squamish through the seasons.
Spring
Snow still on the Chief; rivers run high and waterfalls thunder.
Summer
Climbing, mountain-biking on the Diamond Head trails, and the Squamish Constellation festival.
Autumn
Salmon return to the Squamish; bears, eagles, and quiet trails.
Winter
Bald eagle counts top 1,000 birds along the Brackendale dykes.
Insider tips
From people who live there.
- 01
Skip the parking queue and ride the free shuttle from downtown to the Chief trailhead.
- 02
Backcountry Brewing pairs sour ales with wood-fired pizza, two blocks from the gondola base.
- 03
Drive twenty minutes to Alice Lake for a swim and a picnic with mountain views.
More Canadian cities
Keep exploring
Alberta
Banff
A mountain town carved into the heart of the Rockies.
Alberta
Jasper
A wilder Rockies basecamp beneath dark-sky peaks.
British Columbia
Whistler
Two mountains, one village, an endless season.
Quebec
Quebec City
A walled European capital on the edge of the wild north.
British Columbia
Vancouver
Where the rainforest meets the Pacific — and the skyline meets the sea.
British Columbia
Tofino
Surf, storm-watching, and rainforest on Vancouver Island's wild edge.
Ontario
Toronto
Canada's largest city — and one of the world's most diverse.
Ontario
Niagara Falls
A thundering icon with wine country at its shoulder.
Quebec
Montréal
A French-speaking island city with European bones and a North American pulse.
Alberta
Calgary
A modern prairie city with the Rockies on the horizon.
Nova Scotia
Halifax
An Atlantic port city where every street ends at the sea.
Ontario
Ottawa
Canada's capital — gothic spires, a frozen canal, and small-town charm.
British Columbia
Victoria
Garden-laced capital on the southern tip of Vancouver Island.
Alberta
Edmonton
Alberta's festival capital above a 48 km river valley.
Manitoba
Winnipeg
Where the rivers meet — and the polar bears wait.
Manitoba
Churchill
Polar bears, belugas, and aurora on the edge of Hudson Bay.
Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's
North America's oldest city, painted in jellybean colours.
Saskatchewan
Saskatoon
The Paris of the Prairies — bridges, bistros, big sky.
Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown
The birthplace of Canada, on an island of red roads and oysters.
British Columbia
Nanaimo
Vancouver Island's harbour city, a launchpad for the wild east coast.
British Columbia
Port Hardy
The end of the road on Vancouver Island, where the ferry north begins.
British Columbia
Bella Bella
Heiltsuk homeland on a remote island in the Great Bear Rainforest.
British Columbia
Prince Rupert
The misty deep-water port where the Inside Passage meets Alaska.
British Columbia
Haida Gwaii
The misty archipelago at the edge of the continent.
Alberta
Drumheller
Hoodoos, dinosaurs, and the strangest landscape on the prairie.
Alberta
Canmore
A former coal town turned alpine playground at the gates of Banff.
Saskatchewan
Regina
Saskatchewan's quiet capital, ringed by wheat and big skies.
Saskatchewan
Moose Jaw
Tunnels, mineral pools, and prairie murals.
Ontario
Algonquin
Ontario's first provincial park — a canoe country of moose and maple.
Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie
Locks, canyons, and Group of Seven horizons at the edge of Lake Superior.
Ontario
Thunder Bay
Where the Sleeping Giant guards Lake Superior's north shore.
Québec
Québec City
The walled city above the St. Lawrence, North America's only fortified capital.
Québec
Charlevoix
A meteor-crater landscape of artists, whales, and great farm tables.
Québec
Gaspé
Where Jacques Cartier landed and the Chic-Chocs meet the sea.
Québec
Mont-Tremblant
The Laurentians' alpine village, founded by Algonquin and finished in pastel.
Québec
Sainte-Adèle
Lakeside Laurentian town of cafés and ski hills, 45 minutes from Montréal.
New Brunswick
Saint John
Canada's oldest incorporated city, where the Bay of Fundy reverses a river.
New Brunswick
St. Martins
Covered bridges, sea caves, and the start of the Fundy Trail.
Nova Scotia
Baddeck
Lakeside village on Bras d'Or Lake and Alexander Graham Bell's beloved home.
Nova Scotia
Ingonish
Mountains meeting the Atlantic on Cape Breton's east coast.
Prince Edward Island
Cavendish
Red cliffs, green gables, and the Anne of Green Gables homeland.
Prince Edward Island
North Cape
The wind-swept top of PEI, where two seas meet and reef extends a kilometre out.
Prince Edward Island
Souris
Fishing harbour with Magdalen Islands ferries and Singing Sands beach.
Newfoundland & Labrador
Bonavista
Where John Cabot saw land in 1497 — fishing-stage village turned design destination.
Newfoundland & Labrador
Twillingate
Iceberg capital of the world, on a string of islands in the North Atlantic.
Yukon
Whitehorse
Yukon's capital on the Yukon River — small city, vast wilderness on its doorstep.
Yukon
Dawson City
The Klondike gold-rush town frozen at the moment of its 1898 fever.
Northwest Territories
Yellowknife
Gold-rush capital on Great Slave Lake, beneath some of the world's best auroras.
Nunavut
Iqaluit
Nunavut's capital on Baffin Island, where Inuit culture and Arctic tundra meet.
Nunavut
Pond Inlet
An Inuit community on the floe edge at the entrance to Sirmilik National Park.
Nunavut
Cambridge Bay
A Kitikmeot hamlet on Victoria Island and a stop on the Northwest Passage.