Detailed Itinerary
Map of Garibalid Provincial Park
You can find the official BC Parks map for Garibaldi Provincial Park here.
Day Hike Options
The main hike listed on this Overview Tab is the most popular route, done from Rubble Creek Trailhead. There is one other option listed below. Both routes are in the region of 30km and involve significant elevation, so bear that in mind before committing to such a big day. This is not a day hike for occasional hikers.
Panorama Ridge From Rubble Creek
If you intend to start from Rubble Creek then your only real decision will be whether to take the more direct route up through Taylor Meadows, detour via Garibaldi Lake, or do one of each one the way up and down.
My recommendation would be to go up via Taylor Meadows, and take a break at the lake on your way down. With a little sun, you’ll have yourself a nice little post-summit dip. Don’t expect it to be warm though – this is an alpine lake after all.
Panorama Ridge Via Helm Creek
The Helm Creek option which starts at the Cheakamus Lake Road parking, is not significantly different in length, but in my opinion is much more scenic. After crossing the river at the start, you’ll quickly head up a bunch of switchbacks through the forest, before the gradient starts to ease. As you pass the Helm Creek Camp, the trees start to open up onto meadows, ponds, and valleys. With such open vistas, it’s hard not to love this route.
Panorama Ridge Point to Point with Car Shuttles
With a little logistics and some shuttling, it’s very possible to go up one route, and down the other. I would recommend your whole group travel in the same direction, meaning you’ll have to shuttle at the beginning or the end of the day. Leave one car at Rubble Creek, and one car at Cheakamus Lake Road Parking.
The alternative which I’ve heard some people do is to arrange to swap keys with another group half way through the route. I’m not keen on this arrangement as you then become dependent on another group. Unexpected events or injuries may screw your day up, in an area where there is the added complexity of no cell signal.
Camping Near Panorama Ridge
You have three options for camping.
- Garibaldi Lake Campground is the most popular option to to its lakeside location. This large campsite has everything you would expect from outhouses, tent pads, food hangers, and lunch shelter. Camping is by reservation only, and is hotly patrolled by park staff, every night. Whilst it is without doubt the most picturesque setting of the three camps, it is pretty manic in the summer, with hoards of people coming up to the lake to film their latest TikTok.
- Taylor Meadows: Overall this makes but the shortest total distance if you’re hiking up and down from Rubble Creek. Taylor Meadows is a lovely place to camp, is very spacious, has a little shelter and an outhouse. My sense is that this location acts as an overflow from Garibaldi Lake, or for those who want to avoid the crowds.
- Helm Creek Campground (Below): This final option is more relevant for people hiking up from the Cheakamus Lake Parking. Definitely the quietest of the three camps, Helm Creek is surrounded by a mix of trees and open views. The camp has tent pads and outhouses.
Water Sources in Garibaldi Provincial Park
Officially, there are no clean water sources in Garibaldi Provincial Park. If camping overnight, you’ll either need to bring with you everything you need, or more realistically bring some kind of water filtering device. Look our for my recommendations on this soon.
Distances Between Panorama Ridge and Other POIs in Garibaldi Provincial Park
Planning a trip with multiple potential start points, objectives and camp grounds can make estimating distance tricky. I’ve pulled together this table of distances to help you do just that.
| Distances (Km) | RC | TM | GL | PR | BT | HC | CR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elevation (m) | 575 | 1500 | 1470 | 2070 | 2300 | 1550 | 850 |
| - | |||||||
| Rubble Creek (RC) | – | 6.8 | 8.8 | 13.0 | 11.5 | 15.4 | 23.6 |
| Taylor Meadows (TM) | 6.8 | – | 2.4 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 8.6 | 16.8 |
| Garibaldi Lake Camp (GL) | 8.8 | 2.4 | – | 6.7 | 5.2 | 9.1 | 17.2 |
| Panorama Ridge (PR) | 13.0 | 6.2 | 6.7 | – | 6.1 | 6.7 | 14.8 |
| Black Tusk (BT) | 11.5 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 6.1 | – | 8.5 | 16.7 |
| Helm Creek Camp (HC) | 15.4 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 6.7 | 8.5 | – | 8.1 |
| Cheakamus Lake Road (CR) | 23.6 | 16.8 | 17.2 | 14.8 | 16.7 | 8.1 | – |
| Dist (Km) | RC | TM | GL | PR | BT | HC | CR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elev (m) | 575 | 1500 | 1470 | 2070 | 2300 | 1550 | 850 |
| - | |||||||
| RC | – | 6.8 | 8.8 | 13.0 | 11.5 | 15.4 | 23.6 |
| TM | 6.8 | – | 2.4 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 8.6 | 16.8 |
| GL | 8.8 | 2.4 | – | 6.7 | 5.2 | 9.1 | 17.2 |
| PR | 13.0 | 6.2 | 6.7 | – | 6.1 | 6.7 | 14.8 |
| BT | 11.5 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 6.1 | – | 8.5 | 16.7 |
| HC | 15.4 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 6.7 | 8.5 | – | 8.1 |
| CR | 23.6 | 16.8 | 17.2 | 14.8 | 16.7 | 8.1 | – |
Bears in Garibaldi Provincial Park
As with almost any hike in BC that isn’t in a city, you are venturing into bear country. You should come prepared with bear spray, though I should note that I’ve never had to use mine. Just because you have bear spray doesn’t mean you should go looking for bears. In fact, you should generally make noise as you hike to give animals ample time to hear you coming and move on. If there’s one thing bears hate, its being startled.
Generally, the popular parts of Garibaldi Park are only frequented by black bears. However, grizzlies do live in the park and contrary to popular belief, are occasionally spotted. A few years back, Ayelen and I were hiking up through Taylor Meadows and came across the bear in the picture below. At the time I thought it was a black bear, though when I happened to show my pictures to the president of the Grizzly Bear Foundation a couple of years later, he confirmed that it was a Grizzly.
On that occasion, the bear was blocking the path, and wasn’t moving on. We decided to turn around and hike to the lake instead. In hindsight, I guess we made the right decision!
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