Ancient Cedars                                                                   Whistler Hiking Trails

Ancient Cedars often gets overlooked by hikers in Whistler.  Certainly there are other groves of massive cedars found in other Whistler area hikes.  If you hike the short 3k trail to Cheakamus Lake and you will marvel at the size, frequency and wonderful aroma of these massive and numerous giant cedars.  The Wedgemount Lake trail also has some majestic cedars along the hike.  You can even walk through an impressive grove of huge cedars on the Valley Trail at the end of the Whistler Golf Club.

None of them compare, however, to the Ancient Cedars hike.  They are extraordinarily huge and some are estimated to be a thousand years old.

The trailhead to Ancient Cedars is just a short drive north of Whistler.  Just past Green Lake on Highway 99, you turn left on Cougar Mountain Rd and drive 4.5k up a bumpy logging road.  As logging roads go it is not bad.  If you are driving a car you should be OK as long as you take it slow.

The Ancient Cedars trail is well marked and well worn and only gradually uphill for the 2.5k hike, trailhead to ancient forest.  At the Ancient Cedars forest there is a short circle trail that takes you throughout the giants then leads you back to the main trail for the return journey.

The whole 5k Ancient Cedars roundtrip should take you less than two hours.  Unlike most other Whistler hiking trails, Ancient Cedars is dog friendly.  Unfortunately snow makes the road undrivable much of the year, so you can only reliably get up there July to October.  Depending on the snowfall June and November are often possible as well.

Ancient Cedars Trailhead Directions                                 Whistler Hiking Trails

To find the Ancient Cedars trailhead, zero your odometer at Village Gate Boulevard in Whistler village then drive north on Highway 99, towards Pemberton. At 8.4km you will see a logging road on your left(16 Mile Creek FSR - Cougar Mountain), turn here and continue straight for 4.5km until you see the sign for the trailhead. The trail to Ancient Cedars is well marked from here. 4.7km round-trip on a gradually uphill trail.

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