Park overview
The Callaghan Valley is a prime year-round backcountry recreation area. It is also the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics nordic sports venue (Whistler Olympic Park) for cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, and nordic combined.
Callaghan Lake Park receives an average snow pack of 275 centimetres, which may yield 150 days of skiing. The rolling subalpine terrain with interspersed meadows is well suited to Nordic Skiing, and the steeper slopes offer telemark and alpine ski touring opportunities.
Other opportunities at this park include rustic drive-in camping, canoeing, boating, fishing, and hiking. There are numerous wetlands and small lakes, especially in the southern and eastern areas of the park, and in the upper headwaters of Callaghan Creek.
Advisories
Dates of operation
The park gate is open year-round
Current status:
Open
Safety info
- Road conditions: Use extra caution in sections where winter storms have caused erosion. For current conditions on Forest Service Roads (FSRs), check the Road Information website.
- Current information on fire restrictions can be found through BC Wildfire service.
- To protect active grizzly bear habitat and to avoid human-wildlife conflict, camping anywhere else within the park (including all lake shore camping) is not permitted.
Special notes
- There are no garbage facilities, so always pack out what you pack in!
- Camping in Callaghan Lake Park is only permitted in the small drive-in campground at the lake.
Camping
- Total number of campsites
- Total vehicle-accessible sites: 7
This park offers informal vehicle accessible campsites on a first come, first served basis. Campsite reservations are not accepted.
The current camping area is an informal, confined area at the end of the road, close to the lake. This camping area can accommodate four to six tents or high clearance camper trucks. Camping is available only in snow free months (mid-June to end of October). There is no fee.
Camping is only permitted at designated sites at Callaghan Lake campground. Camping is prohibited at Conflict Lake and Cirque Lake to prevent grizzly bear encounters and protect grizzly habitat.
There are no garbage facilities, so always pack out what you pack in! The closest store is located in Whistler (Function Junction) approximately 20km away.
There is a long term, ongoing subalpine plants re-vegetation project surrounding the campsites, so please respect the closure areas and keep to the main marked trails.
Facilities
This park has a very rough, undeveloped car top gravel boat launch. Boats can be left in the water or beached overnight at the owner’s risk. There is no dock or marina to moor boats. There is no water skiing on the lake. A 10 horsepower boat motor restriction is proposed for Callaghan Lake as per the draft park management plan.
This park has a rough, dirt day-use, camping and parking area with one pit toilet, an information sign and no picnic tables.
Activities
For your own safety and the preservation of the park, obey posted signs and keep to designated trails. Shortcutting trails destroys plant life and soil structure.
Although Hiking trails have not been formally developed in the park, there is access to numerous backcountry routes that may be gained from the rough marked trail leading to Conflict Lake and Ring Lake. Cirque Lake is an alpine lake at 1,4990 metres elevation, requires a boat to cross the lake and is accessible via a rough, unmarked, non-maintained hiking trail.
Outside of the park, in the adjacent Madely Lake valley to the east, is a marked and maintained trail to Hanging Lake, Rainbow Lake, and Whistler.
Callaghan Lake offers easily accessible subalpine fishing for trout and char from the shoreline or a small boat. Fishing potential at Cirque Lake is unknown. Anyone fishing or angling in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence.
Pets and domestic animals must be on a leash at all times and are not allowed in beach areas or park buildings. You are responsible for their behaviour and must dispose of their excrement. Backcountry areas are not suitable for dogs or other pets due to wildlife issues and the potential for problems with bears.
Hunting is permitted in the park. Please confirm with the Hunting & Trapping Regulations Synopsis for specific details. All hunters require applicable hunting licences.
Whether you are on or off trail in the park during the winter, you are in a wilderness area. Anyone venturing into the backcountry does so at their own risk. Visitors should be well prepared, equipped and informed before entering the backcountry. The winter climate can be severe and unforgiving with weather conditions changing quickly. Heavy snow and poor weather will significantly increase the difficulty of skiing and snowshoeing. Cellular phone coverage is minimal in the park, do not rely on a phone for emergency or communication purposes!
Winter backcountry travel hazards exist, including avalanches and potentially unsafe ice and snow layers on Callaghan Lake. Visitors must be familiar with recognition and avoidance of avalanche terrain and conditions and with conditions on the lake. Backcountry visitors should be appropriately equipped with avalanche transceivers, probes, snow shovels, first aid kits, and have adequate knowledge of avalanche assessment skills and avalanche rescue procedures.
There are no garbage facilities, so always pack out what you pack in!
The pit toilet at the summer campsite is user maintained in winter and may be largely buried by snow.
The snowmobile corridor through the park was closed in 2009, to be consistent with the broader non-motorize management direction in the Upper Callaghan Valley. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts issued a Recreation Order closing the upper Callaghan Valley to motorized use. This recreation order will be in effect from November 1 to May 15 of each year hereafter. Callaghan Lake Park is open to non-motorized use only during this period.
Callaghan country wilderness adventures operates a commercial cross-country ski operation which includes 4km of groomed trails within the park (of the total 38km in its operating area), and a mountain cabin backcountry lodge west of the park in the adjacent Callaghan Conservancy. The operator also may offer a shuttle service for skiers to Callaghan Lake in winter.
Both Callaghan Country Wilderness Adventures and Whistler Olympic Park offer an extensive, marked, snowshoe trail system (trail use fees in effect).
The park is easily accessed in summer from Highway 99, 70km north of Vancouver or 20km south of Whistler. Turn north off the highway onto the paved Callaghan valley road for 8km, then turn left following a rough, gravel forest service road (Callaghan FSR 01) for another 8km. High clearance vehicles are recommended. The forest service road is not plowed in winter and instead becomes a groomed cross country ski trail. The closest community is Whistler.
Park and activity maps
- Park Map [PDF 1.2MB]
- Visit Clark Geomatic’s website to purchase your own topographic map.
Learn more about this park
Park details
- Date established: July 28, 1997
- Size: 2,691 hectares
Nature and culture
Conservation
The park is known to contain the blue-listed species Pleuropogon refractus (nodding semaphore grass) in boggy areas.
Wildlife
A variety of wildlife exists within the park and surrounding area, such as bobcat (Lynx rufus), cougar (Felis concolor), coyote (Canis latrans), mink (Mustela vison), douglas’ squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii), and weasel (Mustela frenata). Large mammal species present or probable include black bear (Ursus americanus), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilus), columbian black-tailed deer (Odecoileus hemionus columbianus), and mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus). Transient species include moose (Alces alces), wolverine (Gulo gulo) and wolf (Canus lupus).
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.