Sea to Sky and Whistler
A 253 km loop
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Why this ride
A proper escape from Vancouver with roads worth waking up for. Out of Vancouver and back again: 253 km, roughly 4 h 36 in the saddle. The highest point is about 1,400 m. The line favours views over speed.
Roadbook
- Vancouver
start
Vancouver is one of those cities where the mountains feel close enough to touch from downtown. The North Shore peaks rise straight out of Burrard Inlet, the Lions Gate Bridge leaps across to them from Stanley Park, and on a clear day you can watch floatplanes take off over the harbour while snow still sits on the summits. It is a big, busy, expensive city, but for a rider it is above all a gateway: to the Sea-to-Sky Highway north, the Fraser Valley east, and, for these rides, the ferries across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island.
The island rides begin with the boat. BC Ferries sails from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver to Nanaimo's Departure Bay, and from Tsawwassen, south of the city, to Duke Point near Nanaimo and to Swartz Bay near Victoria. Motorcycles usually load first and get squeezed into corners of the car deck, which is one of the small pleasures of riding here, but summer weekends and long weekends are busy and booking ahead is wise. Once across, the road west to the Pacific Rim runs through Cathedral Grove's giant Douglas firs and over the mountains to Tofino and Ucluelet.
Getting out of the city itself takes patience. Traffic is dense, lights are frequent and the bridges choke at rush hour, so an early start pays off. The route to Horseshoe Bay along Marine Drive in West Vancouver is a pleasant way to leave, with glimpses of the water between big houses and cedars, and the Stanley Park causeway is short but memorable. Rain is part of the deal. The coast is green for a reason, and from October to April a wet day is more normal than not; summer is drier and often gloriously clear.
Before Europeans arrived, this was and is the territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, and you will see their art and names across the city, from the totem poles at Brockton Point in Stanley Park to the public art at the airport. The modern city grew around a sawmill settlement and the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s, with Gastown, the old core, now full of brick warehouses turned into bars and cafes.
Fuel, food and coffee are everywhere, and the city's food scene, especially its Asian restaurants, is a good reason to spend the last evening of a trip here. Fill up before the ferry, since prices on the island and especially out on the west coast tend to be higher.
- Whistler
food
Whistler began as an idea in the 1960s, when a group of Vancouver businessmen decided that a mountain north of the city might host an Olympic ski area, and it ended as one of the largest winter resorts in North America. The village itself is purpose built, a pedestrian maze of shops, bars and hotels at the foot of two mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb, joined by a gondola called Peak 2 Peak that spans a huge gap between the summits. The name comes from the hoary marmots that whistle from the rockfalls, and the surrounding land is the shared territory of the Squamish and Lil'wat peoples, whose cultural centre in the village is worth an hour.
The way here is the Sea to Sky Highway, number 99, which leaves Vancouver along the sound of Howe Sound with the water below and steep forested cliffs above. It was rebuilt before the 2010 Winter Olympics and is a fine road, with long bends, passing lanes and viewpoints over the fjord, and a speed limit that is enforced. Climb past Squamish, with its giant granite monolith the Chief, and go through Garibaldi Provincial Park, before the valley opens at Whistler. Summer holiday weekends fill the road with traffic, so a mid-week start gives you the highway at its best. Rain is common, and in winter the road can need snow tyres or chains.
North of the resort the highway becomes quiet. It passes Green Lake, runs down to Pemberton, about twenty-five kilometres on, and then turns east on the Duffey Lake Road, one of the most dramatic mountain roads in British Columbia, with steep grades, tight hairpins and glacier views near the Joffre Lakes. It is described as a separate day, with its own risks of fog and falling rock.
Whistler has fuel, repair shops and countless restaurants. Prices are high, particularly in peak season, so many riders stay in Squamish or Pemberton instead. Bears are regularly seen near the roads, and campers have to store food carefully. Early autumn, when the larches turn gold and the first snow dusts the peaks, may be the best time of year here.
- Vancouver finish