Lake Lovely Water Trail

Length: 3.9 km
Condition: Steep, dangerous, not for the timid, and spectacular.  Aside from the lowest sections which are a thrash through a clearcut, the trail is in pretty good condition.  There is a reason most people choose to fly by helicopter to Lake Lovely Water.
General Route: From the Squamish River up through old growth to Lake Lovely Water.
How to Find:  Take an unmarked dirt road at Mile 9.1 on the Squamish Main. The road winds its way ~1km to the E bank of the Squamish River. At the river, there is a cable across the river for water surveying and shortly afterwards the road ends at the river bank. River is usually crossed by canoe. The parking area on the E bank of the river is Squamish Indian Band territory, so parking is at own risk.

Trail Description: It is similar in length and ruggedness to the Wedgemount Lake Trail in Garibaldi Park. Parties carrying heavy packs should allow about 3-4 hours to reach the Tantalus Hut. Travel to the Jim Haberl Hut is a long day.

It is much more common to use a canoe than to use the cable car. It may be advised to hide the paddles separate from the canoe, or lock the canoe to a tree on W side. (Some were left stranded when their unlocked canoe was stolen.) If crossing by canoe, it is possible to put in upstream of the cable tower and ferry across to sand bars on W side. The landing on the west side is easy, about 300m upstream from the cable car. There is a trail from the sandy beach that joins the other trail (from the cable car) in a clearcut. Crossing normally requires two paddlers and experience is recommended. From the cable tower on W side, the trail leads upstream for a short distance before it angles away from the river. Unfortunately many people now fly in and out, and thus never experience the spectacular beauty of the trail. The lower part of the Lake Lovely Water trail crosses private land and was logged in 1995.