Squamish Day/Shuttle Tour
Squamish has one of the most extensive municipal trail systems in Canada thanks to a dedicated group of volunteer trail builders and strong community support. There are over 150 maintained trails in the region (approximately 500 km of trails), which are spread across a number of riding areas. Squamish is well known for its technical singletrack trails, which feature gruelling climbs, wicked descents, and incredible scenery. While the trails are challenging, there are a large number of trails geared towards intermediate riders, so the riding can be tailored to the group.
There are three main areas of trails: The Valleycliffe and Crumpit Woods trails, which are single track, stream bed, rock face and woodland trails; the Mamquam Forest Service Roads which are active logging roads that deliver amazing views of the Mamquam Glacier and harbour some of the gnarliest downhill and freerides around; and the Garibaldi Highlands Trails which connect to Alice Lake, consisting of the abandoned original Squamish rail track and a wide path for an easy ride. On the Highlands trail network you can find some nice fast flowing descents and also a lot of slower twisty technical stuff, the most popular being Entrails and the recently re-worked Don’t Tell Jude.
There is also a vibrant freeriding scene in Squamish. Trails feature log rides, skinnies, jumps, drops, teetertotters, and ladder bridges.
Mountain Bike Magazine has rated Squamish as one of the top 25 wildest and exotic places to ride in the world. The Powersmart trail is listed as one of the top 10 single track trails that are a MUST ride.
Each June, the town hosts the Squamish Mountain Biking Festival and the epic 67km cross-country race, the Test of Metal, which includes 1,200 meters of climbing and 35km of technical singletrack. Entries are capped at 1000 riders. If you’re competitive by nature this is one event you’ve got to enter, entries open on New Years Day and sell out within hours. There are several other races and mountain biking events held in Squamish over the summer. .
the destination
Squamish (population 15,000) is located half way between Vancouver and Whistler on the Sea to Sky Highway (approximately one hour's drive from Vancouver). Located on a river estuary at the end of Howe Sound and surrounded by mountains, Squamish has recently been declared the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada.
Squamish is surrounded by spectacular scenery and offers rock climbing on the massive granite monolith, the Stawamus Chief, in addition to river and sea kayaking, river rafting, hiking, and windsurfing. There are 9 provincial parks in the area.
