Mount Price

Mount Price in Garibaldi Provincial Park, accessed from the Rubble Creek lot near Squamish and Garibaldi, is a serious full‑day grind with big rewards. The stats say it all: about 26–28 km out and back, roughly 1600–1700 m of gain, and usually 10+ hours on your feet. Most people turn it into a two‑day trip by camping at Garibaldi Lake, then tagging Mount Price from camp for a long, committing summit push.

The approach to Garibaldi Lake is the easy, busy part; the character of the route changes completely once you leave the campground. From the lake, the Mount Price route becomes faint, flagged, and far less maintained, with overgrown forest, lava flows, long boulder fields, and then loose scree and dirt on the final climb. Views from the summit look across Garibaldi Lake and deep into the glaciated peaks on the far side of the park, with Clinker Peak, Table Mountain, and the broader Garibaldi area laid out below when the clouds cooperate.

Recent hikers report that route-finding is the crux: flagging can be faded or sparse, and snow or cloud can hide the line, so a downloaded GPS track is almost mandatory. Expect no water past the Garibaldi Lake campground, overgrown sections, tedious boulder hopping, very loose footing near the top, and some exposure and sliding on the descent; many people use poles and some turn back short of the true summit cairn. Early season often means deep, firm snow over the boulders and lingering cornices, while mid to late summer brings bugs, dry rock, and more loose scree, so plan for an alpine start, bring bear spray and bug spray, and treat Mount Price as a very difficult objective rather than just an extension of the lake hike.