To continue our hikes along the Sea to Sky highway, we decided to explore the scenic Brandywine Trail, which is a 5.8km out and back trail with 164m elevation gain.

Trail Condition

The first leg of the trail leading up to the falls (the Brandywine Falls Lookout Trail on Google Maps) is fairly short and wide, with views of big rocks lining along the side of the hill. You can complete this short trail in 15 minutes. It is a fairly easy walk, and is stroller friendly.

Once you reached the falls you’ll be amazed by the view. The magnificent Brandywine falls is 70 metres with stone walls and luscious greens as its backdrop.

If you walk further along the same trail, you’ll arrive at the second viewpoint where you can have an expansive view of Daisy Lake and Black Tusk. There aren’t many trails that feature such amazing views with such minimal effort, so it’s definitely recommended if you haven’t been.

We retraced our steps to the railway crossing, there the Sea to Sky Trail starts.

This compact gravel trail is narrower than the Brandywine trail, with lots of rocks and some steep uphills throughout. I wouldn’t recommend a stroller on this trail, as it will be quite tiring to push one around.

As you walk through the forested area, you’ll arrive at a bright opening with power line towers. The trees here look much smaller, and look like a miniature kids forest, probably having been recently cleared for the power lines.

Towards the end of this open area, the compact gravel turned into a cobbled path, which our kid love counting the rocks as he goes.

Towards the end of this 2.7 km trail, you’ll arrive at the Cheakamus Bridge which is home to Whistler Bungee. It was our first time watching thrill seekers bungee jump and it sure is interesting. I’m just amazed at how brave these people are to jump with no hesitation. It must be a breathtaking experience if you are courageous enough to experience it.

The long Cheakamus bridge is also open for cyclists or hikers to cross. You just have to wait until the bungee jumpers have completed in order to cross.

The Cheakamus River is also an amazing viewpoint. The river flow is fairly quick and with the big rocks at its side provides a refreshing experience. The bridge is also a bit see through, so you can see hints of the river underneath your feet. This can be somewhat frightening for those afraid of heights.

From the bridge, we simply retrace our steps back to the parking lot.

Activities

Other than hiking, mountain biking is a popular activity here on the Sea to Sky Trail. So it’s important to be careful and watch out for mountain bikers.

You can also picnic here, as there are a few picnic tables by the parking lot close to the entrance of Brandywine Falls park and also 2 picnic tables available by the Cheakamus bridge overlooking bungee jumpers and the gorgeous river.

For the bungee jump, it is $130 per person for first time jumpers, and then $80 per person if you’ve done it before. Definitely an adrenaline rush experience and a different way to enjoy the natural beauty.

Wildlife

There are several wild blueberry bushes along the trail, and particularly abundant close to the Cheakamus bridge. These wild blueberries look much smaller than the ones I saw in farms, but is surprisingly sweet. My toddler love finding these berries and immediately gobbled them up. He had little interest when we took him to a blueberry farm a few weeks earlier, but the scavenge hunting thrill of finding the wild blueberries was captivating for him.

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There is another plant growing alongside the blueberries that can be easily mistaken as the same thing; however, they do look a bit different with the berry-like bulbs growing in a linear fashion, like little string lights, and are a bit furry to the touch. These are flowers and are not to be ingested.

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Bear warnings are common here. We did find fresh bear scratch marks on the trees and fresh poop that seem to be from a bear on our way back. We got more alert of our surroundings and tried to make lots of noise through the forest coming down.

There are also a lot of mosquitoes throughout the way. Several mosquitoes came by while I sat to breastfeed, so insect repellent, preferably with DEET, is recommended protect from some itching mosquito bites.

Pets

Dogs must be leashed at all times throughout the trail. However, we did not encounter many pets on our way.

Breastfeeding

There are very few benches along the trail. Other than the picnic tables found close to the parking lot of Brandywine Falls Park and the ones close to the Bungee jumping site, there is only 1 other bench at the second lookout of Brandywine falls. There are no other benches throughout the Sea to Sky trail. I just randomly chose a big rock to sit on while breastfeeding on the trail, which is not the most comfortable position but is doable.

Washroom

Pitt toilets are available by the parking lot of Brandywine falls park. There are no other toilets throughout the trails.

Cellphone Reception

Surprisingly, cellphone reception is very good here.

Parking

The parking lot is fairly sizeable. There were several spots when we went on Friday morning.

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The trail took us about 3 hours to complete as our toddler love the hike and walked a big portion by himself. It’s definitely a fun hike for the family.

• Difficulty: moderate
• Foot Traffic: moderate
• Cyclist Traffic: moderate
• Facilities: Pitt toilets only at the entrance
• View: spectacular
• Overall score: 8/10