Hiking Cougar Mountain near Whistler
Contents
Cougar Mountain Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 11Km
Elevation Gain: 1,020m
Highest Elevation: 1,540m
Average Gradient: 18.54%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Moderate / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 6 – 7 Hours
– Moderate: 5 – 6 Hours
– Fast: 4 – 5 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round (Winter Preferred)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: No real scrambling in winter (snow), some bluffy scrambling in summer
Cougar Mountain Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°10’02.6″N 122°54’01.2″W
Disclaimer: Winter hiking (snowshoeing) involves significantly more risk than summer hiking. Hikers should be prepared with appropriate education, training and equipment for all possibilities, including but not limited to avalanches. A mistake such as going off trail, getting lost or injured can be far more dangerous in winter than summer. You are responsible for your own safety, and while I am happy to give my opinion on this website as to the avalanche risk of a specific hike, do not take this as fact and please do your own research. Everybody has different risk tolerances and mine might be different to yours.
Cougar Mountain Overview
Cougar Mountain is a summit located near Whistler that is infrequently traveled no matter the time of the year. This is one of the lower summits in the Whistler region, though that doesn’t mean the views from the top aren’t fantastic.
Cougar Mountain is a year-round objective but we opted to tackle it in spring with a good snowpack, and in hindsight that seems the preferred choice. The trail starts off easy enough to follow as you ascend into the forest, but soon enough the markers end and the terrain becomes technical. With snow this was easy to overcome, however in summer you should expect some awkward travel over unmaintained and unmarked territory.
While Cougar Mountain is infrequently traveled, that certainly can’t be because it’s not a worthy hike. While it’s one of the lower summits in the region, it’s surrounded by countless iconic giants and the unobstructed views from the summit are breathtaking. You’ll have 360 degree views of Rainbow Mountain, Mount Cook, Mount Moe, Mount Weart, Mount Currie, Whistler Mountain, Blackcomb, the Black Tusk and Castle Towers, just to name a few.
If attempting this hike in the summer it may require some scrambling. Towards the summit much of the terrain is technical and bluffy, which when covered in snow was merely steep. Without a good snowpack I have no doubt you’ll be using your hands to climb up some of the bluffs towards the summit.
The nice thing about Cougar Mountain is just how accessible and quiet it is. It’s a very short drive just north of Whistler and is perfectly fine for any vehicle. There was nobody else using the parking lot when we arrived and departed.
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Is Cougar Mountain worthwhile?
I was honestly impressed with Cougar Mountain, I didn’t expect the views from the top to be as good as they were. While it would be nice to be a bit higher up (this is a low summit for the area), the effort / reward of this hike is great. I’m quite surprised how little mention Cougar Mountain seems to get and I’ve no idea why it’s not been developed into more of a popular hiking area, it’s definitely a hidden gem.
How difficult is the hike to Cougar Mountain?
While this is marked as difficult given the steep average gradient, it really didn’t seem as hard as the stats might suggest and I’d probably say it’s on the moderate end of difficult. The climb is very consistent throughout, there are few sections that are exceedingly challenging but also few sections that are easy. It’s a consistent climb most of the way.
Technically the hike was mostly straightforward with a good snowpack and it’s pretty low risk avalanche wise as most of the ascent is in the treeline. There are some steep bluffy sections that will need some careful navigation, mostly to avoid tree/rock wells. Without snow I can assume it’ll be quite a bit more challenging and will likely require some simple scrambling at times, as well as some bushwhacking. The biggest challenge for many will simply be navigation as the trail is not marked after the first couple of kilometers or so, and infrequently traveled, so a downloaded map and confidence in route finding is important. This can be some confusing micro terrain with little to go on other than a map and your own decision making.
Cougar Mountain Route Information
The trailhead for the hike is on the side of the Sea to Sky Highway just after passing Green Lake. You’ll want to park right next to the sign saying “Welcome to Whistler”. It’s easy to miss as it’s right after a bend in the highway, so check the coordinates above.
There is an obvious trail leading into the forest and the first couple of hundred meters will follow this. You’ll reach a junction where another trail runs across the one you’re on, but just continue straight. At this stage there should be some markers and a semi-defined trail to follow, but there are quite a few trails in this area so it’s best to keep an eye on your map for general direction.
The climb will be consistent and the terrain mostly loose rocks and dirt. After a kilometer or so the markers faded and we soon hit the snowline. Luckily we had a set of tracks to follow as we knew a couple who had set a great track the entire way, making navigation considerably easier (though heavy snow reduced these tracks significantly).
After gaining a few hundred meters in elevation you should start to get some views of Green Lake, with the Black Tusk and Tantalus range in the background. Still, views are few and far between now so just keep plodding through the forest.
At around 1.5km or so you should find yourself next to a fairly large creek in an open wooded area. For the next kilometer or so you’ll want to keep left of this creek as you work your way up through the open terrain, which for us was easy in snow as the gradient at this stage was pretty mellow in all honesty. There were times that we had to work our way around some awkward, slippery terrain near the creek but it was fairly easily resolved.
Keeping a close eye on your map, you’ll eventually come to a point where you need to cross this creek. We had a hefty snowbank we could use to cross, but you’ll probably just have to find a narrow section to hop over. I’d suggest only crossing when necessary as crossing too early may mean having to cross back and then back again later on.
At around the 3km mark the terrain will begin to change from mostly simple forest travel to some steep rocky sections. In snow this meant being careful to avoid finding holes between rocks to fall into, but without snow you’ll likely be scrambling up some boulders. This was steep and icy for us, so micro spikes were necessary at this stage.
The next 500m or so will be a steep climb up towards some bluffs, which you’ll want to keep to the left of. Once you’ve reached the base of the bluffs you’ll have some great views behind you of Green Lake and the Whistler mountains, and you should even see the Black Tusk off in the distance. This is a good place for a rest after the hardest part of this hike. When we were there in spring there were some insanely big icicles coming down from the bluffs which made for some nice photos.
Carrying on in just a couple of hundred meters you’ll reach the south end of a fairly large tarn with a peak at the northern end. This isn’t Cougar Mountain but it’s a nice view nonetheless. You’ll want to take a left and head around the west of the tarn, ascending into the forest once again. The gradient will ease off for the next couple of hundred meters, but just ahead it will start to get steep again. We were now in deep snow and had to strap on our snowshoes.
At around the 4.5km mark you’ll cross over the creek feeding into the tarn you were just at, though this was completely snowed over for us. There will be a few great viewpoints along the way here so make sure to catch your breath and enjoy them, though the summit isn’t far now.
Shortly after crossing this creek you’ll again leave the forest and soon be onto some complicated micro terrain. With a good snowpack this was simple stuff, we could pick a line of least resistance and go, but without snow you’ll likely be forced into certain lines due to the awkward terrain. Pick whichever way suits you the most, I’m sure there are options for easier and more technical routes but either way the summit isn’t far now.
In all likelihood you will reach the southern summit first as we did, and the views from here are spectacular of Rainbow Mountain, as well as Mount Cook, Moe, Weart, Currie, Rethel Mountain, the Black Tusk, Whistler Mountain, Blackcomb, Mount Sproatt and Tonic Peak. You’ll also see Green Lake and Alta Lake.
While the views here are amazing, our map said this wasn’t the true summit, which apparently lay to the north. To us this did not look higher than where we were, but we headed over anyway as it was a simple plod in snowshoes. Without snow I believe this is a somewhat bluffy scramble so if that’s the case I don’t see any benefit in doing it. The views are not as good from the “true” summit as the first summit you reached, though they’re still obviously amazing in their own right.
We spent a good hour at the top as it was a sunny and warm day and the views warranted it. Everywhere you look there are enormous mountains surrounding you so make sure to soak in the views.
Once finished you simply head back the way you came, taking care on the steep descents. For the most part we followed an identical route back down, which required some glissading on the steep sections, until we reached the last kilometer or two. Here there were lots of trails that all seemed to work and we couldn’t see our tracks anymore. Ultimately we ended up taking some different trails back to the trailhead, but they all seemed to be heading the same way and it worked out fine.
When should I hike Cougar Mountain?
Having read about summer ascents of Cougar Mountain they all sounded a lot more technical than our spring ascent with a healthy snowpack. While the hike had some steep sections for us it was never very technical, even at the top. It sounds like some scrambling across bluffs may be necessary without snow, so if you want to skip that I’d save this for winter/spring.
Top Tip
Most of this hike will require good navigation and confidence in your route finding ability without markers or even a distinguished trail to follow. You’ll absolutely need a map to have any chance of finding the summit.
I’ve read in the summer the bugs here can be brutal so do prepare for that, and in the winter you’ll of course need microspikes and snowshoes, we used both.
