Hiking Opal Cone in Garibaldi Provincial Park
Contents
Opal Cone Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 35.95Km
Elevation Gain: 1,687m
Highest Elevation: 1,736m
Average Gradient: 9.39%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: Overnight
– Moderate: 9 – 11 Hours
– Fast: 7 – 9 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: No
Season: ~June to October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Opal Cone Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°45’00.9″N 123°03’10.8″W
Opal Cone Overview
Opal Cone is an officially named summit located in Garibaldi Provincial Park, accessed via the Diamond Head trailhead. At 36km it is a long hike to one of the more remote peaks in the park that frequently gets climbed, thanks in large part to a trail leading all the way to the summit. Many hikers will summit this while camping at Elfin Lakes, but others are happy to tackle this in one long day, especially trail runners who appreciate the long, largely groomed trail the majority of the way.
If you do decide to do this as part of an overnight trip, a round trip to Opal Cone from the lake and back would be around 16km, 750m or so. This would take most parties in the region of 5 hours from the lake and back.
Aside from the distance, there is nothing particularly technical or challenging about Opal Cone, it’s just a long old slog to the top. The mellow average gradient and maintained trail allows for fast travel, with most parties completing this quicker than other hikes of similar stats.
In terms of seasonality, Opal Cone is generally a summer only hike, typically meaning July to October as the peak season. In the winter this route would cover the first half of the famous Garibaldi Neve Traverse that ski tourers complete, which begins from Diamond Head, passes by Opal Cone and continues on to Garibaldi Lake via a series of glaciers. This would be too far for snowshoers to generally consider, however.
The trail begins at Diamond Head parking area, which is at the end of a bit of a rough road, but a 2WD is still able to make it to the trailhead. In the winter chains are mandatory to access the parking lot due to the icy incline towards the end.
As with all hikes in Garibaldi, dogs are not welcome on the trail. On the plus side, mountain bikes are welcome up until Elfin Lakes, and will make the long approach a lot more amenable if you have one available, especially on the descent.
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Is Opal Cone worthwhile?
Any hike in the Elfin Lakes area of Garibaldi is always a scenic day out on a long but straightforward trail, and Opal Cone is no different. It offers very impressive views of Atwell Peak and its surrounding glaciers, as well as some colourful turquoise lakes, and much of the approach is a scenic one. This also has that remote feeling in some truly unique, moonscape terrain that you don’t often get elsewhere, so if you like solitude in the mountains this is a good option. That being said, you usually won’t have total solitude as Opal Cone is a common objective for those camping at the lakes.
How difficult is the hike to Opal Cone?
While the stats might imply a long and arduous day, Opal Cone is actually quite a pleasant outing following largely mellow trails. The trail rarely gets particularly steep, with most of the elevation gain spread out across the entire 36km (including returning to the trailhead). Thanks to this you can generally travel at a quick pace, and fast parties can complete this hike in ~8 hours. Trail runners quite like this route as it is long, gains a lot of elevation, but is mostly following easy trails for running. Obviously if you are starting and ending at the lake, this is even easier.
Technically speaking this hike is very straightforward. The only challenge could be navigation, so bringing an offline map is recommended. There are a couple of spots on the final climb up to Opal Cone that are slippery due to loose, sandy terrain on a steep slope. While tedious, if you take your time it should be fine.
Opal Cone Route Information
Beginning at Diamond Head parking lot you’ll start this trail in the forest. There’s not a whole lot to say about the beginning of this trail and there’s really nothing to see or do for the first 4.5km as you wind through the dense forest, ascending ~450m in the process. At this point you will reach the Red Heather Shelter, a day use shelter with some picnic tables. In the summer this doesn’t get used a whole lot but in the winter it’s a welcome respite and a place to warm up for a bit. There’s also a washroom nearby should you need it. Bears tend to be quite common in this area as well, so keep an eye out for them. They’re usually quite oblivious to humans given the high traffic in this area.
The trail now splits, with bikers going one way and hikers the other. You’ll now wind through these meadows, climbing gradually once more until the trails merge once again below Round Mountain. The views now open up fully, with Atwell Peak prominently on display, and Opal Cone blending in below the towering summit.
At around 6.5km you will reach the highest point on this trail. From here on out it is very mellow yet undulating terrain, allowing you to enjoy the casual stroll in the gorgeous setting towards Elfin Lakes.
The lake is a good spot to take a break, refill water and have a snack before continuing on. From the lakes you’ll want to locate the Mamquam Lake trail, which can be found to the northwest end of the lake near the washroom. The trail now descends briefly, before beginning to climb again. After hiking ~1km from the lakes you will reach a junction with a sign indicating the split between the Gargoyles and the Mamquam Lake / Opal Cone trail. Obviously you will want to follow the latter.
The trail now wraps around the eastern flanks of the Gargoyles before starting a consistent descent down towards Ring Creek. If you need water, fill up here as there likely aren’t any other opportunities. After crossing the bridge over the creek, the trail now climbs up the other side of the valley, initially staying fairly close to the creek. The views gradually open up as you climb, with Atwell Peak on full display directly ahead, and the Gargoyles looking pretty nice behind you.
The terrain around soon changes to more volcanic rock, but the route is largely obvious and well marked. After a couple of kilometers you’ll reach a switchback in the trail as you continue to climb up to a sort of moraine before again switching back on yourself. You’ll now traverse across the southern slopes of Opal Cone towards a basin where the unnamed turquoise lakes lie. Here you will find a signpost indicating that continuing straight will reach Mamquam Lake, while turning left and climbing up will reach Opal Cone.
This part is actually quite neat, as you will now follow a ridgeline with ever improving views of the turquoise lakes and the backdrop of Mamquam Mountain behind. Shortly ahead the annoying, loose, steep and sandy section will need to be faced. Thankfully it is short lived, and while ascending it isn’t too bad, coming back down is a real pain to avoid slipping.
The summit plateau of Opal Cone is quite broad, with almost a full ring of ridges connecting to one another. It wasn’t entirely obvious which one the summit was, but after referring to the map it was the one closest to Atwell Peak, so I headed over there. The views now are outstanding, with Atwell dominating, and the large Lava and Garibaldi Glacier on full display. Sadly these glaciers are no doubt receding rapidly.
After finishing on the summit, you simply head back the way you came. Unfortunately there is still a fair bit of climbing on the way back. You’ll need to drop back down to Ring Creek before climbing up to Elfin Lakes, and then continue climbing even further to the high point between the lakes and Red Heather shelter. As always, the long plod back to the car from the shelter feels like it goes on forever, but there’s no choice but to just get it over with.
When should I hike Opal Cone?
The peak hiking season for Opal Cone is July to October. Once snow hits the region again this hike will be out. This isn’t really a hike you can do with any lingering snow around. Mid to late June might work as well, but you will likely encounter snow in places
Top Tip
A lot of this hike is sun exposed with little opportunity for shade, so make sure to bring plenty of sun protection. The Ring Creek crossing is likely your last chance to top up any water.
If you have access to a mountain bike, biking to/from Elfin Lakes will make this an easier outing.
If you are starting/finishing at the lake, adding on Mamquam Lake wouldn’t be too challenging. Adding this on to a day hike would be a huge day, but some people do manage it.
