Hiking Ring Lake via Conflict Lake near Whistler
Contents
Ring Lake via Conflict Lake Hike Information
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 19.8Km
Elevation Gain: 760m
Highest Elevation: 1,705m
Average Gradient: 7.68%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Medium/Medium
Time Needed:
– Slow: 8 – 10 Hours
– Moderate: 6 – 7 Hours
– Fast: 5 – 6 Hours
Dog Friendly?: No
Season: Summer
4×4 / High Clearance Required? Yes
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Ring Lake via Conflict Lake Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°11’27.3″N 123°10’55.2″W
Ring Lake via Conflict Lake Overview
Ring Lake is a peaceful and serene trail in the Callaghan Conservancy that goes largely unnoticed by the majority of hikers. The hike to Ring Lake covers a variety of terrain, beginning in the forest, passing through beautiful alpine meadows speckled with ponds, all with the backdrop of distant mountains, before finally ascending a steep slope to a glistening glacier lake.
Due to its highly ecologically sensitive environment and abundance of wildlife, you cannot camp anywhere in the Callaghan Conservancy, nor can you bring any pets. Please respect this sensitive area and follow all Leave No Trace principles.
The Callaghan Conservancy is primarily a winter recreation area due to the huge amount of snow the region receives (over 275cm average). The hiking trail takes a battering every year and is sparsely maintained, at times making it difficult to follow, particularly if you are one of the earlier hikers of the season. All of this, however, makes for an unusually peaceful hike, which is certainly hard to come by these days so close to Vancouver.
Access to the hike means driving to the end of Callaghan Lake FSR, which is a rough road, but should be doable in any medium clearance vehicle. I wouldn’t suggest a 2WD go along this road, but a reasonable clearance SUV should be fine.
Due to the amount of snow this region receives, snow can persist in the area until late June/early July, and thereafter the trail can be muddy for the entire summer. When I hiked the trail in early October, after a long and dry summer, it was still a complete mudfest for large portions of the hike. Mosquitoes and flies can also be an issue in the summer due to the perpetual wet conditions.
While Ring Lake is accessible year-round, it’s more of a ski touring destination in the winter as you are unable to park in Callaghan Provincial Park, instead having to park at Alexander Falls.
If you are looking for one of the few backcountry, far away from society hikes left near Vancouver, Ring Lake should be on your to-do list.
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Is Ring Lake via Conflict Lake worthwhile?
Overall, Ring Lake is a great hike. You get some beautiful alpine meadows with mountain backdrops and a few scenic lakes, but at 20km it’s quite a long day without summiting any peak, so I’ve docked it one star. You never get any true panoramic views, so a serious hiker might be somewhat disappointed to not have that “wow” moment from the summit. We opted to make this a truly difficult hike and ended up summiting the nearby Mount Callaghan as well. If you want that “wow” moment you might want to consider the same, but it doesn’t come easy.
How difficult is the hike to Ring Lake ?
At almost 20km and 760m of elevation gain, the average gradient of this hike is a pretty tame 7.68%. A lot of the hike is fairly flat before a very steep ascent at the end of the hike up to Ring Lake. This does make it a bit of a lung-buster but I would still consider this a pretty moderate hike.
In terms of technicality, the trail is poorly maintained and very muddy, but not particularly technical. There is a somewhat difficult creek crossing on the steep portion of the hike that could prove challenging in early summer with the high flowing creek, but it does have ropes and should likely be fine.
Ring Lake via Conflict Lake Route Information
The hike to Ring Lake begins at Callaghan Lake campsite, at the very end of the Callaghan Lake FSR. The service road is bumpy and has several cross ditches but my old Nissan Juke handled the road just fine, and I suspect any vehicle with reasonable clearance would too.
Callaghan Lake in itself is a beautiful place to begin hiking, so I encourage you to check it out before beginning. Many people just camp here and use the lake for recreational activities.
After checking out Callaghan Lake, make your way back to the trail. You might want to use the campsite washrooms here as there aren’t any for the rest of the trail. The start of the trail is, as usual, a forest walk. The first few kilometers of the hike don’t offer much in the way of difficulty or views, but you will likely have to navigate a lot of mud, especially if you go shortly after the snowmelt. At least the trail here is pretty easy to follow.
After around 5km you’ll break out of the forest and the views will start to open up. Alpine meadows, scattered ponds with giant boulders in them, all with scenic mountain backdrops will make you wonder why this trail is so unknown amongst the masses. It’s a really scenic place and you’ll undoubtedly enjoy the mellow stroll.
Shortly you will reach the Journeyman Lodge, which will look totally out of place in this backcountry trail. This lodge is operated by a tour company offering a range of alpine activities. The lodge itself isn’t of much interest, so continue on until you reach Conflict Lake, which is only slightly further. While Conflict Lake is nowhere near as picturesque as Ring Lake, it’s still a nice place to briefly rest before continuing along the trail. I certainly wouldn’t recommend hiking only to Conflict Lake, we only stayed for a few photos before continuing forward to the far more scenic Ring Lake.
Continuing on, the trail starts to climb a little steeper now and soon it will open up to a huge valley with steep hills both left and right, with an obvious saddle at the very end. The trail here is not super clear and terribly maintained, but it should be obvious that you need to keep to the right. As long as you remember that and keep heading forward you shouldn’t lose the path. Did I mention this trail is muddy? Well you’ll find out when you reach this point, I hope you have waterproof boots.
The trail now becomes steep, and I mean steep. Most of the elevation gain of this hike is at this point, but thankfully it’s somewhat short. Soldiering on you’ll eventually hit a creek crossing that can cause serious issues in the early part of the season, depending on the flow of the water. There is a makeshift rope crossing that wasn’t too tricky to navigate at the beginning of October, but in early July with a heavy flow of water it can be difficult to cross this creek, so be prepared to get wet. Immediately after the creek you’ll be climbing with your hands up a (likely destroyed) ladder, but it’s doable even if the ladder is unusable as people have made footholds nearby.
The rest of the hike is an uphill grind for another kilometer or so before you soon reach the top of the saddle you saw earlier, where you will gradually descend towards Ring Lake.
Now is where all your effort really pays off. Ring Lake is a glorious translucent blue lake surrounded by colourful hillsides and the impressive Mount Callaghan to the north and Ring Mountain to the west. You’ll probably take several photos as you walk down to the lake. If you see people anywhere on this hike it’ll likely be at Ring Lake where most like to go for a dip, with some people opting to camp here despite it being banned throughout Callaghan Conservancy.
Most people are content to call it a day at Ring Lake and after spending some time soaking it in, simply head back the way they came to the car. For the more adventurous, like us, you do have the option of extending your hike further if you prepare for it. We had gone with the intention of summiting Mount Callaghan, and that is exactly what we did.
When should I hike Ring Lake via Conflict Lake ?
I think we got fairly lucky with our timing by going in early October. Towards the end of summer is a good time for this hike as any earlier and the mud from the recent snowmelt will be insane, the trail less obvious, the creek harder to cross and the mosquitoes no doubt relentless. We had none of that!
I wouldn’t attempt Ring Lake at anytime outside of the summer personally, it’s already a long hike from Callaghan Lake Provincial Park, from Alexander Falls would be a marathon.
Top Tip
If there is any trail you probably want a map for, it’s this one. Cell service is poor in the area and the trail is not obvious in parts, especially if you go early in the season. We had downloaded an AllTrails map and were thankful we did. Even the trailhead can be difficult to find. Due to the remoteness of this hike grizzly bears are also known to frequent the area so as much as I like hiking alone, I strongly encourage to go in a group and be prepared with bear spray just in case.
