The name says it plainly. Highway 99 leaves the salt water of Howe Sound at sea level and, within 120 kilometres, delivers you to a ski town sitting at roughly 670 metres, with glaciated peaks on both sides. Most people drive the Sea to Sky Highway as a straight shot from Vancouver to Whistler, about two hours in normal traffic, and then turn around. We think that is a mistake. The road keeps going for another 32 kilometres to Pemberton, a farming valley that feels a world away from the resort, and the stretch beyond it is one of the most dramatic mountain drives in British Columbia.
Here is how we would spend a day, or better two, on the whole route from the city to the far side of the mountains.
Leaving Vancouver: Horseshoe Bay to Squamish
The highway proper begins at Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, about 25 kilometres from downtown. From there it clings to the eastern shore of Howe Sound, a fjord lined with steep forested slopes and small islands. The road was widened and straightened for the 2010 Winter Olympics, so it is now a modern two to four lane highway with plenty of passing lanes, but it still twists enough that you want to keep your eyes on it. The pull-outs at Porteau Cove, a small provincial park with a pebble beach and a pier, are the first good place to stop and take in the water.
Traffic is the main variable. Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings in ski season and on summer long weekends can double the drive time. If you can leave the city before 8 a.m. or after 10 a.m., you will have a far easier run.
Shannon Falls and the Stawamus Chief
About 60 kilometres from Horseshoe Bay, just south of Squamish, two landmarks sit almost side by side. Shannon Falls drops 335 metres in a series of cascades down a granite face, which makes it the third highest waterfall in the province. The viewing platform is a flat, paved 350 metre walk from the parking lot, so it takes ten minutes and suits everyone. The falls are fullest in May and June with the snowmelt.
Next door is the Stawamus Chief, a granite monolith rising about 700 metres straight out of the valley floor. Climbers have been drawn to its walls since the 1960s, but the hiking trail to the summit is what most visitors come for. It is short in distance, around 3.5 kilometres return to the first of three peaks, but it climbs steeply on stone staircases, ladders and chains near the top. Allow three to four hours, wear real shoes, and start early in summer because the lower trail is in full sun by noon. The reward is a view straight down Howe Sound that few other hikes of that length can match.
Squamish itself, once a logging and rail town, has become a base for climbing, kiteboarding and mountain biking. It is also the last full-size town with a wide choice of fuel stations and groceries before Whistler, and prices are lower here.
Brandywine Falls and the climb to Whistler
North of Squamish the highway leaves the coast and climbs into the Cheakamus River canyon. About 47 kilometres past Squamish, Brandywine Falls Provincial Park offers one of the easiest big payoffs on the route: a level one kilometre walk through the forest to a platform looking straight at a 70 metre plunge into a basalt bowl. The whole stop takes half an hour. In winter the trail is often snow covered but still walkable with care.
From here it is a short 15 kilometres to Whistler Village. The resort needs no introduction; what surprises first-time visitors is how walkable it is. Park once in one of the day lots and leave the car. In summer the valley trail network, the lakes and the lift-accessed alpine hiking are the draw. In winter, of course, it is the two mountains, whose combined lift-served terrain is the largest in North America.
On to Pemberton
Most traffic stops at Whistler. Keep going. The 32 kilometres north to Pemberton drop into a wide, flat valley of potato and hay farms hemmed in by 2,500 metre peaks, with Mount Currie filling the view at the end of the road. Nairn Falls Provincial Park, a few kilometres before the town, has a gentle 1.5 kilometre riverside trail to a waterfall that punches through a narrow rock chute. The village itself is small and unpretentious, with a couple of cafes and a farmers market in summer. It is a good place to sleep if Whistler prices feel out of reach.
Beyond Pemberton the road turns into the Duffey Lake stretch of Highway 99, a steep, winding, mostly two-lane route over a 1,300 metre pass to Lillooet, about 100 kilometres further. It is spectacular and lightly travelled, but there are no services for the entire distance and it can close in winter storms.
Joffre Lakes: plan ahead
About 35 kilometres east of Pemberton on the Duffey Lake road sits Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, home to three turquoise lakes beneath the Matier Glacier. The trail is 10 kilometres return with 400 metres of climbing, and it has become so popular that the province now runs a free day-use pass system during the busy season, roughly spring through autumn. Passes are released online a couple of days ahead and must be shown at the trailhead; the park also closes on certain dates in agreement with the local First Nations. Check the current rules before you drive up, because without a pass you will be turned away, and the parking lot fills before sunrise on summer weekends regardless.
Seasons, tires and the rules of the road
A few things that matter on this highway:
- Winter tires marked with the mountain and snowflake symbol or M+S are legally required on Highway 99 from October 1 through to the spring, typically the end of April. Police check, and rental cars from the city are not always equipped.
- Chains may be required on the Duffey Lake section during storms.
- The speed limit is 80 km/h on most of the coastal section and 100 km/h on the divided stretches; photo and roadside enforcement is frequent.
- Fuel is available in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton, then nothing until Lillooet.
- Wildlife, especially black bears, wanders onto the shoulders in spring and autumn, most often at dawn and dusk.
The best months are June through September for hiking and December through March for snow, with October offering colour and empty trails. Whatever the season, we suggest leaving the return leg for late afternoon, when the light on Howe Sound turns gold and the drive back to the coast becomes the finest part of the day.