5 Incredible Chilliwack Hikes With Stunning Views

Things to Know About Chilliwack

📍 Where is Chilliwack

Chilliwack is only a 1 hour 20 minute drive East of Vancouver and most of the drive is on the highway. It is located in the Fraser Valley in BC and the mountain range is called the Cheam Range.

🚗 Do you need a car to visit Chilliwack

I definitely recommend renting a car to visit Chilliwack from Vancouver. A car will give you WAY more freedom to explore the beautiful lakes and trails than public transport options.

💲 100% recommend Rentalcars.com to find the best rental car prices 🚗

🌲 Leave No Trace

Before heading out into Beautiful British Columbia’s backcountry, please remind yourself of the Leave No Trace Principles. Take everything back out that you take in, take only photos and respect the wildlife and other people. You can read more on the 7 LNT principles here.

🥾 Best Hikes in Chilliwack

Here it is! My list of the best hikes in Chilliwack! These hikes are in order from easiest to hardest to help you choose which one you want to do first.

Lindeman Lake

Distance: 3.6km / 2.2 miles | Elevation gain: 300 metres / 984 ft | Time: 2 hours | Difficulty: Easy – moderate

Lindeman Lake is an extremely popular hike and for good reason! It’s reward vs difficulty is very high (as in little difficulty HIGH REWARD)! The trail is only 3.6km / 2.2 miles return with an elevation gain of 300 metres / 984 ft and you get to see one of the most beautiful lakes in British Columbia.

Lindeman Lake is a shocking turquoise blue colour and you can see straight through its water to the sand and rocks below. You might even be able to spot a fish or 2 just by looking down at the crystal clear water.

Cheam Peak

Distance: 8.4km / 5.2miles | Elevation gain: 668m / 2,191 ft | Time: 4-4.5hours | Difficulty: Moderate

The trail to hike to Cheam Peak is not as hard as you would think. There are a few steep sections but for the most part, you can take it slow and steady and not have too much trouble. The trail is well maintained and high trafficked.

The journey to reach the trailhead to Cheam Peak however, is another story. You can read more about it in my dedicated Cheam Peak Hiking Guide here, but let’s just say, you WILL need a 4×4 vehicle to reach the top. Even with a 4Runner, our group didn’t feel quite comfortable enough to get through the last horrific obstacle.

The views from the top of Cheam are incredible, well that is if you get some… we only got a few glimpses through all of the clouds. You will feel like you are on top of the world up here!

There is no official camping on Cheam Peak and you should not camp on the vegetation, however if you can find a spot on the gravel up the top, then that is fine. This is what we did although we were surrounded by freezing wet fog the entire night which wasn’t very pleasant.

There’s actually a little camping shelter up there that someone has built which can fit a small tent.

Flora Peak

Distance: 13km / 8 miles out and back | Elevation gain:1,500m / 4,921 ft | Time: 6-7 hours | Difficulty: Hard – Challenging

Flora Peak is a grind. The increase in difficulty from Cheam to Flora Peak is quite a big one. We did both of these hikes with our overnight backpacks on which made them harder. I can imagine that perhaps with a day hike bag, Flora would not be as brutal. Although I’m not promising anything.

The trail to Flora Peak is relentless – long and steep pretty much the entire way. You start the trail from the same place as Lindeman Lake, but break off pretty quickly. The first half of the trail is in the trees until you come out onto a ridge and hike around the ridge.

We bumped into a black bear on the way back in this area so keep your eyes open and stay noisy to let any furry friends know that you are coming.

There is a bit of a scramble towards the end and I found the loose dirt underfoot while hiking a little scary, especially coming back down.

We spent both sunset and sunrise up at Flora Peak because we camped up there and both were stunning.

Goat Ridge

Distance: 5.6km / 3.5 miles | Elevation gain: 969m / 3,179ft | Time: 4-6 hours | Difficulty: Challenging

Goat Ridge is a good hike to do as a day hike as it is not as long as some of the others on this list (excluding Lindeman Lake). The trail is extremely steep with multiple rope sections and scrambling sections.

Even though it is shorter than Flora Peak, it is more technical and has more scrambling so make sure you hike with a friend, have a satellite communicator and pack more food and water than you think you’ll need.

Along the way, you will get stunning views of Chilliwack Lake, Lindeman Lake, and Greendrop Lake. From the top, there is a viewpoint called the Porcupine Rock viewpoint which looks over Lindeman Lake. This is where most hikers will end their hike, however you can continue on further to Goat Ridge Peak.

Mount Macfarlane

Distance: 17.1km / miles | Elevation gain: 1,804m / ft | Time: 8-11 hours | Difficulty: Very Challenging

Mount Macfarlane is on our list to tackle this coming Summer but from what we have heard from some of our hiking friends, it is a super hard hike! Hard, but worth it for the views. We have heard that it is one of the hardest hikes in Southern BC due to how long and steep it is.

It is a long a strenuous hike and not that many people complete it in only one day. It is popular to camp at either Lower and Upper Pierce Lake to split this tough hike into at least 2 days.

From the top, you get stunning panoramic views of Upper Pierce Lake which is a deep sapphire blue and the surrounding mountains.

🎒 Backpacking Gear Essentials

If you want to do any of these hikes as an overnight hike, you will need some extra gear. Check out a full list of all of our backcountry camping gear here!

ℹ Other Things to do in Chilliwack

Hiking isn’t the only thing you can do in Chilliwack. It has a pretty up and coming little town with a lovely shopping area that is decorated beautifully at Christmas time. There are also festivals throughout the year such as the Chilliwack Tulip Festival and great lakes to swim in like Chilliwack Lake.

We also recently had a beer on the dog friendly patio at Sidekick Brewing which was lovely! Located right next to the river. 😍

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