Panorama Ridge Viewpoint Hike

End of July, I made a 2-night backcountry camping trip with Kasturi and Kavya to Garibaldi Lake and Taylor Meadows. On our second day, I hiked to Panorama Ridge viewpoint. Since I had done this hike alone, I thought about sharing my experience later. So, almost a month later, here it is.

Panorama Ridge offers a fantastic view of Garibaldi Lake and several mountains in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The shortest way to get to Panorama Ridge is from Rubble Creek trailhead. It is about 7.5 km from the trailhead to Taylor Meadows and an additional 6.5 km to the viewpoint. If you hike via Garibaldi Lake, it adds about 2 km to the hike.

Panorama Ridge Hike Map — GAIA GPS – Panorama Ridge Hike

After camping for a night at Garibaldi Lake campground, we moved to Taylor Meadows the second day. From the lake, it was a short hike to the Taylor Meadows. Initially, Kasturi and Kavya were planning to do the hike to Panorama Ridge. However, around 11 am it started raining, and it continued to rain for two and half hours.

Finally, the weather opened up and looked like it might hold for the rest of the day. However, it was already 2 pm, and given the short window before sunset, I decided to go alone to Panorama Ridge. Kasturi and Kavya would do a shorter hike around Taylor Meadows.

Taylor Meadows to Panorama Ridge

Since I was starting from Taylor Meadows, it would be a 13 km round trip to Panorama Ridge and back. But, it was my first time on the trail, so I was a bit conservative and said to Kasturi that I would be back in about five hours.

I just carried a small daypack with water, energy bars, a rain jacket and my Garmin inReach. At 1.5 km, I was at the junction of the trail coming from Taylor Meadows and Garibaldi Lake campground.

The next half km was probably one of the most beautiful sections of the hike. The meadows, wildflowers and mountains in the background made for a beautiful sight.

Panorama Ridge Viewpoint Trail Wildflowers Meadows — My favourite part of the hike

Soon, I was at the junction of the Panorama Ridge and Black Tusk trail. Few friends were planning to come up the next day to do the Black Tusk hike, and I was excited about it.

Before I accessed the ridge, I hiked by Black Tusk Lake to my right and Helm Lake to the left. If I had more time, I would have loved to spend some time next to these beautiful lakes.

Panorama Ridge Viewpoint

The final 2 km of the hike, just as you access the ridge, is where the trail starts to climb steeply. There were a lot more people coming down than going up. It’s a pretty exposed terrain, and I was thankful that it was not raining anymore.

My heart rate jumped as I went up the ridge, but I tried to maintain a steady pace and reach the viewpoint without taking a break. My average heart rate for the final section of the hike was 157, with a max heart rate of 171. Finally, just before 3:30 pm, I arrived at the viewpoint.

For the first time in months, I was hiking without a heavy backpack, and it felt really good. I had covered about 6.2 km with 650 m vertical gain in an hour and twenty-five minutes. It is not impressive by any means, but it was a new frontier for me on this kind of terrain.

I took some pictures from the viewpoint and settled down to make calls to friends who were planning to come up the next day. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the next day didn’t look good, and they had managed to get just one vehicle pass for six people. So the plan got cancelled, and I would have to do the Black Tusk hike some other time.

Black Tusk as seen from Panorama Ridge Viewpoint

After spending about twenty-five minutes at the viewpoint, like most people, I turned around to hike back down. Unfortunately, in a rush to get back, I missed the main trail, and it took me about ten minutes to get back on the trail. Nevertheless, I was back at Taylor Meadows by 5:15 pm.

Kasturi was surprised to see me, as I was back two hours before my estimated time. I surprised myself as well, and it felt good. Once we got back, as I was going through the pictures I realized that the highpoint of Panorama Ridge was another 300 m away from the viewpoint and continued along the ridge to the left from the viewpoint. Had I checked the map in GAIA at the viewpoint, I would have realized this, but it was too late.