Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, Provincial park near Squamish, Canada.
Stawamus Chief is a provincial park with a massive granite monolith that rises directly from the Sea to Sky Highway, reaching 710 meters in height. The formation offers three distinct peaks with different hiking and climbing routes suited to varying skill levels.
The park was established in 1997 to protect over 500 hectares of forest and granite formations in British Columbia's coastal mountains. Its creation reflected growing conservation efforts in the region during the 1990s.
The mountain takes its name from Sta-a-mus, the First Nations village at its foot. For the First Nations, the mountain holds high spiritual importance. The park lies within the Atl'ka7tsme/Howe Sound Biosphere Region, designated in September 2021.
The park lies on Highway 99 just south of Squamish, at the northeast corner of Howe Sound. Camping is basic: 18 RV pads and 45 prepared tent areas with very simple sanitary facilities. All three summits are reached by trails; the granite tops are bare and exposed. About 98% of visits are day trips.
In 2012 the province removed 2.36 hectares from the park by legislation so the private Sea to Sky Gondola could be built; it opened in 2014, and the 20-metre-wide corridor became the Stawamus Chief Protected Area. Its line was cut twice, in 2019 and 2020. An earlier proposal for a gondola on the Chief itself failed.
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