Squamish: Estuary, Railway and Climbing

Squamish offers a variety of reasons to stay: the Squamish Estuary is centered on protected nature and birdlife, the Railway Museum of British Columbia is dedicated to railway history, and the Ground Up Climbing Centre is all about climbing. When planning your trip, you can consider whether you would rather discover nature, experience historic vehicles or choose an active pursuit.

Nature and Birdlife in the Squamish Estuary

The Squamish Estuary is a protected area and habitat for wildlife such as deer, bobcats, beavers and bears. It also provides habitat for more than 200 species of overwintering and migratory birds. This diversity makes the estuary an appealing destination for nature enthusiasts: it is home both to larger wildlife and to a wide range of bird species and their seasonal movements.

The area can be explored on foot, using wheeled transportation or on the water.

Experience Railway History

The Railway Museum of British Columbia in Squamish houses the largest collection of railway vehicles in Western Canada. The museum includes 90 historic railway cars as well as artifacts dating from 1890 onward. The collection offers a tangible way to engage with railway history: rather than focusing on a single vehicle, you can discover a larger collection of historic cars and objects.

The museum experience includes unlimited rides on the Mini-Rail Train, Track Speeders and the BC-21 Budd Rail Diesel car. This adds a variety of ride experiences to your visit to the collection. For families, the combination of viewing historic exhibits and going for rides may be especially appealing; you can decide which options are most interesting based on the interests of your fellow travelers.

Indoor and Outdoor Climbing

The Ground Up Climbing Centre offers indoor and outdoor climbing for people of all ages and ability levels. If you are looking for an active experience, you can make climbing a focus of your stay in Squamish. The different age and ability levels are a helpful guide for groups whose members do not all have the same experience.

The centre also runs after-school recreational sports programs for teens, as well as full-day camps in spring and summer. This gives families with teens another way to get involved if they are interested in climbing and recreational sports.

Choosing the Right Focus for Your Stay

Nature watching, railway history and climbing appeal to different interests. When choosing a vacation rental in Squamish, you can start by deciding which of these themes is most important to your trip and which other interests you would like to include. For example, those traveling with children can consider rides at the Railway Museum and the climbing options as different shared experiences; the protected estuary offers a nature-focused alternative.

More destination pages: Lillooet, Shalalth, D'arcy, Gold Bridge, Whistler, Pemberton, Furry Creek.

View the main travel overview: Squamish-Lillooet.