{"id":1133,"date":"2017-09-09T21:26:46","date_gmt":"2017-09-09T21:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/?p=1133"},"modified":"2017-09-09T21:26:46","modified_gmt":"2017-09-09T21:26:46","slug":"hidden-gems-squamish-offers-full-outdoor-experience-along-with-craft-beer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/hidden-gems-squamish-offers-full-outdoor-experience-along-with-craft-beer\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Gems: Squamish offers full outdoor experience along with craft beer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New townhomes and duplexes: http:\/\/skyridgesquamish.com\/duplexes\/<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the last of a four-part monthly series by writer\u00a0Barb Livingstone\u00a0looking at Hidden Gems, places where the immediate community or area brings special value to a recreation or investment property or a full-time move. The series also examined Cumberland, Sun Peaks and Nelson.<\/em><\/p>\n

It used to be that little \u201cstop-off\u201d town you slid into for gas on the trip between Vancouver and Whistler.<\/p>\n

But Squamish is coming into its own as a growing British Columbia destination because, really, what is there not to like about a community perched on the northern-most tip of an ocean inlet (Howe Sound) created by a glacier, and surrounded by mountains and rainforest?<\/p>\n

While the hidden gem of a town of 19,500 people, a 45-minute drive from Vancouver and 40 minutes from the mountain resort town of Whistler, used to be known for its logging industry, it now bills itself as the outdoor recreation capital of Canada.<\/p>\n

Lesley Weeks, executive director of Tourism Squamish, says it was the opening of the Sea to Sky Highway and then the gondola two years ago that made even more people take notice. And,\u00a0the Sea to Sky Trail is under construction with sections of the year-round non-motorized multi-use trail already open.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The gondola supports multi-generational travel with easy access to alpine viewing and cafes, instead of depending on the hard-core adventurers Squamish has attracted in the past.<\/p>\n

In fact, the New York Times travel section, just after the gondola opened, put the town on its list of 52 places to visit, citing the Sea to Sky experience and the area\u2019s \u201cunusual combination of West Coast wilderness and accessibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or as Weeks puts it: \u201cYou can dip your toes in the ocean and 10 minutes later be in an alpine meadow.\u201d<\/p>\n

That nature experience includes world-class rock climbing, hiking in Garibaldi Provincial Park, windsurfing and kite boarding in the Squamish estuary at the tip of Howe Sound, mountain biking trails in nearby woods, and eagle watching on floats along the Squamish River. In fact, Squamish hosts an annual eagle count each January \u2014 it sees the largest gathering of eagles in North America \u2014 drawing devotees from around the world.<\/p>\n

Most of the tourism to the town has come from the \u201cdrive market\u201d of B.C. and Washington state, but Weeks says the area is starting to see more tourism traffic from Alberta.<\/p>\n

And access to all that is wonderful about Squamish is, over the next decade, going to get even easier with the 100-acre development of the ocean waterfront, called Newport Beach. The project is to include 1,000 new residential units and 35 acres of retail\/commercial space, including resort facilities.<\/p>\n

Squamish is already one of the 25 fastest growing communities in B.C., reaching nearly 20,000 in the 2016 census \u2014 an increase of 13.7 per cent over the 2011 population study.<\/p>\n

Newport Beach will provide real estate in a town already favoured by commuters working in Vancouver or Whistler \u2014 places where real estate prices are high in a province where the supply of homes for sale is at a 20-year low.<\/p>\n

Heather McGillvray, of Destination B.C.\u2019s Vancouver, Coast and Mountain region (generating more than half of tourism spending in B.C., including from the No. 3 market of Alberta), says the whole area\u2019s tourist attractions fit into what Squamish offers \u2014 nature in provincial and national parks, hiking and backpacking, and all the activities associated with the province\u2019s beautiful beaches.<\/p>\n

5 Things to do in Squamish<\/h3>\n

1. Talking Trees<\/strong>\u00a0walking tour at the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola with a local Indigenous guide. seatoskygondola.com\/adventures\/talking-tree-tours<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Get coffee a new way<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 on a stand-up paddleboard (SUP). Sea to Sky Adventure Co. has guided SUP tours along the Sea to Sky highway from Squamish (Howe Sound) to Britannia Beach and local favourite Galileo Coffee. seatoskyadventurecompany.com<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Explore Squamish<\/strong>\u00a0from the air<\/strong>\u00a0(the area is known as Sea to Sky for a reason). Soar above the Coast Mountains and glacier with Sea to Sky Air. seatoskyair.ca<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0A new offering<\/strong>\u00a0for all ages is a twilight float with Canadian Outback Rafting. Scenery, a sunset, and relaxation as you float on a river raft. canadianoutbackrafting.com<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Sample Squamish\u2019s burgeoning culinary scene:<\/strong>\u00a0have breakfast in Fergie\u2019s Caf\u00e9, a funky, portable trailer decked out in industrial decor.\u00a0sunwolf.net\/fergies\/<\/a>. Follow breakfast with a self-guided tour on the B.C. Ale Trail, including craft beer pioneer Howe Sound Brewing and new openings, Backcountry Brewing and A Frame Brewing.\u00a0bcaletrail.ca\/ale-trails\/squamish\/<\/a>\u00a0Have dinner at Squamish\u2019s first urban dining experience: The Salted Vine Kitchen + Bar (opened last fall by former members of the team at Whistler\u2019s iconic Araxi restaurant).\u00a0www.saltedvine.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more: http:\/\/calgaryherald.com\/life\/homes\/rec-properties\/hidden-gems-squamish-offers-full-outdoor-experience-along-with-craft-beer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That nature experience includes world-class rock climbing, hiking in Garibaldi Provincial Park, windsurfing and kite boarding in the Squamish estuary at the tip of Howe Sound, mountain biking trails in nearby woods, and eagle watching on floats along the Squamish River.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[281,273,432,325,264],"class_list":["post-1133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-squamish-2","tag-squamish-homes-for-sale","tag-squamish-houses-for-sale","tag-squamish-real-estate","tag-squamish-townhomes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1135,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133\/revisions\/1135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisbrownrealestate.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}