The other day, while driving down to Squamish, I couldn’t help but notice something that felt out of place: More than half a dozen cars sandwiched together on a small pull-out on Highway 99 in front of Brandywine Falls Provincial Park.
The gate closed and boarded up with cement road retainers served as an impromptu-yet-effective wall of ice, snow and concrete, stopping would-be tourists and waterfall lovers from experiencing the falls.
Why the Brandywine Falls parking lot is closed in the winter months is a good question. The best I can reason is that the provincial government doesn’t want to pay for snow removal, although the cost would likely be relatively low.
Brandywine Falls Provincial Park is one of my favourite places in the region to watch the sunset, with the vivid colours reflecting off Daisy Lake, and I’m sure that feeling is shared by many in the Sea to Sky.
In the summer, parking at the park comes at a premium, as tourists from the Lower Mainland pour over the bridge to see the waterfall. I don't have hard user numbers for the park, but the traffic seen at its entrance is anecdotal evidence of its massive popularity.
Recently, Pique reported on nearby Nairn Falls Provincial Park staying open throughout the winter, with Tourism Pemberton and the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) footing the bill for snow clearing after a successful pilot last year. The total cost for keeping the parking lot clear of snow is $6,000, a drop in the financial bucket when you consider the stunning recreational area you get access to in exchange.
At that time, a provincial government spokesperson told Pique the two primary locations for pick up and drop off for Brandywine Falls are along Highway 99 and via the CalCheak Forest Service Road, and said people could also access the park via the Sea to Sky Trail system. Due to public safety concerns, the Ministry of Transportation prohibits parking outside the gate, and will enforce this throughout winter.
But judging from the jumble of cars assembled at the park's gates on any given day, enforcement is lacking. It only makes sense to open the park gate and get that parking lot plowed in the winter. The initiative at Nairn Falls shows it can be achieved, so let's execute it or, at the very least, test the waters with another pilot project.
