The Hidden Gems That Make Every Squamish Neighbourhood Special

This morning reminded me of something I think we sometimes take for granted when we live in Squamish.

I get up pretty early most mornings, work out, and usually get outside for a walk. Today my workout called for a longer walk or a run, so I decided to go for a run along the dike in Valleycliffe.

And somewhere along the way, I found myself thinking: this is ridiculous.

Not ridiculous in a bad way. Ridiculous in the sense that I was running through scenery that people travel halfway around the world to experience, and it was about two minutes from my front door.

That got me thinking about something I see all the time in real estate.

When people are looking at homes in Squamish, they often become very focused on choosing the "right" neighbourhood. Brackendale has this. Valleycliffe has that. The Highlands has something else. Downtown gives you something completely different.

But after living in different parts of Squamish over the years, I've realized there is another side to it.

Every neighbourhood seems to have its own little secrets.

And once you discover them, you tend to fall in love with wherever you happen to live.

This Morning in Valleycliffe

If you live in Valleycliffe, you can be down at the river and dike system in minutes.

This morning I was running along the dike with the Chief towering above everything, the river beside me, people walking dogs, riding bikes and running, and everybody just seemed happy to be there.

Along the river there are all these little spots where you can get down to the water. Some are little swimming holes. Some are shallow areas where you can sit in the water on a hot summer day. Some people use them for a quick cold plunge.

And you're sitting there in a river looking up at the Chief.

It's pretty hard to beat.

There isn't one giant parking lot announcing that you've arrived at some major attraction. There are different access points and places to park throughout the area, and that's part of what makes it feel different. It still feels like something the neighbourhood gets to enjoy rather than a big tourist destination.

Keep going and you're suddenly connected to mountain bike trails and kilometres of forest. You can go for a serious ride, take the dog for a walk, run the trails or just disappear into the woods for half an hour.

Yet you're still right beside a residential neighbourhood.

That combination is pretty special.

Then I Started Thinking About Brackendale

I lived in Brackendale for years, and it has its own version of exactly the same thing.

Judd Beach and Fisherman's Park are incredible.

There are stretches along the river where you're walking on what feels like a white sand beach. You've got the river beside you, mountains surrounding you, the breeze coming through the valley and people swimming, walking dogs, playing with their kids or just sitting beside the water.

From there, you can make a great loop using the dike and trail system. You can walk for 40 or 50 minutes in one direction, come back another way and barely feel like you've been in a town at all.

When you live there, it's literally outside your back door.

And that's the funny thing about Squamish. These aren't necessarily places you put on an itinerary.

They're just where you go after dinner.

Garibaldi Estates Has Its Own Version

The Estates feels completely different again.

There are walking trails accessible from both sides of the neighbourhood, including the trails around the Squamish Valley Golf Course.

You can wander along relatively easy, open trails beside the golf course, through forest and alongside waterways where you can see salmon spawning at the right time of year.

You can keep going and eventually connect through the trail network toward the Adventure Centre and other parts of town.

There are sections along the river where the landscape changes completely. The water has carved into the banks and you find yourself looking down toward a much wider stretch of river below.

It's beautiful.

And once again, you can access all of this from a neighbourhood where somebody might simply think, "I'm buying a house near the golf course."

There's much more there once you start exploring.

Even Downtown Has a Wilderness Escape

Downtown Squamish obviously gives you something different.

You've got shops, restaurants and everything happening downtown, but then you head toward the waterfront and suddenly you're watching kiteboarders out on the water with the mountains surrounding Howe Sound.

And right beside that is another one of my favourite little surprises: the Squamish Estuary.

You can access the Estuary trails from around the waterfront and Sp'akw'us Feather Park area, and within minutes the town seems to disappear.

You're walking through wetlands and forest with birds and wildlife around you, yet downtown is basically right behind you.

That's what I mean when I talk about these hidden gems.

They're not necessarily hidden because nobody knows about them. They're hidden because you don't always realize how much is there until you actually live nearby and start exploring.

And Then There Are the Highlands

Garibaldi Highlands might have more trail access than you could explore in years.

There are trails heading off in seemingly every direction, from easy forest walks to some of the mountain biking that has helped make Squamish famous.

Then there's Ring Creek.

Calling it a creek almost seems misleading in places because of the amount of water that can move through it. It's beautiful, wild and powerful.

There are places people access the water, although this is definitely one where you need to respect the current, water levels and conditions. It isn't the same gentle swimming-hole experience you can find in some other parts of town.

But again, imagine having all of that a few minutes from home.

Maybe There Isn't a "Best" Neighbourhood in Squamish

That's really what occurred to me on my run this morning.

I've been selling real estate in Squamish for more than 25 years, and buyers understandably spend a lot of time trying to figure out which neighbourhood they want to live in.

And neighbourhood matters.

Schools matter. Commute matters. Sun exposure matters. Lot size matters. Walkability matters. The style and price of homes matter.

But I think sometimes we put too much pressure on finding the one perfect neighbourhood.

Because Squamish has this strange ability to make you fall in love with wherever you end up.

Maybe you wanted Brackendale but found the right house in Valleycliffe.

Maybe you thought you had to be in the Highlands and ended up in the Estates.

Maybe you never imagined yourself living Downtown until you realized you could walk out your door, grab a coffee and be wandering through the Estuary a few minutes later.

You start exploring.

You find your trail.

You find your swimming hole.

You find your favourite stretch of river.

You figure out where you like to walk the dog, where you go for a run, where you take the kids, where you sit beside the water when it's 30 degrees outside, or where you go when you've had a long day and just want half an hour in the woods.

And eventually those places become part of what "home" means.

That's the Squamish Part You Can't Really Put on an MLS Listing

We can put square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms and lot size on a listing.

We can tell you a home is close to trails.

But it's hard to explain what it feels like to walk two minutes from your house and suddenly be beside a river, surrounded by mountains, with people swimming and dogs running around and the Chief filling half the sky.

You have to experience it.

And the longer I live here, the more I realize those experiences aren't confined to one special part of Squamish.

They're everywhere.

Every neighbourhood has something.

Some of it is well known. Some of it is still a bit of a local secret. And some of it you don't discover until you've lived there for a while.

Maybe that's one of the best things about living in Squamish.

You don't necessarily have to find the perfect neighbourhood.

Sometimes you find the right home.

And then the neighbourhood shows you why you're going to love living there.