Many people do these hikes as day trips, but you really can only do one of them and it still makes for a very long and hard day (26 km for Panorama Ridge and 25 km for Black Tusk, or add another 5-6 km and a few hundred meters of climb if you combine both). We decided to camp two nights at Garibaldi Lake to check out both hikes.

There are 50 platforms and 4 cooking shelters at that campground as well as a day use area for day hikers. Needless to say, it can get chaotic and loud…

There is another smaller campground called Taylor Meadows that is a bit more central but it is closed at this time of year because there are tons of berries in the meadows and bears are in the area. The downside is that there is no lake there.

If you want to beat the crowds, we strongly recommend you do this hike during the week and leave the trailhead as early as possible. Set up camp at either campsite, ditch the big packs, eat a bite and head to Black Tusk. Getting there mid afternoon allowed us to have the place to ourselves since the day hikers had to already be on their way back to make it to their vehicles before nightfall.

The next day, get up early and head to Panorama before the day hikers get there (around noon). We were there at 10 am and had the viewpoint to ourselves.

The lake level is unseasonably high this year and the regular trail along the shoreline to get to the campground is under water, so you have to scramble up some slippery rocks to get there. I chose to walk back along the shore in the water on the way back and that felt much safer with the big pack!