Wildflowers in Sub Alpine Meadows of Manning Park

Manning Park is located in the Cascade mountains with a terrain varying from west coastal rainforests, snow capped mountains, beautiful lakes to sub alpine meadows with wildflowers. Manning park is about a 3 hour beautiful drive from Vancouver, BC.

Early summer months bring colourful wildflowers in the sub-alpine meadows of Manning park; make sure to drive up to hike on one of the popular wildflower hikes in Canada. We have been to the Manning park three times in the past few years, so we compiled our photos of all the visits to create this post.

How to get there

Take Hwy 1 east from Vancouver. From Hope, merge on to Hwy 3 towards Manning Park.

After driving approx. 60 kms on Hwy 3, turn left onto Owl Way. After 76 meters take another left onto Blackwall Road. Follow this narrow winding road for approx. 8 kms till you reach Cascade Lookout.

Cascade Lookout

Now you have reached an altitude of 5541 feet

Wildlife at the lookout: very friendly Yellow Pine Chipmunks and the Cascade Mantled Ground Squirrels.

Heading up from the beautiful views of Cascade Lookout to the meadows

On the way from Cascade Lookout to the Meadows

The remaining 8 Kms of the road going up from Cascade Lookout is a gravel, dusty road. We have seen some 2WD vehicles going up there, its feasible depending upon the road or weather conditions, however a 4X4 drive is recommended.

We are up in the meadows now…

Once you reach up the meadows, there is a parking lot and washrooms. The trails around the parking lot are easy walking trails with spectacular views of Cascade mountains and colourful wildflowers.

ALWAYS stay on the path!!! Meadows are fragile

Enjoy the views of beautiful meadows and wildflowers

TIP: The peak bloom of wildflowers is typically around June-July. However, it is highly dependent on the climatic conditions of that season. So we suggest to visit the useful links provided at the end of the post to monitor the bloom before you plan a trip.

If you go too early in the season, the road might be closed past the Cascade lookout. This actually happened to us one time we visited the park, so we had to head back without being able to see the meadows OR alternatively you can hike up.

Heading back

It was so hard to say goodbye to these beautiful views and flowers! Heading back we decided to visit the Lightning Lake that you can see in the photo below. This photo was taken at the Cascade lookout on way back.