The Whistler Train Wreck Hike (Suspension Bridge) & Function Junction Craft Breweries

Located just 8 kilometres (10 minutes by car or BC Transit Bus #10 or #20) south of Whistler Village at the southern entrance to the valley, the pairing of the Whistler Train Wreck Trail and the creative industrial neighbourhood of Function Junction makes an easy half-day afternoon in Whistler, especially on a cloudy day when the high mountain peaks are in the mist.

1. The Whistler Train Wreck Hike (2.4 km Round-Trip, 45 to 60 Minutes, Flat & Free)

In August 1956, a southbound freight train on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway took a 25 km/h speed-limit curve too fast, jamming three engines and seven wooden-and-steel boxcars into a narrow rock gorge so tightly that rail crews had to use bulldozers and logging chains to drag the mangled cars off the tracks into the adjacent old-growth forest. Over the decades, giant cedar trees grew up around the twisted metal and local Sea-to-Sky artists transformed the boxcars into a surreal forest street-art gallery and mountain-bike stunt park:

• The Trail & Cheakamus Suspension Bridge: park for free at the Jane Lakes Road Trailhead in Cheakamus Crossing (opposite Function Junction). Follow the wide, flat, pushchair-friendly gravel path for 10 minutes (1 km) through mossy hemlock forest to a steel suspension footbridge spanning the white-water rapids and basalt cliffs of the Cheakamus River. Two minutes across the bridge, you step into the circle of the seven painted boxcars.

2. Exploring 'Function Junction' (Whistler's Local Brewery & Artisan District)

After finishing the Train Wreck walk, cross Highway 99 into Function Junction (Alpha Lake Road); what started as Whistler's warehouse and lumber district has evolved into the coolest local hangout in town:

1. Coast Mountain Brewing (1212 Alpha Lake Rd): a cosy, wood-stacked taproom famous for hazy juicy IPAs (Hope You're Happy), sour fruit ales and mountain lagers.
2. Whistler Brewing Company (1045 Millar Creek Rd, One Block Away): BC's original 1989 mountain brewery; order a pint of their signature Chestnut Ale, Bear Paw Honey Lager or Grapefruit Ale with wood-fired pizza.
3. Camp Lifestyle + Coffee, Purebread's Original Bakery & Forged Axe Throwing: sip espresso around a fire pit at Camp, visit the original bakehouse of Purebread, or try indoor axe-throwing at Forged.