A sauna with no sign
Ask around Squamish long enough and someone would tell you about the sauna on the river. Not a spa, not a business — a hand-built barrel of cedar and fire, set into the bush on the banks of the Mamquam.
There was no website and no booking. You heard about it from a climber at the crag, or a friend of a friend, and you went looking. What you found was steam, a wood stove, and the river roaring a few steps away. Strangers shared the bench. Someone always left firewood for the next person.
Over time the photos started showing up online, and the "Squamish secret sauna" stopped being much of a secret.
Why the river saunas came down
The old site sat in steep, slippery terrain beside fast water. As more people went looking, more people got hurt or needed help getting back out. Squamish Search and Rescue raised concerns, and the Province's natural resource officers investigated; the informal saunas along the Mamquam were taken down. (Squamish Chief coverage.)
The riverbank is quiet again. Please don't go searching for the old spot — there's nothing there now, and the access is still dangerous.
Where the original went
The barrel itself didn't disappear. Glenn bought the original sauna, restored it, and kept what made it special: real wood heat that climbs to 90°C, and the smell of smoke and steam.
The difference is where it lives. Instead of making you scramble down a canyon, Mamquam Sauna comes to you — delivered to private property in Squamish, Whistler or Pemberton, with a cold plunge tub, firewood, towels and a startup guide, for a private 24-hour session.
