There are quite a few reasons you should visit Vancouver, a city that is often considered to be one of the world’s best places to live. As the best-known city in the province of British Columbia, Vancouver has a very interesting official motto: “By Sea, Land, and Air We Prosper,” and it happens to be very descriptive of the quality of life you can find here.
Hiking Note by TracksAndTrails : Hikers, after you are inspired by this article and want to explore the beauty of Vancouver, BC, review the 10 hiking essentials.
The downtown area of Vancouver is clean, sleek, and ultra-modern, but it happens to be surrounded by pristine natural scenery that simply begs to be explored. If you are curious about hiking opportunities in Vancouver, the first thing you should know is that there are dozens of trails near the city and hundreds more just outside of the urban centers. Vancouver hiking is one of the many outdoor activities regularly enjoyed by locals, and it can be a great experience for visitors.
Vancouver hiking trails range from leisure strolls around lakes to challenging mountain paths that require patience, stamina, and trekking experience. The following recommendations for Vancouver hiking take into account visitors, which means that you will find them very scenic, accessible, and reasonably easy to accomplish. With all this in mind, here are the four of the best Vancouver hiking trails you may want to complete during your visit.
The Dog Mountain Trail
As part of the Seymour Provincial Park of British Columbia, Dog Mountain has the distinction of being one of the easiest trails for hikers who wish to get a nice view of downtown Vancouver from a vantage point. If you want to share a captivating Instagram post about your Vancouver hiking trip, the Dog Mountain summit will not let you down because it is easy to take a selfie with the city in the background.
Thanks to the hard work of the B.C. Parks staff, this trail is always in good condition, but the best time to hike it is definitely in late spring or early summer. It should take you about two hours to summit, and you will be rewarded with great views not only of Vancouver but also Fraser Valley. The trail begins and ends at the parking lot of the Seymour Mountain ski resort, which is about 40 minutes outside of Vancouver.
The Lynn Lake Trail
Located in North Vancouver, this all-day hike is more challenging than scenic; it is not for beginners, and even experienced hikers will want to visit the BC Parks website to read the information and warnings about this trail.
You will not want to try hiking Lynn Lake in the winter unless you are pretty good at snowshoe trekking and camping in the snow. At the same time, you will not want to attempt this hike in the midst of the snow melting period; instead, you should wait until the dry days of summer so that there will be less chances of slipping on wet rocks.
The most appealing aspect of Lynn Lake is being able to log it into your trail book because by the time you reach the highest point of 800 meters, you would have already gained 600 meters of net elevation from the starting point.
The Quarry Rock Trail
This is one of the most popular Vancouver hiking trails among local residents, and the popularity is in large part owed to a local restaurant named Honey’s Doughnuts, which makes fresh pastries you can keep in your backpack for enjoyment on the trail.
Quarry Rock is a section of a larger trail located in the northwestern part of Vancouver; the trail starts at the upscale Deep Cove neighborhood, where you can see spectacular waterfront real estate before you cross pine forests, rocky formations, bridges, and meadows.
You will experience a net gain elevation of about 100 meters at the highest point of the trail, but you will hike less than four kilometers from start to finish.
Sendero Diez Vistas
In English, the name of this trail means “Path of 10 Views,” and that is exactly what you will get out of this 13-kilometer journey that starts at the Buntzen Lake Recreation Area and returns to the same spot. Although the trail is not very rugged, you should expect an elevation of 430 meters as you approach the summit. Beginner hikers should anticipate a full day on the trail, which is very well-kept and features many rest stops.
Whether you go clockwise or counter, you will find some challenges along the way; even seasoned trekkers cannot complete the Sendero Diez Vistas in less than three hours unless they are long-distance trail runners or cross-country athletes.
Most hikers start off clockwise because the first of the viewpoints, Punta Aprecio, will appear can be reached within 3.5 kilometers, and it happens to be the steepest climb of the journey. The remaining nine viewpoints, which are also rest stops, will let you see lakes, mountains, and forests.
Author: Mark Bennett is an American writer and traveler, whose major inspiration has been camping with his father ever since his childhood. He aims to visit 75 countries before he’s 30. You can also follow his adventures on his site Outdoorily.