There are plenty of moderately challenging Vancouver hiking trails to choose from. These are five trails that stand out from the rest. Not too difficult, yet all have sensational views. Hollyburn, Dog Mountain and Mt Seymour are at the end of beautiful drives to reach the trailheads.
The busy Mount Seymour trail in Seymour Provincial Park is a locals favourite. It is challenging and an excellent workout at 4 kilometres from the trailhead to the summit. The views are phenomenal. On a clear day you can see as far as Vancouver Island as well as amazing views of Vancouver, the lower mainland and the Gulf Islands. Located in the beautiful Mount Seymour Provincial Park there are several hikes in the area.
There are a few easy lake trails like Mystery Lake and Goldie Lake. These are family friendly hikes. Another, relatively easy hike branches off shortly after the start of the trail to Mount Seymour. Dog Mountain, easy and also family friendly and very popular in the winter as a snowshoeing trail. Mount Elsay is another hike in the area. Very difficult, the Mount Elsay Trail branches off of the Mount Seymour Trail just as you approach Mount Seymour and takes you into some difficult, wilderness hiking. Mount Seymour Provincial Park is very dog friendly and backcountry camping is welcome in several areas. Usually beyond Mount Seymour in the Elsay Lake part of the park. The trailhead for Mount Seymour is easy to find once you have reached the main parking lot to Mount Seymour Resort. To get to the main parking lot simply drive until you come to the end of the road and the end of the final parking lot (you will see ski lifts). Looking towards the end of this long parking lot you will see a large, round wooden map board. From here on there are frequent tree markers and signs directing you.
Trailhead Directions to Mount Seymour
From Highway #1 (Trans-Canada Highway) take Exit #22 Mount Seymour Parkway. Turn right onto Mount Seymour Parkway almost immediately and follow it 4.4 km before turning left onto Mount Seymour Road. Follow Mount Seymour Road as it winds it's way up the mountain. Drive to the end of the large parking lot at the end of the road. Start at the Mount Seymour Trail kiosk, to the left of the Mystery Peak chairlift. Parking is free and there are no trail fees in Mount Seymour Provincial Park.
Explore Vancouver Hiking Trails!
The Lions or Twin Sisters lie in North Vancouver, south of Squamish. The two distinct, rocky peaks are visible from downtown Vancouver and, though hard to believe, the West Lion summit can be climbed. You ...
This easy and strikingly beautiful park is yet another locals favourite. So close to downtown Vancouver at only 30 minutes away, yet you feel as if you are in a remote forest. There are a few different ...
Hollyburn Mountain in Cypress Provincial Park, is an amazing hiking and snowshoeing trail. The Hollyburn trailhead is an astonishingly close, 30 minute drive from downtown Vancouver. The 30 minutes is quite ...
Black Mountain can be reached from two different trailheads. The trailhead from Cypress Resort and the original trail off Marine Drive halfway between Horseshoe Bay and Lighthouse Park. The trailhead south ...
The trail to Whistler Train Wreck is an easy, yet varied route through deep forest, across a great suspension bridge over Cheakamus River, to a stunning array of wrecked train cars. The trail from your car ...
Wedgemount Lake itself is a magnificent destination for a day hike or spectacular overnight beneath the dazzling mountain peaks and stars. Many sleep under the stars on one of the many beautiful tent ...
Skookumchuck Hot Springs (aka: T'sek Hot Springs and St Agnes Well Hot Springs) is located two hours north of Whistler along the edge of Lillooet River. The name Skookumchuck means "strong water" in the ...
Whistler has an absurd number of wonderful and free hiking trails and Parkhurst Ghost Town certainly ranks as one of the most unusual, exotic and interesting. Parkhurst was a little logging town perched on ...
Whistler is an amazing place to hike. Looking at a map of Whistler you see an extraordinary spider web of hiking trails. Easy trails, moderate trails and challenging hiking trails are all available. Another marvellous thing about Whistler is that Garibaldi Provincial ...
Squamish sits in the midst of some amazing places to hike. Garibaldi Park sprawls from Squamish up and beyond Whistler. Tantalus Provincial Park lays across the valley to the west and the beautiful and desolate, by comparison, Callaghan Valley to the north. Add to ...
Clayoquot Sound has a staggering array of hiking trails within it. Between Tofino and Ucluelet, Pacific Rim Park has several wilderness and beach trails, each one radically different from the last. The islands in the area are often Provincial parks on their own with ...
Victoria has a seemingly endless number of amazing hiking trails. Most take you to wild and beautiful Pacific Ocean views and others take you to tranquil lakes in beautiful BC Coastal Rainforest wilderness. Regional Parks and Provincial Parks are everywhere you turn ...
The West Coast Trail was created after decades of brutal and costly shipwrecks occurred along the West Coast of Vancouver Island. One shipwreck in particular was so horrific, tragic and unbelievable that it forced the creation of a trail along the coast, which ...