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.
Shannon Falls towers above Howe Sound at 335 metres as the third tallest falls in BC. The wonderful, though very short trail winds through a beautiful old growth forest to get to the base of the falls. From your car to the viewpoint takes only about four minutes, however the trail continues a bit further to a higher viewpoint (five minutes higher).
You can even continue along the trail and join with the Stawamus Chief trail which goes to the three summits of The Chief. Shannon Falls Provincial Park has a concession stand as well as an information centre next to the parking area. This parking area is day use only, so if you are hoping to camp overnight in the area, you have to park at the Stawamus Chief parking lot, just a 1 minute drive north of the Shannon Falls lot. If you are planning to hike the Stawamus Chief, the Shannon Falls parking lot is arguably a better place to start from. You can take a look at Shannon Falls and then take the connecting trail to join onto the trail to The Chief. This route is only slightly longer, yet much more scenic. Once you connect to the Stawamus Chief trail, you will find almost constant stairs to be prepared for quite a workout comparable to the Grouse Grind in Vancouver. The Chief is the mammoth rock face that towers over Squamish and has been iconic in this area for many centuries. Though hardly believable from looking at, the summit is only a one hour hike. In fact there are three peaks, South (First), Centre (Second), and North (Third). Each accessible from the single trailhead. The trailhead to The Chief is easy to find. From highway 99, in Squamish.
Finding either Stawamus Chief Provincial Park or Shannon Falls Provincial Park are very easy. The Chief is visible for several kilometres and both The Chief and Shannon Falls are visible from the Sea to Sky Highway. From the highway watch for the provincial park signs for either park and. The large parking lots for Stawamus Chief Provincial Park are arranged next to the trailhead. There is a nice campground, with plenty of tent sites just up the trail. Shannon Falls is just 1 minute south of the entrance to The Chief on the Sea to Sky Highway and easily spotted.
Mystery Lake is an easy, well marked trail that leads to a cute mountain lake that is perfect for relaxing, swimming or having a picnic. It is just 1.5k to the lake and like the rest of Seymour Park, dogs are ...
Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver is a beautiful and astoundingly huge network of hiking/walking/biking trails. An estimated 8 million hikers, walkers, rollerbladers and cyclists visit the park yearly. The wonderful ...
Burnaby Lake Regional Park has a series of trails that add up to 9 kilometres if done in a circular route around the lake. There are in fact 19 kilometres of trails in the park. The various trails include ...
The Goldie Lake Trail in Mount Seymour Provincial Park is a cute, self-guided interpretive trail that runs around this small mountain lake. Although it is less than 4 kilometres for the normal loop trail, ...
The High Falls Creek hike is a great hike not only for the beautiful scenery in and around the trail, but the drive to it as well. The often passed by Squamish Valley Road, opposite the Alice Lake Provincial ...
The wonderful Upper Shannon Falls trail is now also called the Sea to Summit trail, branches off from the chaotically popular Stawamus Chief trail. About 15 minutes along the Stawamus Chief trail you will ...
Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Park is an absolutely phenomenal, though long, hiking, biking, snowshoeing and skiing trail that begins at the Diamond Head area in Squamish. From Whistler Village, the trailhead is ...
Levette Lake is a nice mountain lake located in the enormous Squamish Valley that drains Squamish River into Howe Sound. There are some nice views and minimal elevation gain along the trail. The amazing ...