Vancouver is surrounded by seemingly endless hiking trails and mountains to explore. Massive parks line up one after another. Mount Seymour Provincial Park, Lynn Park, Grouse, Cypress and the enormous Garibaldi Provincial Park all contribute to Vancouver being a hiking paradise.
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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 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.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Cheakamus Lake is a wonderfully relaxing way to get in the wilderness easily and quickly from Whistler Village. The trail begins on the far side of Whistler Mountain, 8 kilometres from the Sea to Sky ...
Ring Lake is a idyllic, pristine and wonderfully remote lake similar to Cirque Lake but considerably farther to hike to reach it. The 10 kilometre(6.2 mile) hike takes you through a tranquil forest, then to ...
Brandywine Meadows is a nice, relatively short hike to a massive flower filled valley high up in Callaghan Valley. Located 40 minutes south of Whistler, this tough and sometimes muddy trail gains a huge 550 ...
The short, scenic and easy hiking trail to Rainbow Falls is found at the same, much more well known trailhead for Rainbow Lake. The trailhead is marked as the Rainbow Trail and the trail quickly ascends ...
Dog Mountain is a beautiful, short and fun hike (or snowshoe trek) close to Vancouver and starting from the parking lot of Mount Seymour Resort. Just 2.2 kilometres gets you from your car to breathtaking views of ...
The Kitsilano beaches begin as soon as you cross the Burrard Bridge and enter the residential paradise of Kitsilano. Though only this first beach is named Kitsilano Beach, you can walk from one beach to the next ...
Everyone knows the Grouse Grind as the fantastically popular 2.9 kilometre workout in Vancouver. What is less known is that it is the gateway, or rather back door to some amazing hiking in the Lynn ...
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 ...