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.
Vancouver has an ever increasing number of webcams aimed at beautiful places. English Bay, False Creek, Vancouver Harbour, Mount Seymour, Grouse Mountain and quite a few more. Bluemist Design have all sorts of incredible angles on Vancouver as well as great videos capturing the Celebration of Lights fireworks celebration that takes place every year over English Bay.
Bluemist has live cameras on English Bay, Kits Beach, Vanier Park, Sunset Beach and several more. Their excellent Youtube channel can be found here. Mount Seymour has this beautiful webcam, the Mystery Peak Cam. In the summer 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 welcome. The trailhead is easy to find once you have reached the main parking lot to Mount Seymour Resort. Just look for the signs for Mystery Lake on the frequent trail signs. The trail starts off by ascending up the ski slopes of Seymour for a few hundred metres. This section is fairly steep, though not terribly difficult. This trail takes you under the Mystery Chairlift and into the trees, away from the ski runs. The trail then winds through the forest and out to another ski run where you get your first great view of Vancouver far below. If you arrive to Mystery Lake on a nice day with no wind or rain you will be amazed at the reflection off the lake. It is wonderfully sheltered by cliffs and trees, making the water mirror-like on most days. If you brought kids with you, they will be in paradise. Shallow, ever changing shoreline with crystal clear water and tadpoles lurking in the water just out of reach. There is a fantastic, rocky island that you have to hop from rock to rock to get to. This little island always seems to escape the shade that falls on most other parts of the lake. If you brought a picnic or are looking to just relax, this is the spot to aim for first.
Mount Seymour's Mystery Peak Live Webcam
Grouse Mountain's Resident Bears
Grouse Mountain has two resident grizzly bears that were rescued as cubs. This is a video made by Grouse Mountain advertising Breakfast with the Bears. Grouse Mountain also has some wonderful live webcams. A city view cam and a chalet cam. In the winter they have an amazing live webcam of the bears hibernating in their den. Fantastic! The Bear Den Cam is here, Bear Habitat Cam is here, the Grouse Chalet Cam is here, and the spectacular City View Cam is here.
Cypress Mountain's Hollyburn Live Webcam
Hollyburn Mountain in Cypress Provincial Park, is a beautiful hiking and snowshoeing trail. The Hollyburn Mountain trailhead is an astonishingly close, 30 minute drive from downtown Vancouver. The 30 minutes is quite something as well. From the always beautiful crossing of the Lions Gate Bridge, to the incredible views of Vancouver from the approach drive to Cypress Mountain and the Hollyburn Mountain trailhead. The amazing views from the summit of Hollyburn Mountain include, the Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver, West Vancouver, Howe Sound and Georgia Straight, the Lions, and quite a lot else. Hollyburn Mountain is one of the highest around and the view is a panoramic 360. The drive to and from Hollyburn Mountain is amazing. If you are not too excited about hiking or snowshoeing, the drive alone is well worth it. There are a couple great places to stop on the drive up. Both have nice parking areas perched on the edge of the mountain along the road. Picnic tables and nice information boards to go with the spectacular views.
Cypress Mountain's Live Olympic Plaza Cam
Bluemist Webcam View of English Bay
Their excellent Youtube channel can be found here.
False Creek Fuels streams this beautiful view of False Creek from their fuel dock.
Vancouver Harbour Live Webcam
Vancouver Harbour Webcam
More live webcams for Whistler click here and for Tofino click here.
Explore Vancouver Hiking Trails!
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Mount Strachan is part of the trio of mountains, also Black Mountain and Hollyburn Mountain that form a bowl, or Cypress Bowl that give the resort its name. The Cypress part of the name comes from the ...
Deer Lake is a relaxing 5 kilometre walk around a cute urban lake just 30 minutes from Vancouver. The route around the lake is good any time of year and is very popular with dog walkers in and around ...
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Meager Hot Springs(aka: Meager Creek Hot Springs) is located 93 kilometres northwest of Whistler, was beautifully developed into gorgeous pools, with a caretaker and usage charge. At its height of ...
The Sea to Sky Trail is a 180 kilometre multi-use trail that runs from Squamish to D'Arcy. The trail is still under construction in many parts, however, the amazing route through Whistler is finally in ...
Helm Creek is a cute, meandering creek that winds its way from beyond Black Tusk, down the valley to the wonderful campground that takes its name. From the Helm Creek campground, Helm Creek descends further ...
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 ...