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.
Blackcomb Mountain holds an impressive and ever growing array of hiking trails. From the moment you step off the Blackcomb Gondola and you arrive at the Rendezvous Lodge, you see hiking trails ascend into the distance. The Rendezvous Lodge is home to a cafeteria style restaurant, a fine dining restaurant, gift shops, washrooms, and quite a lot else.
Little effort, amazing alpine scenery
Easily escape the crowds by hiking longer trails
Rendezvous Lodge is great for dining & drinking
Accessing alpine terrain beyond trails is easy
Unmarked route to Russet Lake lays beyond marked trails
Whether you are doing a long hike or just one of the short ones, stopping here before and after for a meal and/or a beer is almost essential. Blackcomb Mountain has come alive with beautiful hiking trails in recent years. With the 2008 addition of the Peak2Peak Gondola which connects Blackcomb Mountain to Whistler Mountain, the demand for mountain trails is higher than ever. A dozen years ago, you would just have had some rough hiking trails to follow, and not many hikers to follow them. Now you have mapboards, trail signs, viewpoint seating areas and six popular, named trails to hike. The majority of the Blackcomb Mountain trails are easy and relaxing, however the Decker Loop Trail at the far end of Blackcomb is very challenging and spectacularly scenic. For the most part, you will find yourself winding through a nice alpine forest scattered with enormous fields of erratics leading to one great viewpoint after another. You can hike for as little as 15 minutes or more than 3 hours, depending on the trail or trails you choose to follow.
Blackcomb Lake and Blackcomb Peak that looms far above it are the most popular destinations for hikers and getting there and back can be done in a couple hours. The trails begin at the Rendezvous Lodge at the heart of Blackcomb Mountain. You have two ways to get here and both require paying for access to Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain. An adult day pass is about $60 and a pass good for the whole summer is just $90. These give you access to all the gondolas that access hiking trails as well as the Peak2Peak Gondola.
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