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.
Garibaldi Lake is the centre and base for much of the hiking in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The Garibaldi Lake campsite is located on the amazing, turquoise shores of this massive and mostly still wild mountain lake. There are no trails around the edge of the lake except the small section leading to the campsites, so your view is an impossibly coloured lake edged by swaths of forest and a magnificent glacier towering in the distance.
Garibaldi Lake is enormous with a surface area of almost 10 square kilometres or 2460 acres. It is also a very deep lake with its average depth of 119 metres or 390 feet and at its deepest, 258 metres or 849 feet! What really makes Garibaldi Lake extraordinary is its geography. It is flanked by volcanoes on three sides and lava flows from Mount Price during the last ice age formed The Barrier which blocked the valley which filled with water, creating Garibaldi Lake. Vantage points around the lake such as Panorama Ridge and Black Tusk allow relatively easy views of this magnificent lake with Mount Garibaldi and other impressive peaks surrounding it. At the Garibaldi Lake campsite the water is painfully cold, though plenty of brave hikers swim here as well as camp. Garibaldi Lake, though beautiful enough as a primary destination, is often a base camp for further hiking. The summit of Black Tusk is just a 2 hour hike from the lake. Panorama Ridge is a bit further at about 3 hours from the lake. Taylor Meadows is a beautiful, often flower filled valley, and home to the other Garibaldi Provincial Park campsites in the area.
Mount Harvey is one of the huge, visible and hikeable summits in the North Shore mountains. It is located on the Howe Sound Crest Trail in Cypress Provincial Park near The Lions. Reachable via the Howe Sound ...
Unnecessary Mountain gets its peculiar name from the fact it once was part of the route to reach The Lions whereas now the route avoids it. This now, unnecessary mountain, no longer needs to be climbed to ...
Rice Lake is a relaxing walk around a cute lake in Lynn Valley. It is a family friendly hike although dogs are not welcome. Roundtrip from your car the trail around the lake is just 3 kilometres and should ...
Goat Mountain is a beautiful mountain to hike from Grouse Mountain. It is challenging at times but fairly relaxing overall. It is just 4k from the Grouse Mountain Chalet and should only take 3-4 hours ...
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 ...
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 ...
Black Tusk is the extraordinarily iconic and appropriately named mountain that can be seen from almost everywhere in Whistler. The massive black spire of crumbling rock juts out of the earth in an incredibly ...
Mount Sproatt, or as it is known locally as just Sproatt, is one of the many towering mountains visible from Whistler Village. Above and beyond Alta Lake, directly across from Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb ...