Seasonal guide

hiking by season

73 trails here are listed as year-round and 69 are seasonal. Season notes come from each trail's record and are approximate; snow lines move every year.

questions

Which Vancouver hikes can I do in winter?

73 trails on this site are listed as year-round, mostly lower-elevation forest and waterfront routes. Higher trails can hold snow into June or July.

When do the alpine trails open?

Higher-elevation trails are usually snow-free from mid-summer to early fall. Opening dates change every year; check BC Parks or the land manager.

What should I bring in the shoulder seasons?

Layers, a headlamp, traction for icy sections and the Ten Essentials. Days are short from October to March, so start early.

year-round trails

Quarry Rock
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Lynn Loop
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Lynn Canyon & 30 Foot Pool
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Rice Lake Loop
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Capilano Canyon & Cleveland Dam
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Dog Mountain
North Shore · Easy · Year-round; snowshoe route in winter Hollyburn Mountain
North Shore · Moderate · Year-round; snowshoe trail fees apply in winter Cypress Falls
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Whyte Lake
North Shore · Moderate · Year-round Lighthouse Park
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Stanley Park Seawall
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Pacific Spirit Regional Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Burnaby Mountain Trails
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Coquitlam Crunch
Metro Vancouver · Moderate · Year-round Buntzen Lake Loop
Metro Vancouver · Moderate · Year-round Jug Island Beach
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Minnekhada Regional Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Lower Falls (Golden Ears)
Fraser Valley · Easy · Year-round Teapot Hill
Fraser Valley · Moderate · Year-round Bridal Veil Falls
Fraser Valley · Easy · Year-round Hayward Lake Railway Trail
Fraser Valley · Easy · Year-round Shannon Falls
Sea-to-Sky · Easy · Year-round Murrin Park (Browning Lake loop)
Sea-to-Sky · Easy · Year-round Killarney Lake (Bowen Island)
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Admiralty Point (Belcarra)
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Burnaby Lake loop
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Deer Lake loop
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Soames Hill (Gibsons)
Sunshine Coast · Moderate · Year-round Smuggler Cove
Sunshine Coast · Easy · Year-round Skookumchuck Narrows
Sunshine Coast · Easy · Year-round Mundy Park loop
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Colony Farm Regional Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Pitt-Addington Marsh dikes (Grant Narrows)
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Kanaka Creek: Cliff Falls
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Derby Reach and Edgewater Bar
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Campbell Valley: Little River Loop
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Tynehead Regional Park loops
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Redwood Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Boundary Bay dike
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Richmond West Dyke Trail
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Iona Beach jetty
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Queen Elizabeth Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Camosun Bog boardwalk
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Wreck Beach Trail 6
Metro Vancouver · Moderate · Year-round Capilano Pacific Trail
North Shore · Moderate · Year-round Mosquito Creek trail
North Shore · Moderate · Year-round Fisherman's Trail (Seymour River)
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Seymour Valley Trailway
North Shore · Moderate · Year-round Maplewood Flats
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Seaview Walk
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Ambleside to Dundarave Seawalk
North Shore · Easy · Year-round Sasamat Lake loop
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Port Moody Shoreline Trail
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Barnet Marine Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Central Park (Burnaby)
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Spanish Banks to Jericho Beach
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round False Creek seawall loop
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Traboulay PoCo Trail
Metro Vancouver · Moderate · Year-round Dorman Point (Bowen Island)
Metro Vancouver · Moderate · Year-round White Rock Promenade
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Delta Nature Reserve (Burns Bog)
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Deas Island Regional Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Stanley Park: Beaver Lake
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Sea Island Dike (McDonald Beach)
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Peace Arch Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round Delta Watershed Park
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary dikes
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round; peak birding fall to spring Mud Bay / East Delta Dike Trail
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round (seasonal restrictions)Porteau Cove viewpoint trail
Sea-to-Sky · Easy · Year-round Whistler Valley Trail
Further afield · Easy · Year-round Portside and Burnaby Heights trails
Metro Vancouver · Easy · Year-round

seasonal trails

Grouse Grind
North Shore · Very hard · Late spring to fall (seasonal opening)Lynn Peak
North Shore · Challenging · Summer and fall; snow in winter Norvan Falls
North Shore · Moderate · Spring to fall Hanes Valley
North Shore · Very hard · Mid-summer to early fall, snow-free only Mount Seymour (Pump Peak to Summit)
North Shore · Challenging · Summer and fall; winter is avalanche terrain Eagle Bluffs
North Shore · Moderate · Summer and fall Black Mountain Loop
North Shore · Moderate · Summer and fall St. Mark's Summit
North Shore · Challenging · Summer and fall Mount Strachan
North Shore · Challenging · Summer and fall Mount Brunswick
North Shore · Very hard · Mid-summer to early fall Tunnel Bluffs
North Shore · Challenging · Spring to fall Sendero Diez Vistas
Metro Vancouver · Challenging · Spring to fall Alouette Mountain
Fraser Valley · Very hard · Summer and fall Golden Ears Summit
Fraser Valley · Very hard · Mid-summer to early fall Lindeman Lake
Fraser Valley · Moderate · Late spring to fall Cheam Peak
Fraser Valley · Challenging · Mid-summer to early fall Elk Mountain
Fraser Valley · Challenging · Summer and fall Stawamus Chief
Sea-to-Sky · Challenging · Spring to fall Sea to Summit Trail
Sea-to-Sky · Very hard · Late spring to fall Four Lakes Trail (Alice Lake)
Sea-to-Sky · Easy · Spring to fall Brandywine Falls
Sea-to-Sky · Easy · Spring to fall Garibaldi Lake
Sea-to-Sky · Challenging · Summer to early fall Panorama Ridge
Sea-to-Sky · Very hard · Mid-summer to early fall Elfin Lakes
Sea-to-Sky · Challenging · Summer and fall; winter is avalanche terrain Cheakamus Lake
Sea-to-Sky · Moderate · Summer and fall Rainbow Lake
Sea-to-Sky · Challenging · Summer and fall Wedgemount Lake
Sea-to-Sky · Very hard · Mid-summer to early fall Joffre Lakes (Upper Lake)
Sea-to-Sky · Moderate · Summer to early fall, when open BCMC Trail (Grouse Mountain)
North Shore · Very hard · Late spring to fall (seasonal opening)Mystery Lake
North Shore · Easy · Summer and fall Brothers Creek and Lost Lake loop
North Shore · Moderate · Spring to fall Mount Gardner (Bowen Island)
Metro Vancouver · Challenging · Spring to fall Petgill Lake
Sea-to-Sky · Challenging · Spring to fall Whistler Train Wreck
Sea-to-Sky · Easy · Spring to fall Nairn Falls
Sea-to-Sky · Easy · Spring to fall Othello Tunnels
Fraser Valley · Easy · Spring to fall (seasonal closures)Hicks Lake loop
Fraser Valley · Easy · Spring to fall Widgeon Falls (paddle and hike)
Metro Vancouver · Moderate · Spring to fall South Dyke Trail (Finn Slough to London Farm)
Metro Vancouver · Easy · all year Buntzen Ridge (Pipeline Pass)
Metro Vancouver · Moderate · Best March to November Burke Mountain Woodland Trail
Metro Vancouver · Moderate · Best April to November De Boville Slough
Metro Vancouver · Easy · all year Lower Grouse Circuit
North Shore · Moderate · Best April to November Old Lillooet Trail
North Shore · Moderate · all year Vancouver Lookout (Mount Seymour Rd)
North Shore · Moderate · Best April to November Grey Rock (Deep Cove)
North Shore · Moderate · most of the year Forks-Skyline Circuit (Hollyburn Fir)
North Shore · Moderate · Best May to November Hollyburn Lakes
North Shore · Moderate · June to October Yew Lake and Bowen Lookout
North Shore · Easy · Best July to October Howe Sound Crest (to Strachan meadows)
North Shore · Moderate · Best July to October Eagle Creek Ramble
North Shore · Moderate · most of the year Skyline-Copperbush Circuit (Evans Lake)
Sea-to-Sky · Moderate · Best April to November Brohm Lake Interpretive Forest
Sea-to-Sky · Easy · Best May to November Cal-Cheak Trail
Sea-to-Sky · Moderate · Best May to October Pitt River Greenway
Fraser Valley · Easy · all year UBC Malcolm Knapp Research Forest
Fraser Valley · Moderate · most of the year East Canyon Trail (Golden Ears)
Fraser Valley · Moderate · Best March to December Rolley Falls and Lake
Fraser Valley · Easy · most of the year Brunswick Point
Fraser Valley · Easy · all year Semiahmoo Ramble
Metro Vancouver · Easy · all year Aldergrove Regional Park
Fraser Valley · Easy · all year Fort-to-Fort Trail
Fraser Valley · Easy · all year Matsqui Trail (western section)
Fraser Valley · Easy · all year Cultus Lake Trails
Fraser Valley · Moderate · most of the year Vedder River Trail
Fraser Valley · Easy · all year Bluffs Park (Galiano Island)
Further afield · Easy · all year Skagit River Trail
Further afield · Moderate · Best June to October Hope-Nicola Valley Trail
Further afield · Moderate · Best April to October Heather Trail (Manning Park)
Further afield · Easy · Best July to September

See also rainy-day hikes and safety.

Cam Appleton, Vancouver real estate agent, climbing the side of a downtown tower at sunset with the North Shore mountains behind

Sponsor

good to know cam

Hi, I'm Cam Appleton. I love Vancouver and I love getting out on its trails. When I went looking for a simple, easy hiking guide for around here, I couldn't find one I liked. I also really like helping people, so I built this one.

My day job is real estate. I help people buy, sell and lease. I hope you're enjoying the start of Hike Vancouver. I wrote these guides the way I'd explain things to a friend at the trailhead.

Visit Cam Appleton Real Estate at camappleton.com Cam on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

Cam Appleton
Commercial & Residential Real Estate · Coldwell Banker Prestige Realty