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Snow-covered North Shore mountains rising above Burrard Inlet and the city of Vancouver

North Shore

The mountains you can see from downtown Vancouver - Cypress, Grouse, Mount Seymour and the ridges between them. Thirty to fifty minutes from the city, snow-covered five months of the year, and the region where most Vancouver hikers learn what winter actually asks of them.

8 trail guides · 40 min from Vancouver

The North Shore is the reason Vancouver has the outdoor reputation it does. Three mountains rise directly out of the water on the north side of Burrard Inlet, the highest trailheads sit above 900 metres, and you can be on snow forty minutes after leaving a downtown office. There is nowhere else in Canada where a major city touches real subalpine terrain this abruptly.

That abruptness is also the problem. The elevation that makes these trails good in winter is the same elevation that catches people out: it is raining at sea level and dumping snow at the trailhead, the parking lot is at 1,000 metres, and the difference between a pleasant afternoon and a search-and-rescue callout is often just daylight and a wrong turn out of a busy lot. North Shore Rescue is the busiest SAR team in Canada, and it is not because the terrain is extreme.

What the region is good for

Winter, mostly. Cypress and Mount Seymour hold reliable snow from December through March at trailhead elevation, and both have short, marked routes that work well on snowshoes. Dog Mountain and Hollyburn Mountain are the two I send people to first and second respectively.

Short days and bad weather. The low-elevation trails - Quarry Rock, Lynn Canyon, the Baden Powell corridor - stay snow-free most winters and work as rain-day options when the alpine is a whiteout.

Sunset over the city. The whole region faces south into Vancouver. That geometry is not an accident of the photographs you have seen; it is why nearly every viewpoint here is a sunset viewpoint rather than a sunrise one.

Access notes

There is no TransLink service to either Cypress or Mount Seymour trailheads. Both operate private or resort shuttles in winter, both of which need booking. Deep Cove and Lynn Canyon are properly transit-served.

Mount Seymour Provincial Park requires a free BC Parks day-use vehicle pass for the backcountry lots on winter weekends and through the holidays. Cypress Provincial Park does not require a day pass at all, though the resort operates its own paid parking and paid trail networks alongside the free BC Parks trails, which causes endless confusion. Winter tires are legally required on the access roads from October.

Drones are prohibited in all BC provincial parks, which covers Cypress, Mount Seymour and Lynn Headwaters.

Seasons

SeasonReality
Dec-MarSnow at trailhead elevation. Snowshoes, not microspikes. Short days - headlamp always.
Apr-MayThe worst window. Rotten snow above 800 m, mud below it.
Jun-OctFull alpine access; the high ridges and the Howe Sound Crest Trail come into condition from July.
NovTransitional and genuinely unpleasant - enough snow to hide the trail, not enough to travel on.

North Shore trail guides

Every guide below is a trail I have personally hiked, with the date I was last there on the page.

  • ▲ 336 m6 km
    North Shore

    Black Mountain, Cypress: A 6 km Loop to a Summit Full of Lakes

    The most under-rated hike at Cypress, because everyone walks past the junction on their way to St Mark's or Eagle Bluffs. Six kilometres buys you a lake-covered summit plateau at 1,217 m with views in every direction.

    • Distance: 6 km
    • Elevation gain: 336 m
    • Difficulty: Moderate
  • ▲ 110 m4 km
    North Shore

    Bowen Lookout, Cypress: The Easiest Sunset Over Howe Sound

    The best sunset-to-effort ratio in Cypress Provincial Park, and the one winter route out of the Cypress Bowl that a beginner can do honestly. Two hours, a hundred metres of climbing, and the sun going down over Howe Sound.

    • Distance: 4 km
    • Elevation gain: 110 m
    • Difficulty: Easy
  • ▲ 160 m5 km
    North ShoreDay-use pass required: Day pass

    Dog Mountain Snowshoe: The Best Free Winter Trail on the North Shore

    The best return on effort of any winter trail near Vancouver - 90 minutes of easy snowshoeing buys you a bluff-top view of the whole city, and it costs nothing but a free day-use pass.

    • Distance: 5 km
    • Elevation gain: 160 m
    • Difficulty: Easy
  • ▲ 435 m9 km
    North Shore

    Eagle Bluffs via Black Mountain: The Best Sunset Hike at Cypress

    The best place near Vancouver to watch the sun go down over open water from a granite ledge, and a genuinely bad idea in winter. Nine kilometres, a lake-strewn plateau on the way out, and a sunset you plan a summer around.

    • Distance: 9 km
    • Elevation gain: 435 m
    • Difficulty: Moderate
  • ▲ 440 m7.5 km
    North Shore

    Hollyburn Mountain Snowshoe: Cypress's Classic Winter Summit

    The North Shore's best summit-for-effort snowshoe - a real 440 m climb to a genuine peak, free of charge, but the top half is rated Challenging avalanche terrain and deserves a forecast check every time.

    • Distance: 7.5 km
    • Elevation gain: 440 m
    • Difficulty: Moderate
  • ▲ 100 m3.8 km
    North Shore

    Quarry Rock, Deep Cove: The Winter Hike That Never Has Snow On It

    The default answer when the alpine is a whiteout - 90 minutes, no snow, no gear, a real view over Indian Arm, and the only North Shore viewpoint you can genuinely reach on a bus.

    • Distance: 3.8 km
    • Elevation gain: 100 m
    • Difficulty: Easy
  • ▲ 460 m11 km
    North Shore

    St Mark's Summit: The Classic Howe Sound Crest Trail Day Hike

    The best full-day hike reachable from Vancouver without a ferry or a forest service road, and worth every one of the 460 metres. Just do not go on a Saturday, and do not go in winter unless you own a transceiver and know how to read a slope.

    • Distance: 11 km
    • Elevation gain: 460 m
    • Difficulty: Moderate