I’ve lived in Vancouver for years and never heard anything about this hike. Then it felt like I started seeing it everywhere on social media and the facebook hiking groups all at once. I guess trails go in and out of vogue with social media these days, so I decided to check it out before it got more popular!

Hunter Road is located north of Mission, so it is a bit of a drive from Vancouver, but it’s at low elevation and follows an old logging road, so it’s a great hike to do year round. I’m not sure if it often gets snow, I visited it in early April (of 2024) and it was completely bare, but I could see it being a good trail on snowshoes as well.

The trailhead is located at the end of Roach Street, which is east of Stave Lake and has a great view of the lake from the viewpoint at the end of the trail. Despite the popularity I was seeing on the hiking groups, it was not busy when we visited on Easter weekend. We took Sadie with us and she had the best time because the trails were relatively empty and very wide (both great things when you have a reactive dog). 

The hike is approximately 7.5km round trip, with 250 metres in elevation gain. You do about half of the elevation gain at the start of the hike, then it’s fairly flat along the road. You do the second half of the elevation gain at the end of the hike as you wrap around the base of a small peak to get to the viewpoint at the top. There’s not a lot to see along most of the trail as it’s just through the woods, but the reward at the viewpoint is great for how relatively low effort the hike is. 

The entire hike only took us 2.5 hours, including a pretty lengthy snack break at the top of the viewpoint, so it’s a good trail for beginners. From the top, you get a great view of Stave Lake, looking into the mountainous backcountry. It’s a really nice place to hang out and enjoy the views and I can see the appeal of the trail in any season. 

I don’t have too much more to say about the trail. It’s a great off-season hike and I’m happy to have crossed it off my bucket list. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area!