I’ve featured a lot of hikes on this blog and while I try to write about all kinds of hikes, I have a tendency to focus on my big, backcountry trips. But I believe hiking is for everyone and I’ve done lots of great, short, easy hikes that I want to feature in this post. Just keep in mind that no matter where you’re hiking or how short the hike is – always be prepared. Check out my post on personal safety to learn more about trip planning and the 10 essentials.
Without further ado, here are all my favourite short hikes by region:
Sea to Sky
Brandywine Falls (1km, 0m gain) – Located right on the Sea to Sky highway before you get to Whistler. Walk out to this amazing waterfall viewpoint! You can extend the hike down to the bottom of the falls, but wayfinding skills are required as it’s not well marked.
Brohm Lake (4km, 100m gain) – Located just past Squamish on the Sea to Sky highway. Do the circuit around the lake, or extend the hike up to Tantalus Lookout or Brohm Interpretive Forest. A great place for swimming in the summer.
Alice Lake (1.5km, 0m gain) – Located in Alice Lake Provincial Park, just past Squamish. Hang out at the day use area and go for a stroll around the lake. Great for swimming in the summer.
North Shore
Lighthouse Park (6km, 0m gain) – Located down by the water in West Van, make your own adventure in this park! Hike to the lighthouse and hang out on the rocks or explore the many forested nature trails.
Bowen Island Lookout (4km, 110m gain) – Located in Cypress Provincial Park, you can do this trail all year, just use snowshoes in the winter. The trail is a little steep, but has amazing views of Howe Sound and Bowen Island.
Dog Mountain (5km, 0m gain) – Located in Seymour Provincial Park, this is another hike that can be done in summer or winter. The trail has great views of the city – add a kilometre and hike to Dinkey Peak on the way down for mountain views.
Tri-City Area
Belcarra Regional Park (5km, 0m gain) – There are two hike options in Belcarra: Jug Island and Burns Point, which leave in opposite directions from the parking lot. Both are 5km, but Burns Point is the easier hike. Jug Island hikes up and down while Burns Point follows the coast.
Crystal Falls (7km, 0m gain) – Located in Coquitlam, this is one of the longer hikes on the list, but it’s totally flat and has rewarding views of the falls at the end! Wear appropriate shoes – this one can be muddy!
Minnekhada Park (4km, 100m gain) – Located near Pitt River in Coquitlam, there are two lake loops that are ~4km each, or if you’d like more of a challenge, hike 7km up to High Knoll for a view of the valley. Great for birdwatching.
Heading East
Gold Creek East: Lower Falls (5.5km, 0m gain) – Located in Golden Ears Park, it’s a beautiful, flat hike along the river to Lower Falls. Extend the hike by continuing on to Viewpoint Beach.
Bridal Veil Falls (1km, 50m gain) – Located just off Highway 1 past Chilliwack, a short hike to a huge waterfall cascading down over the rocks!
Paintbrush Trail (3km, 0m gain) – Located in Manning Park, it’s a bit of a drive, but Paintbrush Trail has the most amazing views of the surrounding mountains and at the right time of year, is bursting with beautiful alpine wildflowers.
Coastal and Islands
Bowen Island Sea Walk Trail (2km, 0m gain) – Located at the Southwest end of Bowen Island, this short there-and-back hike to Cape Roger Curtis Lighthouse has beautiful ocean views.
Smugglers Cove (3km, 0m gain) – Located on the Sunshine Coast, Smuggler’s Cove is a beautiful coastal trail that winds through wetland and rocky coast outside Halfmoon Bay.
Mount Norman (2.5km, 200m gain) – Located on South Pender Island, Mount Norman is the steepest hike on the list, but has beautiful views of the Gulf Islands. Extend the hike to Beaumont Campsite (6km) to make this a truly coastal hike.
Vancouver Island
Mystic Beach (4km, 65m gain) – Located past Sooke on the far south of the Island, this is a great way to sample one of the highlights of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. Hike through the woods to a beautiful sandy beach.
Little Qualicum Falls (3km, 65m gain) – Located just off the Alberni Highway in Little Qualicum Falls Park, this short loop takes you along the river to several beautiful waterfalls!
Tonquin Beach Trail (3km, 65m gain) – Located in Tofino, Tonquin Beach is a great place to watch the sun set, hang out on the golden sands, fish, or have a campfire. Just bring your headlamp for the hike back.
After Hollyburn Mountain, I think Dog Mountain at Mount Seymour might be one of the most popular places for snowshoeing. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this trail. I’ve snowshoed it several times and somehow I’ve still never managed to actually get the view of the city from the end of the trail.
Like Cypress and Grouse, you can rent snowshoes directly from Seymour Mountain. If you want to snowshoe the actual groomed snowshoe trails, you’ll also need a trail pass, but since Dog Mountain continues out of the resort and into the provincial park, you don’t need to get a pass for this trail.
The parking lot at the top is dedicated for skiers, but there’s a ton of parking along the left side of the road just before you get to the parking lot which is dedicated for snowshoers. Park here and then start making your way up to the back of the lot. Like all the local mountains, it gets crazy busy up at the top, so either come early or consider taking the Seymour shuttle up from the bottom of the road.
You’ll see a delineated snowshoe trail heading up the left side of the ski run. If you continue up the trail you can head up toward Mount Seymour, which is a much harder trail, but turn left off the trail and into the woods to go to Dog Mountain. The trail continues for a kilometer or two until you reach a branch. It can be kind of confusing in the winter, so pay close attention to the signs, go straight if you want to go to the Dog Mountain viewpoint, or right if you want to do the shorter Dinkey Peak loop (you can also do this on the way back from Dog Mountain, it’s only an additional kilometre, but does involve more of a climb).
I’ve now attempted the Dog Mountain trail 3 times in the winter. The first time I went it was a gorgeous sunny day with fresh powder on the ground. I loved walking out through the woods with the snow sitting on the trees, but because it was fresh powder, it was a little hard to find the trail and me and my friend Kateland ended up totally missing the Dog Mountain branch and circled up and back the Dinkey Peak loop. At the time I was a little sad we missed the branch, but the view from the top of Dinkey Peak of the surrounding backcountry is just so beautiful that it was hard to feel too disappointed about it.
The second time I visited I made it all the way out to the viewpoint, but it was a drizzly day and we got pretty wet without the pay-off of any view. So we trudged our way back to the lodge for a hot chocolate instead. The final time, it was pouring rain the whole way we didn’t even bother trying to go out to the viewpoint. Instead we took the Dinkey Peak loop, somehow missing the actual branch off to the peak, and went immediately back to the car to try and dry off.
So I haven’t had the best luck. Seymour is the lowest elevation of the 3 local mountains, so there’s no guarantee that if it’s raining in the city it’ll be snowing on the mountain. So I’d recommend waiting for a clear day to go up there. That said, one time I went up there on a night snowshoe tour with Metro Vancouver and a bunch of people on the tour bailed because it was raining in Vancouver and we ended up having the most romantic snowy night snowshoeing up there! So you really never know!
The Road Goes Ever On 