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Mt. Seymour

Mt. Seymour near Vancouver, BC

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This trail was given a rating of 3 out of 5 stars

8 kms
5hours
moderate
Hiking
Winter, Fall, Summer
Vancouver, BC

trailpeak

LARGER MAP

The Mount Seymour Trail is convenient for Vancouver area hikers, but be prepared just the same.

To get there, take the 2nd Narrows bridge from Vancouver, and take the 3rd turnoff on the right following "Mount Seymour Parkway". Continue several kilometers until you reach Mount Seymour road (directions are as per going skiing at Seymour). There is a mall on the left, turn left onto Mount Seymour road and continue to the top. At the Northwest corner of the Parking lot, follow the trail (you'll see a sign and see some printed maps), although we repeat the waypoints here. Keep in mind topo maps for this area are NAD27, and the above points are WGS84 Datum, so, once loaded in as WGS84, either follow the GPS route as is, or convert to NAD27 Canada to match with your topo map. The trail is well marked, and you'll likely see others, but be prepared for cold weather up top, and, don't forget about the airliner that went down a few mountains back in 1947 that was only found a few years ago. This is wilderness.

Details: Waypoint #11, Dinky Peak, #12 Ski-hill, #13 back on trail, #14 Turn to Elsay Lake, #15 Peak 1, #16 Peak 2, #17 Peak 3. We'll write out the waypoints, Datum WGS84, and soon we'll place the track and waypoints in a downloadable G7TOWIN file.

W 010A 10U 503733.6 5468274.8
W 011 10U 503669.9 5468845.2
W 012 10U 503956.4 5469313.2
W 013 10U 504085.1 5469482.0
W 014 10U 504642.1 5470385.8
W 015 10U 504269.9 5470512.3
W 016 10U 504088.5 5470862.9
W 017 10U 504023.0 5471181.5

By Posted By: Peek Seekers - Sun Jun 20 01:47:10 EDT 2010 Upside close to town, this hike offers a little bit of everything. serene hike through west coast forests, clambering over rocks and one of the most spectacular 360 degree views of Vancouver and surroundings; and all that for a 2 hour hike to the 3rd peak! Downside haven't found one yet! Winter or Summer, it's always satisfying. Comment I've been on this (my) mountain most likely a hundred times, and never have regretted one minute of it.

By Posted By: trailrunner - Sat Jul 25 18:34:27 EDT 2009 Upside Absolutely fantastic beautiful view on clear day; except the Vancouver side I was amazed by depth & range of rugged looking glacier mountains ranges. One fellow I met at the peak said he stayed overnight. I didnâ??t ask but the night view of Vancouver must have been majestic; the view is better angled than from Grouse or Cypress or even Seymour ski lifts.
Makes a great trail running after work.
Downside Route not clearly marked and I got strayed more than dozen times.
Route rather dangerous with some very steep crawling ups/downs or one scary cliff before the third final peak.
Often this route is recommended by people/books as beginner because of short route and small vertical rise but I donâ??t think so for above downside reasons. In fact if there is mist at the peak I strongly discourage from beginners to go there as it can be quite dangerous. Also watch for the north side cliff at the peak.
Comment (Time to the first peak(turn off point)38mins, to the top peak 54mins, 10mins rest at the top, lost in the way ?mins. 1:48 min total return trip from parking at Seymour ski hill to the third peak, including rest time and strayed time at the path.)

I followed a road-looking path in the skill hill directly behind the map/notice board station from the parking at the Seymour ski hill. Often there were different paths/roads branching out but they looked more like a roundabout way so I took what I thought of as a fastest route. - but sometimes there are well cleared paths branching off without any sign to explain. At the beginning the path was wide but often lots of small rocks made it hard to run. Later path went past the ski hill area after turning left at some small concrete box building and became more like normal high volume mountain path which is more comfortable to run although there were some rocks.

This continues till you reach the turn off to get to Pump Peak(first Seymour peak). There is a small green sign here but I could not see the turn off path and kept going downhill for a minute or so. Please beware.
Here you have reached the treeline area and route gets more quite confusing. After the first peak there is a small climb down (30m or so?)and up for the second peak, then the same for the between second & third final peak.
Sometimes there are plants then it is easy to follow the route but some rock only area path marking made by yellow square tag etc is not always easily visible. The fact there seemed to be several branched off paths which often(but not always)get back together later makes it even more confusing. Lost few some minutes here and there as I got lost. There are some small alpine puddles and dried up ones and looked pretty with background of some rocky Seymour peaks and stunted conifers. Some section in the climb at treeline area are not quite runnable & requires crawling.

The top is rather unclear with bunch of rugged protruding rocks but can accommodate a quite a large people. It occurred to me that Seymour mountain top area is quite similar to Coliseum mountain over the valley.
On the way back was very difficult to run with speed due to large number of small rocks.

By Posted By: Rambo - Fri Jul 25 18:51:49 EDT 2008 Upside Views and nature. That says it all. Downside None if you consider what and where Seymour is. Yes it will be packed, yes it will be worth it. Comment This is one of the best place to go alone, with your family or anybody you know. If you have one day to show what is BC, Seymour is. It's almost untouched. In winter you will always find a place to be alone and a place to climb. Some 1500cm of snow in 2008?? It's worth every bit of it.

By Posted By: mountseymour - Sun Feb 26 17:51:44 EST 2006 Upside easy access with marvelous views from the first and third peaks Downside too many people!
and going up the face of the first peak can be a very scary experiance Comment stay away from this mountain!
ITS MINE!

By Posted By: Kmarshall - Sat Sep 25 21:16:24 EDT 2004 Upside Wow can you belive it the scenery the mountains the views the chipmunks,squirrels,pheasants,deer,whisky Jacks. The view breathless. Amazing too many words to describe beauty. WOW Downside A bit crowded can be steep in places. But who cares it is worth doing Comment The dogs and us had a wonderful time. It goes up aways and then flattens out small little lakes or ponds along the way. City view incredible. 360 degree view amazing. It is a must.

By Posted By: taiyo - Tue Aug 10 13:38:13 EDT 2004 Upside Such an awesome city escape that can be done is less than 4 hours. Deer, quail, chipmunks, year round snow, and sicko views of the mountains to the east. Downside Not many -- a mossie or 2 Comment I bring my dog on this hike and he loves it. It's challenging and feels like you are doing a bit of mountaineering as you summit the peak!

By Posted By: fandabidozi - Mon Jul 19 12:52:32 EDT 2004 Upside Pretty good work out but not too difficult Downside We were there on the 10th July and we had crap weather. The visibility was about 20m so at the top and much of the way up there was nothing to see. On the way down as it got into the afternoon the pesky bugs appeared! Comment Would do this trail again to get to see the view from the top. I was surprised to see so much snow in July and the trek is quite varied. Best thing of all was seeing a bear (the first since I've moven to Canada)

By Posted By: toad - Fri Jul 04 17:13:40 EDT 2003 Not Rated Upside The best North Shore destination (IMO) Downside Bugs Comment Alpine playground effortlessly attained

By Posted By: chefcarl - Wed May 21 15:40:38 EDT 2003 Not Rated

By Posted By: kimg - Thu Jun 13 14:17:52 EDT 2002 Upside Beautiful views, close to the city, but you feel like you are away from it. Downside Snow in the late spring. Comment Nice hike, excellent on a sunny day.

By Posted By: mountaingirl - Fri Jun 07 01:35:45 EDT 2002 Upside close, easy access, beautiful views, good workout Downside people and bugs in the summer Comment I love doing this hike in the winter. Summer is beautiful too but winter is spectacular!