Lynn Peak - Lynn Headwaters Regional Park

Lynn Peak - Lynn Headwaters Regional Park near Vancouver, BC

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This trail was given a rating of 4 out of 5 stars

7 kms
4hours
difficult
Hiking
Spring, Fall, Summer
Vancouver, BC

mwiebe

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This is a great hike that is every bit as good a cardio workout as the Grouse Grind, but far more scenic (and less crowded). I can't figure out why more people don't do it. To get to the trail-head, take the Lynn Canyon exit just off the UppeLevels Highway in North Vancouver. Then you take Lynn Valley Road past the turn-off to Lynn Canyon Park (you have to go past it). Follow the GVRD signs into Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, turning east into Peters Rd, off Lynn Valley Rd. Once you walk into the park, there should be a board with trail maps and any park warnings in effect.Walk a little further and cross the wooden bridge off to the right (be sure to check out how clean and refreshing that raging water looks!). Then, follow the Lynn Loop trail (you have to walk up a gravel road for a short way first) and a little while later the Lynn Peak Trail will bear off to the right (there is a little bit of climbing involved before you get there). For the first 45 minutes to an hour it's pretty steep going. The first lookout offers a great view of Seymour Mountain.

Once you have reached the first lookout, the really hard work is done (but not completely). From that point, you head into some fantastic old growth forest (I believe it's even called the Enchanted Forest). It is simply breathtaking and the terrain rises and falls quite gently (so your heart can slow down a bit from the big climb you just did!). This part of the hike is really fun as terrain varies quite a bit from the previous part. The trail is really well maintained and marked so it's pretty tough to get lost.

There are a few more nice lookouts along the way, but once you actually get to Lynn Peak, the view is breathtaking (Burrard Inlet and the Seymour Demonstration Forest). At this point you have worked hard to get here so take a load off and have some lunch (you deserve it) - plus this just happens to be a great place for lunch. Total elevation at the top is about 930 meters.

To get back, just re-trace your steps back down the trail - and watch those knees coming down! Round trip takes about 3 - 3.5 hours (including a break at the top).

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By Posted By: LucasL - Fri Mar 08 20:30:22 EST 2013 Upside Definitely more interesting for me than the grouse grind. Easy to find your way.

Downside Does there have to be a downside. the only downside would be bad company. hahahahaha

Comment Was gonna do this as a snowshoe but turned out I didnt need them. The snow was so well compacted by people doing it often.

By Posted By: L&L - Fri Nov 02 23:53:22 EDT 2012 Upside Like many hike trails, it can be made into more of a cardio workout by simply pushing faster to ascend. Also, not as popular as other trails so if you start early enough you can do it without running into anyone else, or just a few people - just the way I like it.

Downside The first half is very rocky, ranging in size from tennis ball to volleyball; it's not fun, hard to ascend very quickly because you are very aware that a broken ankle is a slip away. The so-called Enchanted Forest could only be "enchanting" to those who don't get out to nature very much.

Comment I do this occasionally since it is close, and many people who start out from the parking lot do not go up Lynn Peak but head for the other trails that the area offers. So it's pretty quiet; but it is rather boring as a hike. If you can do this one, then leave home a little bit earlier and just try the Chief instead.

By Posted By: gofishyfishy - Sat Jan 14 00:36:59 EST 2012 Not Rated Question Or does it get snowy there?

ANSWERS are in this forum: Anyone do snowshoe this?

By Posted By: goaroundglobe - Tue Oct 25 22:27:20 EDT 2011 Upside Within city limits, lots of parking, good workout

Downside Gets busy on the weekend, difficult to find actual trailhead the first time. No 360 views at the top. Some areas can be very slippery on rainy day.

Comment Overall, this is a good short hike to get your hart pumping, but it won't be my first choice for a day hike. Two early viewpoints really have nothing to see and the top is very limited on views. The trail itself is very nice in the way that it gets you sweating with just a few flats all the way to the top. 4 hours return is a very generous estimate. Most people will do it in three hours or less. There are no signs to get to the actual trail head. As soon as you cross the bridge from the main parking lot, turn right and continue for about 10-15mins until you reach first fork. Take left here and follow the trail until you see the Lynn Peak sign. This is where it really starts and keeps going up :). We posted more pictures on our website with more details and impressions: goaroundglobe.com

By Posted By: groovytreehugger - Sun Sep 18 12:26:07 EDT 2011 Not Rated Upside Nearby. Not busy. Year-round. Dog friendly. An alternative to the Grouse Grind. Good cardio training route for more challenging hikes. Short hike can be be started late afternoon. Chipmunks to entertain you at the top ; )

Downside Boring. Can't catch a sunset as it is East/South facing. Mosquitos at top. Staring at the ground - need to be vigilant especially in first quarter of loose rock bed - wear hiking shoes. Vista is just ok.

Comment Good hike close-by to keep your cardio strong. Yes it's an alternative to the Grind - if that's your thing - and it's great that it's not busy. People don't do it more because it's boring! - at least on the Grind the people watching and view make it more interesting. Because of that it feels like more work than it is......this is one where I wear headphones and do b/c it's the perfect work out for my dog :D

By Posted By: Roxanne - Sat Nov 06 19:01:35 EDT 2010 Not Rated Upside Can see do this during most of our west coast season. Close to home for many and only about a 3 1/2 round trip hike.

Downside Not much to look at when you get to the top.

Comment Went last week, found plenty of water during this time of the year. Can see this as a good trail to start your hiking season and work up the muscles for more difficult trails. Also as an end of the season trail when some of the back country trails are very wet or covered in snow.

By Posted By: granolapher - Tue Aug 31 19:13:28 EDT 2010 Upside Close to Vancouver, without the crowds that the Grouse attracts

Downside No water, not much to look at until you reach the summit.

Comment A little boring, but good if you're just looking for some activity

By Posted By: Dangergirl - Sun Jul 18 14:44:08 EDT 2010 Not Rated Upside Close to Vancouver. A good, short workout. Nice view of the city.

Downside Pretty boring trail, no access to water

Comment Completed this trail July 11/10. I had it in my head that I wanted to complete this hike in under 3 hours. I reached the peak in 1 hour 42 minutes. I had a good pace the first 45 min, but then slowed. I donâ??t like the rocky parts of this trail, really easy to slip and go flying, hard on the feet, even with hiking boots. I spent 35 minutes at the peak and headed back down. I planed to make it down in under an hour. I just made it in 59 minutes. All together with my rest at the top I was out about 3 hours 16 minutes

By Posted By: jearsy - Sat Jun 05 22:55:34 EDT 2010 Upside Nice views on the top and the hike isn't that long

Downside The trial has a lot of rocks which makes it easier to roll your ankle if you don't have the proper footwear.

Comment I have done this hike as well twice now and the second time that I did it, mind you it was in March, there was still snow on the top. Because of the snow the trial for the last few kilometers was all but gone (covered up) and we were just following the footsteps of the previous hikers who were before us.

By Posted By: paulo.82 - Fri May 21 15:24:45 EDT 2010 Upside Nice view at top, fresh air, no stairs to go up (like the grind) and it was not busy.

Downside loose rocks are slippery when wet.

Comment Steep climb with loose rocks at the beginning is not very fun, but it gets better half way up. I did it last month, April 2010, and still had lots of snow at the top, which made it way colder than at the bottom (and slippery). But a beautitul trail with the snow. Took me around 1:30h to go up and 1:00 to go down (with lots stops to take pictures).
I thought it would be longer though, and get higher up the mountain. But it's an excellent hike, quiet and fresh. Going again and again this summer.

By Posted By: incredimike - Tue Mar 30 01:18:33 EDT 2010 Upside Great Cardio, nice view of the city, not terribly busy.

Downside Intermediate and Challenging designations should be switched on the map. The first 1/3 is a killer hike up a very rocky trail, but once you make it to the ridge, it's smooth sailing.

Comment Make sure you do yourself right and hike all the way to the summit, not just the peek lookout.

By Posted By: trailrunner - Fri Sep 04 23:17:38 EDT 2009 Upside
Very easy access from residential area. Far less people than near-by city parks etc during the weekday afternoons, yet you get to taste a bit of high elevation forest. Nice city view from the top. Reasonable incline for continued uphill running. It makes a good quick pre-dinner work out run instead of pavement road work. Wide very visible trail. Clear signs & markers.

Downside
There is a considerable amount of various sized loose round-ish rocks on the trail, notably at the mid elevation of the trail. Although there is a â??narrow solid rock-free path within the trailâ??, you will need to step aside when you pass people. When you are taking running downhill amount of rocks makes it difficult to speed up.

Comment
(Lynn Headwaters parking gate to Lynn peak 45mins, return trip 32mins. Total time took to go & return 77mins, excluding 5mins rest at the top. Fast technically superior runner should be able to do 35mins uphill, 25mins down hill)

You cross the bridge immediately after the parking gate and turn right. There are some other trails to divert but all marked clearly. The wide car road like trail turns into rooty path in few minutes, then after turning into Lynn peak trail you will encounter increasing amount of loose tennis ball to volleyball sized roundish rocks on the path. They look as if someone placed the trail and you cannot pick up a speed on uphill. By the time you hit the first ridge and mini view then there would be less of rock problems. Incline gets sometimes gentler and nice flat sections appear from time to time.

Soon you will see a yellow tag with 840m written on it and you know the peak is almost there. The peak rather suddenly â??appearsâ?? and surprise you with a view of the city, pretty much like that of from Grouse mtn. There are three or four sections where you get the view along the way, otherwise you are under somewhat dense mostly second growth forest.

Down hill is straight forward except you cannot pick up a pace unless you are technically skilled trail runner because of loose rocks despite the fact it is almost all downhill.

By Posted By: jeffvm - Sat Jun 13 20:39:31 EDT 2009 Upside Enough cardio for a week. Closer and less busier than the Chief in Squamish. I suppose there is a nice view at the top, but it was fogged in when I was there.

Downside When I want a mountain vista, I'd rather it not be overlooking a city. That said, it was foggy, so I saw nothing. But I knew what was out there ;)

Comment The Lynn Headwaters trail map marks the first quarter of the trail as 'intermediate', and the remainder 'challenging'. If you reversed those designations, I'd agree. The first quarter is a heart-pounding climb up the ridge in what amounts to a dry creekbed. It's steep and unrelenting, but it will end. This section puts you on top of the ridge. After that, the trail has some flat spots (thankfully), but will also have some short, steep climbs in between. A few remnants of snow at the peak on June 6, but it'll be gone in no time. Pesky bugs at the peak. The peak was fogged in, but the clouds were visibly blowing through the forest, which was pretty neat.

Going down can be tricky. Rough on the ankles and knees.

The hike took 2.5 hours. I was hauling ass though. Posted time says 4.5 hours.

By Posted By: annewalk - Tue Oct 14 16:11:41 EDT 2008 Not Rated Upside Nice view up top

Downside The rocks and the bugs

Comment This trail was a tough one for me but I had a lovely sense of accomplishment once I reached the top!

The rocks were harder to deal with going down than up and I slid a couple of times in them. The bugs at the top were relentless!

Good workout and easy to get to made this trail a good pick for me. A few more hikes like this one and I'll be ready to try out a big summit!

By Posted By: Rambo - Fri Apr 11 16:47:51 EDT 2008 Upside Good training for harder trails. Challenging. Lonely.

Downside In the winter in the middle of the mountain it was pure ice, but got to the top in pure snow and in one piece. Fell on my ass couple of times climbing down, or should i say sliding down. But man it was challenging !!

Comment If you want real hiking and you are allergic to gravel roads, that's a good start. Keeps your blood pumping.

By Posted By: ChrisO - Tue Sep 25 03:11:46 EDT 2007 Upside good cardio work out. No bugs in mid-september

Downside not sure I would call the views killer, or the forest that enchanted. A few big trees, but they are more the exception than the rule.

Comment This is a good work out, as you can see from the other reviews, and if that is all you're looking for, you will be well rewarded. However, if you're looking for truly spectacular views, I would recommend you try Mount Unnecessary, the Lion Heads, Crown Mountain or Colosseum mountain before this one. There are a few very large trees on this hike that are worth mentioning, and whilst this hike is far less crowded than most in the Lynn valley, you are unlikely to be alone on this ridge.
A rough flagged trail continues on past the first Lynn Peak, passing numerous other small viewless Lynn peaks towards the needles. This trail is very overgrown, and whilst clearly flagged, it should only be attempted by the most stubborn and more seasoned hikers. Inked on flagging tape early on are the words "hellish trail". Though it wasn't nearly that bad, it is still hard to recommend it.

By Posted By: Prospero - Tue Jul 24 14:46:32 EDT 2007 Not Rated Upside Dog Friendly, not crowded, good cardio, gorgeous old growth forest

Downside Loose rocks

Comment Can't comment on the view as we were all fogged in.
Worth doing again on a clear day to check out the view.

By Posted By: evgenykravchenko - Sat Jul 21 23:56:02 EDT 2007 Upside not as crowded, good cardio, ok views, well marked

Downside hard on the knees when coming down

Comment Average hike. A hike that you would do once and never again, ok views of the city.

By Posted By: mattntia - Thu Dec 28 21:43:15 EST 2006 Not Rated Upside dog friendly, great view from the top, not busy, well marked

Downside loose rocks

Comment a great walk if you have a few spare hours. good for the dogs as well. view from the top was incredible.

By Posted By: michaelyblam - Tue Aug 29 13:03:49 EDT 2006 Upside Relatively accessible, less traffic than the Grind.

Downside Less cardio demand than the Grind. Loose rocks, not too interesting forest and restricted views from view points!

Comment Definitely not as rewarding as I thought. Just a one dimensional view point at the top.

By Posted By: Elly - Mon May 15 12:48:38 EDT 2006 Upside Not too difficult - much easier than the grind! The view at the top is quite nice too. Can see Mt Baker.

Downside Slippery stones coming down. A bit hard on the old knees.

Comment Easily accessible, but don't know if I'd do it again, it wasn't THAT spectacular.

By Posted By: arsenalfanbc - Mon Nov 28 23:00:44 EST 2005 Upside A good workout when higher longer trails are still snowed in, of training for a big hike, close to vancouver

Downside Nothing spectacular to see. forest is unremarkable, views are ho-hum and the "summit" is just mearly a ledge with an average view

Comment Those who want a far superior view, hike to mt seymour. it is only an hour longer and provides a nice 360 deg. view. with this trail there simply was nothing worthwhile to see. if you want stunning view try almost any other northshore peak, better yet try garibadi

By Posted By: arsenalfanbc - Mon Nov 28 22:52:45 EST 2005 Not Rated

By Posted By: vpigeon - Mon Oct 24 22:05:33 EDT 2005 Upside Viewpoints, good cardio workout

Downside A twisted or broken ankle waiting to happen

Comment Hiked this again on Sat Oct 22, 2005. Part way up, my wife (who suggested we do this hike again) remarked as to why she didn't like this trail: too many rocks and roots. It does however have its very nice stretches, and 3 good viewpoints. Just be prepared for the very rocky parts.

By Posted By: opus - Mon Oct 03 01:27:15 EDT 2005 Upside A few nice viewpoints and a forests to stroll through. Good cardio workout similar to the Grind.

Downside The grunt up at the beginning is loose and slippery.

Comment Too much concentration is needed going up and down on watching your footing that I really didn't get to lift my head up. Although the views are nice (aren't all of them from the NS Mtns), they aren't that spectacular. Effort vs. reward trade-off on this hike is not as high as many others on the NS.

By Posted By: mike_joyce89 - Sat Jul 09 00:55:31 EDT 2005 Upside 5 minute walk from my house!

Downside All mountains have a downside, tee hee.

Comment Yeah I live in Timber Ridge, that group of houses above Lynn Headwaters, so it takes me 5 minutes to walk to this trail. Fairly remote too. It's nice.

By Posted By: dogbreathcanada - Thu Jun 09 23:09:32 EDT 2005 Upside Fairly nice view and lunch spot at the top.

Downside Far too rocky and loose. It's an ankle injury waiting to happen.

Comment Can't see myself hiking this one again ... unless for geocaching reasons.

By Posted By: mountaingirl - Wed Jun 01 17:13:51 EDT 2005 Upside easy access. good workout.

Downside totally boring trail. annoying ankle twisting footing. boring forest trail. the view is average at best.

Comment Sorry to be a downer but if you think this is a great trail with spectacular views you really need to get out more. Better than the grind but unless you just want a workout, go to Seymour. WAY nicer.

By Posted By: skirly - Mon Apr 04 19:13:32 EDT 2005 Upside nice varied terrain, lots of fun running back down on the flatter (not rocky) parts.

Downside snow on the last 1/4 in early april (which also is very beautiful) and saw some large animal prints on the trail.

Comment great short hike, close to the city.

By Posted By: fandabidozi - Mon Jul 19 12:47:26 EDT 2004 Upside Excellent views and its not very crowded

Downside A bit rocky coming down, the misses slipped over about four times (lol)

Comment The trek was much harder than we expected but rewarding given the view from the top. We went yeaterday which was a hot afternoon and really didn't take enough water with us. That said there was a park warden checking to see if people were OK throughout the trail

By Posted By: ashisharunsharma - Sun Mar 28 20:55:50 EST 2004 Comment Deserves to be rated difficult

By Posted By: hobbit - Mon Jul 28 02:57:43 EDT 2003 Upside Great view.

Downside Very rocky.

Comment Took me 4.5 hrs

By Posted By: cate - Fri May 30 18:26:10 EDT 2003 Upside the cardio, if you can call that an upside, not crowded and lovely
lovely views once the top is reached

Downside BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment enjoyed this very much, is a goooooood workout.

By Posted By: Marco in BC - Sat Nov 30 19:38:32 EST 2002 Upside The viewpoints at the top are really, really worth it. There is also a little bit of probably old growth forest, some really nice trees

Downside *lots* of rocks (towards the bottom) & roots (towards the top)

Comment Just back from this hike, actually, it was a lot of fun, and definitely not crowded as some others. The first half is a bit 'boring', but things really pick up in the second, with big trees galore and some killer viewpoints. Highly recommended, and beware the loose rocks coming down!

By Posted By: alexk - Tue Jun 04 13:04:35 EDT 2002 Upside Viewpoints

Comment I havn't been on this one for a few years, but I remember it being more interesting than Grouse.
It is a relatively short hike, and therefore is good for a workout.
But my preference of the warm-out before the big hikes still goes to Bowen Island

Lynn Peak - Lynn Headwaters Regional Park

Lynn Peak - Lynn Headwaters Regional Park near Vancouver, BC

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