50+ Transit Friendly Hikes Near Vancouver

Brunswick Mountain

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One of the main reasons Vancouver is such a beloved city is because of its close proximity to the mountains. In under an hour you can easily find yourself deep in the forest or climbing up a peak, and while owning a car certainly makes this easier, there are plenty of hikes in and around Vancouver that are accessible via transit. Below is a list of 50+ hikes that are transit accessible from Vancouver, with a quick description on how to get there. 

While the below transit routes provide one way to reach each hike on transit, it’s important to do your own research as everyone’s route will be different depending on where you’re starting from. Some routes may also be seasonal (summer only), so check transit schedules before you commit to anything.

Transit Friendly Hikes in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park

Me on the summit of Mount Burwell

Lynn Headwaters Regional Park is a very popular spot for hikers thanks to its access to a number of trails all starting from the same trailhead. Thankfully this means one transit route gives you several hiking options, so if you can get here you have a bit of choice for what hike to do. 

To transit to Lynn Headwaters, take bus 210 from Downtown Vancouver to McNair Drive & Ramsey Road in North Vancouver. Walk the Baden Powell Trail through Mountain View Park, connecting to Lynn Valley Road, and follow it to the parking lot. There are many hikes from this parking lot, with the most popular trails below:

  1. Lynn Loop (5.50km, 190m)
  2. Lynn Peak (12.00km, 1,019m)
  3. Norvan Falls (16.00km, 300m)
  4. Coliseum Mountain (21.90km, 1,314m)
  5. Mount Burwell (24.30km, 1,471m)
  6. Hanes Valley (16.00km, 1,210m) (This is a one-way hike ending at Grouse Mountain. You would need to transit back to Lynn Headwaters at the end)

Transit Friendly Hikes in Buntzen Lake

The one and only viewpoint on the Diez Vistas trail

Buntzen Lake is another very popular outdoor recreation destination, with parking often filling up quickly on a sunny summer weekend. Even if you have a car, some people may prefer to take transit if they don’t want to participate in a race for parking.

Translink offers the 179 seasonal bus that operates on weekends and holidays from Canada Day weekend through to Labour Day. The 179 departs from Coquitlam Central Station and takes riders to the main parking area for Buntzen Lake. 

Outside of the summer, the 182 bus operates from Port Moody Centre Station to Anmore daily. The closest stop to the lake is stop #53245, Southbound Sunnyside Road at Anmore Grocery Store. It is a 2 km walk to the main parking area and South Beach. Follow signs that direct pedestrians to South Beach.

Some popular hikes in the Buntzen Lake area are:

  1. Buntzen Lake Loop (10.50km, 300m)
  2. Diez Vistas (12.70km, 630m)
  3. Halvor Lunden (Eagle Ridge) Trail (13.80km, 1,027m)

Transit Friendly Hikes in Belcarra Regional Park

Jug Island on a dreary day

Belcarra Regional Park is another popular summer destination right next door to Buntzen Lake, again offering several nice trails for all abilities. It’s technically feasible to combine a trip to Buntzen Lake and Belcarra Regional Park as there are trails connecting the two together. 

Bus 150 runs seasonally from Coquitlam Station to White Pine Beach from late April to early September. Check the Translink website for times and dates of operations. Another option is bus 182 from Port Moody Skytrain Station to the Belcarra Regional Park stop.

Some popular hikes in the Belcarra Regional Park area are:

  1. Jug Island (6.00km, 256m)
  2. Belcarra Bluffs (5.50km, 290m)
  3. Sasamat Lake (9.30km, 220m)
  4. Sugar Mountain (7.00km, 380m)

Transit Friendly Hikes in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve

Rice Lake Floating Dock

The Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve is a popular spot that can fill up quickly thanks to it’s closeness to a number of simple hiking trails, with parking filling up early on a sunny weekend. To transit there, take bus 210 from downtown Vancouver to Underwood Avenue and Evelyn Street in North Vancouver, then walk over to the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve Parking lot via Evelyn Street and Rice Lake Road. 

Popular trails from this trailhead are:

  1. Lynn Canyon (4.00km, 170m)
  2. Kennedy Falls (9.50km, 430m)
  3. Mount Bishop (9.00km, 1,265m) (Bicycle required)
  4. Rice Lake (7.25km, 200m)

Transit Friendly Hikes on Grouse Mountain

Summit of Crown Mountain overlooking a cloudy Vancouver

Grouse Mountain is famed for the Grouse Grind, but there are plenty of other hikes in the area, with the option of taking the gondola up to Grouse Mountain Resort, making some of these much easier.

To transit to Grouse Mountain, take the 246 bus from Downtown Vancouver, getting off at Grouse Mountain. Alternatively you can take bus 232 from Phibbs Exchange. Some common hikes from Grouse Mountain include: 

  1. Grouse Grind (2.30km, 780m)
  2. BCMC Trail (3.10km, 789m)
  3. Thunderbird Ridge (6.00km, 277m) (Starting from the top of the gondola. You can optionally hike up the Grind or BCMC instead)
  4. Goat Mountain (7.20km, 371m)  (Starting from the top of the gondola. You can optionally hike up the Grind or BCMC instead)
  5. Crown Mountain (9.20km, 866m) (Starting from the top of the gondola. You can optionally hike up the Grind or BCMC instead)

Other Transit Friendly Hikes in Vancouver

The lighthouse as seen from East Beach

All of the hikes above allowed several different hikes from a shared trailhead. The below list provides other individual hikes that are popular and transit friendly from Vancouver:

  1. Lighthouse Park (5.80km, 270m) – Take bus 250 from Downtown Vancouver, get off at Marine Drive & Beacon Lane, then walk down Beacon Lane into the park.
  2. Brothers Creek (10.20km, 475m) – Take bus 254 from Park Royal, getting off at Eyremount Drive and Crestline Road. Walk up Crestline Road, then Henlow Road, then Millstream Road to the trailhead.
  3. Capilano Canyon (6.00km, 225m) – Take bus 246 from Downtown Vancouver to Capilano Road & Woods Drive, change to bus 236 and get off at Nancy Greene Way & Prospect Avenue.
  4. Mount Fromme (10.30km, 884m) – Take bus 246 from Downtown Vancouver to Montroyal Blvd & Delbrook Ave. Walk east down Montroyal Blvd. and Rockland Dr., then north up St. Georges Ave. Alternatively, take bus 230 from Lonsdale Quay to E. Braemer & St. Georges Ave., then walk up St. Georges Ave. to the trailhead. 
  5. Quarry Rock (4.00km, 205m) – Take bus 212 from Phibbs Exchange to Panorama Drive & Naughton Ave. in Deep Cove. Walk north on Panorama Drive to the trailhead.
  6. Whyte Lake (6.70km, 310m) – Take the 250 bus from Downtown Vancouver, getting off at Marine Drive & Westport Road. Walk up Westport Road to the trailhead. You can also hike to West Knob and Eagle Bluffs from this trailhead. 

Transit Friendly Hikes from Lions Bay

Brunswick Mountain

Lions Bay offers numerous high quality (yet difficult) hikes, yet suffers from insatiable demand with little parking available. Transit is potentially a good option even if you have a vehicle. To reach Lions Bay, take bus 250 from Downtown Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay, then take bus 262 from Horseshoe Bay to Lions Bay. Walk up Bayview Rd, then Mountain Drive to the trailhead on Sunset Drive.

This is perhaps one of the best transit accessible trailheads from Vancouver, with a number of fantastic hikes on offer:

  1. Tunnel Bluffs (12.50km, 500m)
  2. Mount Harvey (12.10km, 1,420m)
  3. Brunswick Mountain (15.10km, 1,550m)
  4. The Lions (16.00km, 1,500m)
  5. Hat Mountain (18.00km, 1,500m)
  6. Erin Moore Trail (8.00km, 615m)

Transit Friendly Hikes on Bowen Island

One of the viewpoints on the way to Mount Gardner

Bowen Island is an easy to access island from the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal, even as a walk on passenger. To reach Bowen Island, take bus 250 from Downtown Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay, then take the Bowen Island Ferry. 

The two main hikes on the island are reachable on foot from the ferry terminal, but a bicycle would help if you have one as it’s a bit of a walk to the trailhead from the ferry.

  1. Mount Gardner (9.70km, 685m)
  2. Killarney Lake (4.10km, 102m)

Transit Friendly Hikes in Garibaldi Provincial Park

The Black Tusk as seen from Panorama Ridge

In the summer there is a Parkbus service from Downtown Vancouver to the Rubble Creek Trailhead in Garibaldi Provincial Park, which offers access to a number of very popular hikes. Make sure to check the Parkbus schedule on their website for information on pickup/dropoff times and locations. Some of these hikes are long, so be sure you are able to finish your hike in time to be picked up for the return to Vancouver. You may want/need to book this as an overnight trip by camping at the lake and taking the bus back the next day.

The most popular hikes from the Rubble Creek trailhead are as follows:

  1. Garibaldi Lake (18.00km, 850m)
  2. Panorama Ridge (31.00km, 1,600m)
  3. Mount Price (32.00km, 1,725m)
  4. The Black Tusk (28.50km, 1,750m)

Transit Friendly Hikes in Golden Ears Provincial Peak

Me on the summit of Golden Ears looking towards Mount Robie Reid and Judge Howay

In the summer there is a Parkbus service from Downtown Vancouver to the Gold Creek parking lot in Golden Ears Provincial Park, which offers access to a number of different hikes. Make sure to check the Parkbus schedule on their website for information on pickup/dropoff times and locations. 

The most popular hikes from the Gold Creek parking lot are as follows:

  1. Alouette Mountain via West Canyon (9.30km, 1,181m)
  2. Evans Peak (10.30km, 925m)
  3. Gold Creek Falls (5.80km, 165m)
  4. Golden Ears Peak (26.00km, 1,780m) (Might require an overnight due to the time restrictions from taking transit)
  5. Canyon Loop (15.60km, 560m)
  6. Mount Nutt (10.60km, 1,088m)

Transit Friendly Hikes near the Sea to Sky Gondola

Me on second peak

The Squamish Connector offers a shuttle service from Downtown Vancouver to the base of the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish. As well as the gondola itself, there are a few different hikes in this area, some from the base of the gondola and some from the top of the gondola. 

Base of the Gondola

  1. The Chief (6.10km, 772m)
  2. Slhanay Peak (6.90km, 685m) (This will require a bit of a walk from the gondola parking lot to reach)
  3. Slhanay Peak & the Chief Traverse (16.00km, 1,325m)
  4. Sea to Summit Trail (8.00km, 935m)

Top of the Gondola

  1. Al’s Habrich Ridge (6.80km, 409m)
  2. Peak 1,632 (11.40km, 845m)
  3. Sky Pilot Mountain (15.00km, 1,195m) (Advanced route with glacier crossing & exposed scrambling)

Transit Friendly Hikes in Whistler

The Spearhead Summit, Circle and Decker Lake behind

There are several shuttle bus services that operate buses from Vancouver to Whistler, however they may not be very feasible for day hiking as the drive is long and the below hikes are time consuming. If you plan to visit Whistler for hiking I would advise doing so as an overnight trip given the time restrictions that these shuttle services have. While the shuttles run year-round, all of the below hikes are only accessible in the summer once the ski season is over.

All of these hikes are feasible without using a gondola, though many people opt to use a gondola to reduce the difficulty.

  1. Russet Lake (26.20km, 800m)
  2. Whirlwind Peak (36.00km, 2,200m)
  3. Overlord Mountain (39.60km, 2,636m)
  4. Blackcomb Peak & The Spearhead (10.90km, 814m – Assumes you use the gondola)
  5. Decker Mountain (13.00km, 926m – Assumes you use the gondola)

Transit Friendly Hikes in Joffre Lakes Provincial Park

Middle Joffre Lake

In the summer there is a Parkbus service from Downtown Vancouver to the Joffre Lakes parking lot in Joffre Lakes Provincial Park. Make sure to check the Parkbus schedule on their website for information on pickup/dropoff times and locations. 

  1. Joffre Lakes (7.40km, 491m)
  2. Tszil Mountain (17.00km, 1,300m) (Might require an overnight due to the time restrictions from taking transit)

Cars Still Help

While there are clearly quite a few options for hiking in and around Vancouver using only transit, doing so is usually pretty inconvenient, sometimes expensive and often requires long travel times. Unfortunately there are also little to no transit options for some excellent hiking areas in the region as well. There are no transit options for reaching Mount Seymour and Cypress Provincial Park on the North Shore, nor are there options for the Chilliwack River Valley, Manning Park, the Coquihalla Recreation Area nor Pemberton. Washington is another fantastic region for hiking that will be out of reach without a vehicle

While the above list is certainly a solid one, if you are able to get access to a vehicle (either your own or carpooling with friends), the amount of hiking options you have increases considerably. Even if you can just rent an Evo or another car share for the day, your options increase a lot.