Hiking the Abby Grind in Abbotsford

 3/5

Abby Grind Hike Information

Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 3.50Km
Elevation Gain: 438m
Highest Elevation: 454m
Average Gradient: 25.02%

Effort/Reward Ratio: Moderate / Low
Time Needed:
– Slow: 1.50 – 2.50 Hours
– Moderate: 1 – 1.50 Hours
– Fast: 0.75 – 1 Hours

Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None

Abby Grind Trail

Trailhead Coordinates: 49°04’49.5″N 122°09’37.1″W

Abby Grind Overview

The Abby Grind is a popular hike in Sumas Mountain Regional Park, Abbotsford, often compared to the Grouse Grind in Vancouver. Despite the comparisons, the Abby Grind is significantly shorter and less steep than the Grouse Grind, coming in at around 438m elevation gain versus the Grouse Grind at around 780m. The Abby Grind has an average gradient in the 25% range, while the Grouse Grind average gradient is over 40%.

Still, the Abby Grind is a challenging hike that will leave even experienced hikers breathing heavily throughout. The entire hike follows a dirt trail steeply up, with the odd flat sections sprinkled throughout allowing hikers to catch their breath. The trail is sign posted with completion markers (¼, ½ etc.) to indicate to hikers how far they have come.

The average ascent time for the hike is likely somewhere around the 45 minutes to 1 hour mark, though fit parties can usually bring this closer to the half hour mark. Trail runners can be even quicker, with some coming in under 30 minutes for the climb up. The descent is obviously much faster, likely taking half the time it took to ascend. All in all the average person should probably budget in the region of 1.50 hours to complete the hike round trip.

As for the hike itself there isn’t a lot to see until you reach the viewpoint at the end, which offers a reasonably nice view over the valley below. Some parties may choose to continue on to Taggart Peak following the obvious trail, which adds another 7km round trip to the hike. Taggart Peak does not offer much of a view, so it is not a very popular trail.

The Abby Grind is a year-round hike, however in the winter there may be times snow/ice covers the upper portions of the trail. After periods of rain the trail can become very slippery due to the compacted dirt trail, and combined with the steep gradient things can get tricky quickly. Poles and even microspikes might be worthwhile in these conditions.

The Abby Grind is pet friendly.

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Is the Abby Grind worthwhile?

 3/5

For most people the Abby Grind is more of an outdoors workout than a hike to a nice viewpoint. Many people complete the hike repeatedly to try and improve their time or generally maintain their fitness. While the view from the top is reasonably decent, there are certainly better hikes out there if views are what you want.

How difficult is the hike to Abby Grind?

With a 25% average gradient this is obviously a steep hike, however it’s also very short. Most parties can expect to be at the top within an hour or so. While it’s certainly challenging during the ascent, given the shortness of the hike, and the fact beginners can and do complete it regularly, it’s hard to consider this a difficult hike in the greater context.

Technically speaking the hike is quite straightforward, with the only issue potentially being how steep certain sections are. In dry conditions this shouldn’t be much of an issue, but if it’s wet the trail can become quite slick from the mud. Descending may be hard on the knees/quads due to the steepness. The trail is easy to follow.

Abby Grind Route Information

The trailhead for the Abby Grind is from a gravel parking lot on Lakemount Road (see coordinates). There is plenty of parking here for lots of vehicles, and even if full you can likely park on the side of the road easily. Note that the trailhead is directly adjacent to a firing range, so don’t be alarmed if you hear gunshots in the area. Once you get going, the trail veers away from the area and you shouldn’t hear the shots after a short while.

From the parking lot, the trail into the forest is quite obvious, and once on the trail there aren’t really any junctions or decision points along the way. There are a couple of points along the hike where hikers can choose different routes, but the trails always re-connect further up, so whatever you choose doesn’t really matter.

The trail starts off a little narrow before opening up as you progress further along. In little time you will reach the first marker indicating ¼ completion, after which there’s a bit of a flat section to catch your breath on.

The trail will once again begin to climb up one of the steeper stretches, but soon enough you’ll reach the halfway marker. There really will not have been any views at all, so it’s just a case of taking your time and moving at a consistent pace.

Shortly ahead you’ll soon reach the ¾ marker, after which the trail splits, giving hikers the choice of which way to go. Going right is a bit steeper and shorter, and going left is longer but less steep. Whatever you prefer works fine.

The trail will reconnect just before you reach a signpost indicating a viewpoint to your right, with a trail to Taggart Peak to your left. Going right, just ahead you will reach the viewpoint and the end of the trail. You’ll find yourself on a rocky bluff overlooking Abbotsford and the surrounding area. There’s a bench here, though if it’s busy I wouldn’t rely on it being available.

To return to the trailhead you simply retrace your steps back down. If you are intending to continue on to Taggart Peak there is actually a connecting trail leading directly from the bluff. You don’t need to go back to the earlier junction to reach the Taggart Peak trail. Keep in mind that the Taggart Peak trail is significantly less busy, far narrower and somewhat overgrown. The views from Taggart Peak are not great, hence it’s not very popular.

When should I hike the Abby Grind?

You can really hike this whenever you choose, I would just suggest avoiding going when it is particularly wet as the trail will be a slippery mess in those conditions.