Hiking Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge in North Vancouver
Contents
Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult (Moderate from the gondola)
Distance: 15.10Km (7.5km from the gondola)
Elevation Gain: 1,190m (415m from the gondola)
Highest Elevation: 1,349m
Average Gradient: 15.76% (11.06% from the gondola)
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Moderate
Time Needed:
– Slow: 6 – 8 Hours (3 – 4 hours from the gondola)
– Moderate: 5 – 6 Hours (2 – 3 hours from the gondola)
– Fast: 4 – 5 Hours (1.5 – 2 hours from the gondola)
Dogs Permitted?: No
Season: Year-Round
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°21’27.0″N 123°04’55.9″W
Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge Overview
Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge are two of the more difficult snowshoeing options on Grouse Mountain. Accessed via the popular Snowshoe Grind from the Grouse Mountain Resort, this is a well trafficked, clearly marked, resort managed trail, making it a solid option for somebody relatively new to snowshoeing.
That being said, of all the mountains on the North Shore, Grouse Mountain typically sees fewer snowshoers due to the fact you can’t drive to the top of the mountain, unlike Cypress and Seymour. You either have to pay a high fee and take the gondola up and down, or face a difficult hike up from one of the many trails leading up Grouse Mountain.
Not being one to pay the absurd gondola fee, we opted to hike up the Lower Grouse Mountain Highway and the Simic trail in order to reach the resort, before setting off on the hike to Dam Mountain and Thunderbird Ridge. While the hike here is rated as difficult, that’s largely because of this decision. If you were to take the gondola up and down this would be a pretty moderate hike at around 7.5km and 415m elevation.
Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge are also summer options but they are typically brief stopovers on route to the nearby Goat Mountain and Crown Mountain at that time of year, both of which are closed in the winter.
Maintaining this website requires a significant investment of both time and money, if you find this website a useful resource, please consider making a donation using this button.
Is Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge worthwhile?
Thunderbird Ridge & Dam Mountain are a worthy visit under a variety of circumstances. If you are willing and able to take the gondola up you get some nice views for relatively little effort. Since this is a managed trail there is also a low avalanche risk, making it a good choice for somebody new to winter hiking.
If you are hiking up from the bottom of Grouse Mountain this is a long and difficult hike, and the payoff likely isn’t as good as some other options of similar or easier difficulty like Hollyburn Peak or Pump Peak. We tackled this on a truly miserable day when there were no views anywhere, so making a comparison isn’t that easy
This is definitely a great option if you want a steep hike to keep your fitness up. I wouldn’t have this hike high on my list on a bluebird day, mostly because the effort / reward of this hike isn’t the best and I’m not willing to spend so much on a gondola when I can hike up. Overall this is worth it under the right circumstances though.
I do feel my opinion is skewed due to the poor weather and zero visibility we had though. I’m sure on a clear day this is a really nice hike.
How difficult is the hike to Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge?
If you’re hiking from the bottom of Grouse Mountain like we did this is a pretty challenging day, with a fairly significant elevation gain and a steep average gradient. If you’re taking the gondola up and starting from Grouse Mountain it’s a pretty moderate hike attainable for most abilities.
Technically it’s a straightforward hike. The Lower Grouse Mountain Highway is a rugged trail so careful footing is required. Once in the snowline it’s all simple stuff.
Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge Route Information
There are multiple starting points for a hike to Dam Mountain and Thunderbird Ridge. You could either begin the hike at the top of the Grouse Mountain gondola, or you can hike up via one of the many routes up Grouse Mountain like the BCMC or Grouse Grind (Note: The Grind will be closed in winter). Since we hiked up via the Skyline trail and Lower Grouse Mountain Highway, that’s where I’ll start this. If you’re taking another route to the top of the gondola, scroll down to where the trails meet up at Grouse Mountain resort.
The parking for the LGMH / Skyline trail is at the northernmost point of Skyline Drive (see coordinates). There isn’t a lot of parking here but you can park on the street to an extent as well. I’d recommend an early start either way.
From the parking lot you will follow the road past the gate and immediately come to a junction with two roads going left. You’ll want to take the second junction as this soon becomes the trail. This is actually a short section of the Baden Powell trail, though you’ll only stay on it briefly. After a very short distance you’ll come to a road you need to cross. There is a rough man made trail up a steep bank after crossing this road, or you can go right and the road loops around.
Up the steep bank there will be two trails, one is the Lower Grouse Mountain Highway and the other is the Skyline trail. Either will get you up to Grouse Mountain but we opted to take the Skyline trail up and the Lower Grouse Mountain Highway down. I’d advise the Lower Grouse Mountain Highway each way as I found the Skyline trail was poorly marked and not always easy to follow, while the LGMH was well marked, a more moderate gradient and quite a nice trail.
Since we did the Skyline trail up we took the left trail. I won’t go into too much detail here as the trail is largely uneventful. It’s a moderate grind up through the forest with a faint track on the ground to follow. There are no markers on the trees so you need to be wary of where you’re going and a map will be useful for you if you get off course. There are actually two Skyline trails, one is a straight grind up a rocky trail where the old Grouse Gondola used to be, and just next to it is a trail in the forest on dirt and roots. The latter is the more comfortable choice with more pleasant footing.
The gradient will be moderate but consistent. This is nowhere near as steep as the BCMC or Grouse Grind, but it’s still challenging. After around 2.5km into the hike the LGMH and the Skyline trail will converge where the Screaming Eagle chairlift is. From here you can either just walk up beneath the chairlift to the resort (only when the ski season is over), or you can take the Simic trail as we did. This is just to the left of the chairlift and climbs back into the trees. The Simic trail will run next to the ski run and soon enough it will join with the very end of the BCMC trail, where you will now likely begin to see some traffic. Continuing on the BCMC trail you will very shortly be at the lodge.
From Grouse Mountain Resort
If you took the gondola you’ll now be in the same place as those who ascended via one of the hiking options uphill.
From the Grouse Mountain Resort main entrance, head to your left and follow signage for the Snowshoe Grind as this is the trail that connects to Thunderbird Ridge and Dam Mountain. In the summer this will be heading towards the Grizzly Bear Habitat. The trail will begin on the left of the Greenway Chair, before dropping down and running along the Peak Chair.
Once you’re at the Grizzly Bear Habitat the trail will veer left, looping around to the west side of Grouse Mountain proper. On a clear day you’ll get some nice views to the west from here, no such luck for us, we could barely see 10m ahead.
Once you’re out of the resort the trail is easier to follow and well marked with poles to both Thunderbird Ridge and Dam Mountain. The trail will continue from the north side of Grouse Mountain and up until now it’s been mostly simple from the resort.
This is where I suspect the Snowshoe Grind now gets its name from. The next 600m or so will be quite the steep ascent, climbing almost 150m. At the end you’ll come to a junction where going right will continue to Thunderbird Ridge and keeping straight will head up Dam Mountain.
Heading right, in around 300m you’ll reach another junction where going right will lead down the ridge. Going down the ridge will actually descend a little bit, steep at first then mellow towards the end. Along the way you will get some excellent views of Crown Mountain, Goat Mountain, Grouse Mountain and many others. Unfortunately we had absolutely zero views on the day we went.
After soaking in the views, should you be luckier than us, return back up the ridge to the junction, this time going right and continuing on the loop to approach Dam Mountain from the north side. This again will be well marked and offer some good views of Crown Mountain, but it’ll be quite steep throughout. From the summit you won’t have a whole lot of views, they’re mostly obscured by trees, but you’ll get some glimpses of Burrard Inlet and some mountain ranges.
You can now descend down the other side of Dam Mountain and complete this loop by re-joining the Snowshoe Grind back to the Grouse Mountain Resort, which is a fast paced downhill. From the resort you simply retrace your steps via whichever route you took up. We descended via the Lower Grouse Mountain Highway back to the car.
When should I hike Dam Mountain & Thunderbird Ridge?
Personally I’d only consider Dam Mountain and Thunderbird Ridge as an interesting option in the winter. In the summer there are far better views to be had elsewhere, even in the same area just by continuing a little further to Goat Mountain or even Crown Mountain if you’re up for a challenge.
That being said if you are just looking for something quick after taking the gondola ride up to Grouse Mountain Resort, Dam Mountain and Thunderbird Ridge are good options in the summer too.
Top Tip
I personally liked taking the Lower Grouse Mountain Highway and Simic trail up Grouse Mountain, they were far easier than the BCMC or Grouse Grind. If you want to make this much easier and don’t mind paying for the gondola, by all means do so.
If you want a nice quiet day, hike up Grouse Mountain before the resort opens and you’ll probably have the entire place to yourself.
