Hiking Evans Peak in Golden Ears Provincial Park
Contents
Evans Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 10.3Km
Elevation Gain: 925m
Highest Elevation: 1,120m
Average Gradient: 17.96%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Moderate / Moderate
Time Needed:
– Slow: 5 – 7 Hours
– Moderate: 4 – 5 Hours
– Fast: 3 – 4 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: Not much, you’ll have to climb a roped rockface towards the end with a small drop.
Evans Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°19’38.5″N 122°27’45.9″W
Evans Peak Overview
Evans Peak is a classic short, steep hike situated in Golden Ears Provincial Park, offering impressive views of Alouette Mountain, Blanshard Peak, Edge Peak, Mount Nutt, Mount Crickmer, Mount Robie Reid, Alouette Lake and more from its relatively small summit.
While Evans Peak itself is actually pretty low at just 1,120m elevation, the views from this peak are quite impressive and almost 360 degrees.
This is one of the better hiking options if you are looking for something short and sweet that will get the heart racing for a few hours, yet still offer worthwhile views. A quick person can knock this off in well under 4 hours, meaning you can easily finish this hike and be home for lunch if you start early.
If you’re feeling more ambitious you can also combine this hike with an extended hike to Alouette Mountain. I haven’t approached Alouette Mountain from this route, but I’ve heard it’s a bit of a scramble up a boulder field so be careful if going when there’s snow on the ground. That being said had I done things differently I’d definitely combine Evans Peak and Alouette Mountain together into one hike as I’m a two birds, one stone kind of guy.
If sticking to just Evans Peak, expect a steep forest grind for pretty much the entire hike, with an average gradient of almost 18%.
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Is Evans Peak worthwhile?
Depending on your expectations Evans Peak is absolutely worth it. The views are great considering the low elevation summit, so if you are looking for something quick with easy access and nice views at the end, this ticks all the boxes.
Due to its lower elevation, Evans Peak is also a good option in the shoulder season when higher peaks will be snowed in.
How difficult is the hike to Evans Peak?
Evans Peak has somewhat of a reputation for being a ridiculously steep grind. While it is definitely quite steep at almost 18% average gradient, I actually found this hike perfectly manageable and far easier than other hikes of a similar gradient. Perhaps I was just feeling fresh the day I hiked it, but it never seemed obnoxiously steep and I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I got to the top.
Technically speaking this is a fairly easy hike to follow. You will need to be careful with footing due to the steepness and loose forest terrain, and spikes are recommended for shoulder season as ice will make this miserable in just hiking boots. Towards the end of the hike there is a roped section that requires some climbing up a rock face. This is pretty brief and not exposed to a significant drop, perfectly manageable for most hikers but just be warned if that’s something you might get unstuck by.
Evans Peak Route Information
The hike to Evans Peak begins at the West Canyon parking lot in Golden Ears Provincial Park. The trail begins at the west end of the parking lot and quickly cuts back on itself. Immediately you will be provided with an opening in the forest and a view of Evans Peak off in the distance. Soak it in as it will be some time before you see it again.
You’ll continue on the West Canyon trail for around 500m before taking a left following a sign for “Viewpoint Trail” and entering the forest. I should note I didn’t see a single signpost that said “Evans Peak” on this hike so make sure to bring a map.
Anyway, delving deeper into the forest the trail becomes a bit more rugged but should still be easy to follow. The gradient is mellow to begin and follows a few switchbacks as you climb up into the forest. At around the 2km mark you will find yourself on a flat ridge and likely wondering when the real ascent begins as up to now it’s pretty easy.
Keep your eyes peeled though, as the trail to Evans Peak takes a right turn that is very easy to miss. I missed it and ended up walking a few hundred meters past it, it really wasn’t obvious other than a simple orange marker on a tree.
From here on out the trail becomes much, much steeper and remains so for basically the rest of the hike. The trail will start off somewhat well defined though far more rugged than the manicured Viewpoint Trail. It’s your typical west coast forest trail, rocky, rooty, muddy.
As you continue ascending up the steep gradient you’ll realize that most people generally decided what was the easiest path for them, but the general direction is always easy to follow and you should never really need to look at your map to see where to go. The answer is up, a lot.
Between kilometer 2 and 3.5 you climb around 385m, meaning this averages at around 25% gradient (i.e. very steep). This is likely the hardest part of the day and reminded me a lot of the ascent up Mount Harvey. Still, as I mentioned earlier I was prepared for a tough, steep hike, and while I definitely received it, I expected worse.
Up to now you’ve had zero views other than forest. At 3.5km you finally get a viewpoint of Evans Peak, albeit somewhat obstructed. If you’re ascending this in the shoulder season (like me) or even winter, now is about the time you will begin seeing snow/ice. This is a nice place to have a break with some views as the climb begins again shortly after.
The next couple of hundred meters is a nice, albeit short respite, so make the most of it. At around the 3.8km mark you’ll begin climbing (steeply) again and this is around about where I needed to strap on the microspikes as the trail was becoming icier and icier.
Continuing up, in around 500m the trail will split, with one trail continuing on to Alouette Mountain and the other going to Evans Peak. Take note of this if you are combining them both together. Thankfully the gradient eases off significantly here and for around 500m it’s a nice stroll in the forest. You’ll cross a few creeks on this section but nothing big enough to warrant any difficulties. I had to be careful in the snow not to accidentally step into a stream beneath the surface but in the summer it’ll be easy.
At around the 5km mark and 1,000m or so of elevation the trail will essentially be a free for all but you should still be able to make out the general direction as it’s well trafficked. Soon you will reach the hardest part of this hike, climbing up a couple of rocks faces just below the summit.
While this might sound somewhat daunting it was actually a lot easier than it looked, with ropes and plenty of hand and foot holds from the roots of trees to help climb. Still, it wasn’t pleasant with wet rocks and cold temperatures but it was short enough to not be an issue. I was surprised to find a couple with a medium sized dog at the top that somehow made it up this sheer rock face, I’d have liked to have seen how they managed that, but it gives you an idea that if a dog can make it up, you should be fine too.
After this short climbing section the rest of the trail is an easy stroll to the summit. You’ll wander across the ridgeline with ever improving views to your right before eventually breaking out of the treeline completely.
The views from the summit are pretty extensive, with Alouette Mountain, Edge Peak and Blanshard Peak to the west, Alouette Lake and Mount Crickmer to the east and Mount Nutt to the north. As the summit was heavily snowed in when I was there it was difficult to walk out too far as it was quite exposed. In the summer you can likely walk out to the very edge of the peak and get even better views than I had but it’s best to play it safe around steep snow banks so that’s what I did.
After soaking in the views at the top you simply head back the way you came. If you’re heading up Alouette Mountain head to the junction and simply continue up, it’s around another 400m elevation from the Evans Peak trail junction. If heading back down, the descent is obviously steep as well, so be careful if it’s icy.
When should I hike Evans Peak?
For me Evans Peak is a perfect shoulder season hike. It’s not worthy of a beautiful summer day as there are no views until the summit and even then it’s a low summit objective so the views aren’t quite as good as others.
Due to its low elevation it’s a manageable hike even with some snow/ice around. If you are aiming for the shoulder season you might want to attempt Evans Peak in April-June or October – December. I wouldn’t dedicate the prime hiking season of July-September to this one personally.
If you intend to continue on to Alouette Mountain you might want to save this for summer. The steep boulder field up to Alouette Mountain would be very challenging in ice/snow.
Top Tip
If you are aiming for the shoulder season definitely take microspikes with you as steep icy trails can be impassable without. I didn’t need snowshoes and I doubt they’re necessary for most of the year, but there were plenty of people taking them up so if you prefer the added comfort of having them on the narrow summit, go right ahead.
If you want to protect those knees, this is a pole worthy hike for sure.
There is little to no cell service in Golden Ears Provincial Park so definitely take an offline map for this one!
