Hiking Mount Windsor in the North Shore Mountains
Contents
Mount Windsor Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 21.70Km
Elevation Gain: 1,665m
Highest Elevation: 1,689m
Average Gradient: 15.35%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Moderate
Time Needed:
– Slow: 8 – 10 Hours
– Moderate: 7 – 8 Hours
– Fast: 6 – 7 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: Very brief, simple, unexposed scrambling
Mount Windsor Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°32’42.1″N 123°14’25.5″W
Mount Windsor Overview
Mount Windsor is a peak adjacent to the popular Howe Sound Crest Trail, sitting slightly north of Cypress Provincial Park and east of Deeks Lake. While many people hike along the Howe Sound Crest Trail, few bother to ascend Mount Windsor, despite the fact a trail leads the entire way to the summit.
Mount Windsor is far less popular than many other peaks in the area, namely Brunswick Mountain, Mount Harvey, Hat Mountain and the Lions, so if you are looking for a quiet outing, this might fit the bill nicely.
The trail begins in Porteau Cove and is well marked and easy to follow for the most part, especially along the Howe Sound Crest Trail. Once you reach Deeks Lake it becomes a little more rugged, but still easily manageable. The final climb from the saddle between Deeks Peak and Mount Windsor is a little more involved with some simple, unexposed scrambling, and should be manageable for all.
This is a long hike with fairly significant elevation gain, and some people may choose to tackle it as an overnight hike, camping at Deeks Lake the day before. Still, it’s a perfectly manageable hike as a day trip, with many people even opting to add on an ascent of the nearby Deeks Peak since they’re already in the area. It is also a year-round objective, making for a decent winter outing for those willing to tackle the long approach.
There are not a lot of views throughout the hike as it is almost entirely in the treeline, only poking out for the final 100m or so. From the summit, though, you will have some excellent views of Brunswick Mountain, Gotha Peak, Hat Mountain, the Howe Sound, Deeks Peak, Capilano Mountain, Mount Garibaldi and Sky Pilot to name some.
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Is Mount Windsor worthwhile?
The views from the top of Mount Windsor are undoubtedly great, however it’s a huge effort to get there with little to see along the way. The trail practically starts at sea level and is an almost endless slog in the tree line with no views of note. Deeks Lake is the only meaningful respite along the way. While the views from the summit are very nice on a sunny day, I can see why Mount Windsor is nowhere near as popular as other summits in the area, notably Brunswick Mountain, the Lions and Mount Harvey. These peaks require a similar amount of effort, and the views from the top are far superior, mostly because they have staggering views of the Howe Sound, while Mount Windsor does not.
While the views from the summit of Mount Windsor are good, there are better to be had, and this hike is let down by the excruciatingly long trudge to get there.
How difficult is the hike to Mount Windsor?
Physically speaking this is obviously a hike with a significant amount of elevation gain. While the average gradient isn’t the steepest, the first couple of kilometers are fairly flat, then the rest of the hike is a consistently steep grind. You’ll have some respite once you reach Deeks Lake, but thereafter the trail is again quite steep for the remainder of the hike. That being said, there’s no point of the trail that is excessively steep, it’s more of a constant and relentless ascent.
Technically the hike is fairly straightforward as well. The trail up to Deeks Lake covers the Howe Sound Crest Trail and is very easy to follow. You’ll likely need to do some light bushwhacking by the lake as the trail is overgrown in places, before again climbing up to the saddle between Deeks Peak and Mount Windsor. Up to this stage the hike is well marked and easy to follow, but from the saddle you basically have to find your own way to the summit, which is fairly straightforward. There is some simple scrambling at times, but for the most part it’s a ridgeline hike. You should never really be faced with any exposure anywhere on the hike.
Mount Windsor Route Information
The hike begins at the popular Porteau Cove Road Lookout. Depending on the time of year and when you go, this parking lot might be quite full, even in the early morning, with overnight campers staying at Deeks Lake, or elsewhere along the Howe Sound Crest Trail. As such an early start is recommended if you’re going on a sunny summer weekend.
The trail passes through a locked gate and climbs gradually on a wide gravel road. After a few hundred meters you will cross a bridge over Kallahnee Creek, which is a fairly scenic little creek. A few hundred meters further along and you will hit a junction in the trail, where you will want to continue straight, along a now narrow trail in dense forest.
There is really not a lot of note on this plod, so it’s best to keep the pace up. If you’re lucky and you time it like I did, the trail will be dotted with foxgloves, which added a bit of glamour to an otherwise boring trail. The next kilometer of the trail is now completely flat, which may seem nice, but all it means is the elevation will all have to be gained over a shorter distance.
At around the 2km mark the gradient picks up again, and around the 4km mark you’ll enter Cypress Provincial Park. Here the trail begins a steep ascent and changes from a gravel track to a rough forest climb. The trail now continues to climb steeply, staying north of the roaring Deeks Creek.
As you continue along the trail, the closer you get to Deeks Lake the rougher the terrain becomes. You’ll soon be clambering over roots and rocks adjacent to the rushing Deeks Creek, and just as you approach the final climb up to the lake you will have a nice view of the falls coming from the lake.
In around 1km you will finally reach Deeks Lake, at which point I would advise taking a break and going down to the lake for a snack, some photos and optionally a swim. The Howe Sound Crest Trail continues counter clockwise around the lake, but you will want to follow the Windsor trail going clockwise. This was pretty overgrown when I was there and took a little finding, but once you’re on it it’s easy enough to follow.
Soon enough you’ll reach the northern end of the lake where there are some nice photo opportunities, before crossing a small boulder field and continuing the climb, now back in the forest. The trail here should still be fairly easy to follow and it should be well marked.
The next 1.5km is a fairly steep grind, ascending around 400m in the forest up to the saddle between Deeks Peak and Mount Windsor. The trail is faint but it should be simple to follow and well marked the whole way to the saddle. There’s not a lot to see, so just grind it out as fast as possible.
Once you reach the saddle between the peaks, the markers become inconsistent and the route less obvious, especially if you have snow on the ground like I did. Still, it should be a fairly straightforward approach as long as you have a map. You simply follow the ridgeline leading towards the summit, with some very simple scrambling and no exposure. The views will continue to open up as you ascend, especially towards the Howe Sound and behind you towards Deeks Peak.
After following the ridge for a few hundred meters you’ll reach the final summit block. This will require some more simple scrambling on solid rock with no exposure. Finally you’ll now truly be able to appreciate the views, unless like me you were mostly clouded out. Still, it’s obvious the views from up here would be great on a clear day, and given the amount of effort to get here I strongly advise sticking around for an hour at least before heading back down!
When should I hike Mount Windsor?
Mount Windsor is potentially a year-round hike, apparently making for a nice winter outing. That being said, it’s a pretty huge hike at the best of times, especially in deep snow, so my suggestion is to avoid winter and aim for late spring or early summer when there will be some snow around but not enough to cause issues. Obviously all of summer and fall work just fine too. Just make sure to time it for a categorically sunny day, as this is a long, arduous hike to do only to end up in the clouds like me.
Top Tip
The summit was very buggy in early summer, so do take bug spray if you plan to go then. Poles are also recommended as this is a long hike. An early start would be advisable given the popularity of the parking lot, with many hikers staying overnight at Deeks Lake or somewhere along the Howe Sound Crest Trail. If you are going when there is snow on the ground, micro spikes are recommended at least.
