Hiking Mystery Lake & Peak in Mount Seymour Provincial Park
Contents
Mystery Lake & Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 4.80Km
Elevation Gain: 255m
Highest Elevation: 1,230m
Average Gradient: 10.62%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Low / Moderate
Time Needed:
– Slow: 3 – 4 Hours
– Moderate: 2 – 3 Hours
– Fast: 1.50 – 2 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: July – October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Mystery Lake & Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°21’59.8″N 122°56’53.7″W
Mystery Lake & Peak Overview
Mystery Lake is a popular swimming hole located in Mount Seymour Provincial Park, with the nearby Mystery Peak offering some decent views on a clear day. When combined, this makes for a short, relatively straightforward hike, albeit with some moderately steep sections throughout.
As noted, Mystery Lake is a very popular place to go swimming in the summer, with easy accessibility from the parking lot at the top of Mount Seymour Road. The lake is very scenic with crystal clear water, and has a few rocky islands in the middle that swimmers can swim to/from.
Mystery Peak is a low summit and offers some modest views of Vancouver on a clear day. That being said, the views are nowhere near as good as other nearby peaks, like Pump Peak or Mount Seymour. Still, it’s a worthwhile stop and adds a different dimension to the hike to the lake.
In the winter this hike will be inaccessible as ski runs will take over this part of the mountain, not that many people will be interested in hiking to a snow covered lake anyway. Mystery Peak actually houses the top of the Mystery Peak Express chairlift and again will be inaccessible to hikers in the winter.
With that said this hike tends to be traveled between July and October, when snow has left the region. Certain sections of the hike can be particularly muddy, so decent footwear is recommended. As with any hike to a lake, bugs can be fairly incessant in the early-mid summer, so bug spray is strongly advised if going at that time.
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Is Mystery Lake & Peak worthwhile?
As a short and simple hike to a scenic lake, Mystery Lake certainly fits the bill, especially if you’re looking for a swim on a hot summer day. Mystery Peak doesn’t offer a whole lot of value on its own, but you might as well add it to the hike if you’re going anyway.
A seasoned hiker likely would not bother with this hike given there are much better options in Mount Seymour Provincial Park alone, but it’s a good option for somebody new to hiking, or perhaps for families or dog walkers. An idea to make the hike more interesting is to add De Pencier Bluffs, or even combine this with Pump Peak or Mount Seymour.
How difficult is the hike to Mystery Lake & Peak?
At less than 5km this is a pretty short hike that can be completed quite quickly, but it’s not all smooth sailing. The average gradient is over 10%, meaning it has its challenging moments for sure, especially for a beginner, which this hike tends to attract. You’ll certainly be out of breath in sections. Overall though, due to its short length and fairly low elevation gain, I’d have to consider this a fairly easy hike.
Technically speaking the hike is quite straightforward, with the only potential challenge being the muddy terrain you might encounter on the eastside of Mystery Peak.
Mystery Lake & Peak Route Information
Similar to most trails beginning in Mount Seymour Provincial Park, parking for this hike is at the upper parking lot at the very end of Mount Seymour Road. Since this is a summer only hike parking should be readily available, though it certainly can be very busy on a sunny summer weekend.
After parking you will want to head to the northern tip of the parking lot where there will be an information board. This is where the trail begins. Just before you reach the junction to Dog Mountain you should see a trail leading off to the right, bypassing Loch Lomond and under the Mystery Peak chairlift and into the treeline. This is the Mystery Lake trail.
The trail now begins to climb at a modest gradient, remaining much the same most of the way to the lake. The trail is wide, spacious and mostly rocky under foot. You’ll be in and out of trees much of the way. After around 1km of hiking you’ll reach a small lake with a little boardwalk along its edge, where the next couple of hundred meters will be mostly flat.
Soon you will enter the treeline where the gradient picks up fairly markedly, climbing somewhat steeply for the last few hundred meters towards Mystery Lake. You’ll now be at the south side of the lake, a mere kilometer or so from the trailhead. Some people might simply stop here, go for a swim in the lake and head back to the trailhead, but if you are intending to go up to Mystery Peak you have a choice of either going clockwise or counterclockwise around the lake in a loop. It doesn’t really matter which way you take, so let’s go counterclockwise.
Following the shore of the lake there’ll be a few spots to relax and take photos, but you’ll quickly leave the shores and head back into the treeline. After some tight maneuvering through some trees on a narrow trail, you’ll soon hit the muddy section of the hike. The trail passes very close to a creek, leaving the area damp, and with the high footfall the trail naturally becomes muddy for most of the year. Most of the trail around the eastside of Mystery Peak is the same until you reach the north side of the peak. Once you reach the north end of the peak you’ll pass a junction to Brockton Point, but just continue on the loop, which will soon join a gravel road. After following the gravel road briefly you’ll pass by a junction on your left that climbs up towards Mystery Peak. This trail is steep but very short, and in no time you’ll be at the peak.
The views from the peak are somewhat average, with the best views towards Vancouver. You’ll be able to see Pump Peak to the northwest as well. After exploring the area you head back down the gravel spur and back onto the main gravel trail. You’ll continue traveling counterclockwise on the Mystery Lake loop, working your way past the westside of Mystery Peak, before reaching the southside, back to Mystery Lake.
You will now have completed the loop around the lake / peak and the remainder of the hike is simply following the same trail back to the trailhead that you took on the way to the lake.
When should I hike Mystery Lake & Peak?
The main season for Mystery Lake / Peak is July to October, when the lake should be thawed and the region mostly free of snow. Outside of these months you may encounter some snow and the lake may be partially/entirely frozen. When the ski resort is operating this hike is inaccessible.
Top Tip
Prepare to encounter some mud throughout the season, and bug spray will likely be beneficial in the early-mid summer.
Bears are common in Mount Seymour Provincial Park, so it might be wise to hike in a group and carry bear spray, especially if you’re going to be one of the first hikers of the day.
More adventurous parties might want to add on De Pencier Bluffs or even Pump Peak / Mount Seymour to make for a longer but far more rewarding day.
