GROUSE MOUNTAIN
BCMC & Grind
3 - 3.5 km | 790 m | 1 hour
The Grouse Grind is a popular Vancouver tourist destination, which frankly I don’t get. It is no walk in the park and you will find tourists in flips flops, carrying designer handbags, huffing and puffing on their way up. For this reason, we much prefer the BCMC which provides a slightly longer route, but with less people and the same elevation gain. We also prefer the rugged trail with its switchbacks over the stairs that lead you up the grind.
Hands down this is the best bang for your buck from a workout perspective. Whether you’re pressed for time or it’s pouring rain, you can always rip up the mountain and be done in under 90 mins, including your skyride down. You will always feel the burn no matter how many times you do it and how fit you are.
Jet Boy
8 km | 900 m | 3 hours
If you have time for a longer adventure or don’t want to pay for the sky ride, you can make your way back to your car by walking down. Since we like loops we like coming down Jet Boy which runs parallel to the Skyline Trail and is also the site of a US Airforce F-86 Sabre Jet crash that happened in 1954. This trail will hit the Baden Powell which then leads you back to the Grouse parking lot.
Goat Mountain
7.5 km | 400 m (from Lodge)
Some days the BCMC just isn’t enough. You still have energy, it’s a nice day, you’re not ready for your workout to be over, so you keep going. There are two trails that lead you up towards Damn, Goat and Crown Mountains. The Ridge Trail takes you via Damn Mountain, while the Alpine Trail bypasses it heading straight to Goat. Damn Mountain isn’t worth the climb and the Ridge Trail isn’t maintained well, so if you are headed to Goat, take the Alpine Trail both ways as an out and back.
Little Goat Mountain may appear on the map, but it isn’t actually anything worth stopping for. Once the Alpine Trail ends, head towards Goat Mountain. From here the trail becomes quite steep in certain spots. Put away your poles and get ready to scale some rock walls gripping onto chains.
We never went past the Goat Mountain viewpoint, but you do have the option of keeping going on the Goat Ridge Trail.
Thunderbird Ridge
On your way back down from Goat, if you still have some energy in the tank and time on your hands, head out to Thunderbird Ridge. It’s about a 2 km out and back from the Alpine Trail. On a clear day you will have full views of the city below and the peak of Grouse above.
All the Peaks
12.5 km | 1,355 m | 5.5 hours
One day we had time and the weather was nice so we hiked it all - BCMC, Damn Mountain, Goat Mountain, Thunderbird Ridge and took the tram back down.
Please note that we did run into 3 bears along the way. They don’t want to see you any more than you want to see them, but you need to be prepared. We’re always talking and we both have bear bells on our packs and bear spray just in case.
