Wednesday 14 October 2015

Hiking Dog Mountain in Mt Seymour Provincial Park, Vancouver B.C.



by Keith and Heather Nicol
      On Thanksgiving Sunday while on a visit to Vancouver we decided to take advantage of a break in the wet weather to head up to Mt Seymour Provincial Park and check out the Dog Mountain hike. We were joined by our daughter Kristie and her cousins, Ryan and Gillian Nicol as well Maya the dog. On Saturday, October 10 it had rained heavily at times but Sunday dawned with broken cloud so we decided to do a morning hike. Dog Mountain is a short hike of about 2.3 km in length (1 way) and it has little elevation gain so is a popular hike for those wanting an  ½ day trip. There were certainly lots of people hiking this trail on this day and true to its name there were lots of dogs. But keep your dog on a leash since this is a Provincial Park.
The clouds swirled around the adjacent mountains
   To access the start of this trail drive to the top parking lot of Mt Seymour and walk toward the northwest end of the parking lot where the trailhead is located. The trail is well marked and although it starts off looking like it might be an easy walk in the park, it quickly becomes rocky and full of roots with lots of small dips and rises so it is much more of a work out than you might expect.  The trail winds through a lush forest and First Pond before it gets to an impressive lookout which provides views of Vancouver and the adjacent mountains. We enjoyed a snack at the lookout before returning via the same trail. Allow about 2 – 2 ½ hours for the entire hike depending on how long you linger at the lookout. We saw small kids as well as people in their 70’s completing this hike so it will appeal to a wide range of hikers. For more information see http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/mt_seymour/
Gillian, Ryan,  Maya the dog and Kristie at the lookout






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