Hiking the BCMC Trail to Grouse Mountain, Vancouver, B.C.

by Keith and Heather Nicol

  On Saturday, May 7 on a visit to Vancouver we decided to vary our normal hike up Grouse Mountain which is popularly known as the “Grind”. The Grind has become very popular and regularly attracts a steady stream of people who use it for a variety of reasons. Some use it for fitness, others as social activity and others see it as something that you have to do when you visit Vancouver. But starting from basically the same location is a parallel trail developed by the British Columbia Mountaineering Club (BCMC) which is a less busy trail and slightly easier in terms of grade. It has far fewer stairs than the Grouse Grind and is a more “natural” trail. On this hike we were joined by our daughter Kristie and her boyfriend Eric who are regular users of both the "Grind" and the BCMC trail.

Kristie and Eric hiking on the BCMC trail

    The trail is steep in many places, gains 850 meters and is about 3 km in length so bring water on a hot day and wear good footwear. Once on top you can either descend the Grouse Mountain Gondola for a cost of $10 (get your download ticket inside once you finish the hike) or as we saw there were a number of people descending back down the BCMC trail. Some people hike up the “Grind” and then down climb the BCMC route since you are not suppose to head back down the “Grind” due to congestion. To start the trail go to the start of the “Grind” (just off the base parking lot) and then follow signs to the Baden Powell Trail- follow trail for a short distance and then steer left up the BCMC Trail while the Baden Powell Trail keeps right. It is all well sign posted so you shouldn’t get lost. For more information see: https://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/bcmc-trail/ . 

Kristie and Keith at the top