This year was my first year snowshoeing. I could not believe that I had stayed in hibernation all of the other previous winters. The trails look so different in the winter. On a nice sunny day the colours are more vibrant with the blanket of snow covering the trail. Some days of course are not as nice for snowshoeing. There was a few snowshoes I did while it was snowing and this created a white-out blocking any views we would normally see on a clear day. However, it is still beautiful walking in the winter wonderland but you may want to choose a non-view hike on days like these.

The snowshoe hikes that I would recommend doing (that I did this winter) on a nice/clear day are:

Snowshoe Grind and Dam Mountain loop to Thunderbird Ridge on Grouse Mountain

Thunderbird Ridge view

Dog Mountain at Mount Seymour

We almost missed the view this day as the clouds were rolling in fast!

Brockton Point at Mount Seymour 

Unfortunately we missed the view today but it is a similar view as Dog Mountain but with higher elevation

Black Mountain at Cypress

On a clear day you get a beautiful view of Vancouver

Snowshoes that I recommend on any type of day would be hikes to frozen lakes. For example:

Lindeman Lake

Lindeman lake is nice to hike in the winter as it is way less busy than summer.

Lightning Lake at Manning Park

There are many other snowshoeing trails in and around the Lower Mainland. I look forward to exploring some more soon! Some of our mountains have snow on them until June! So you can snowshoe from around November until June at higher elevations. Some people forget how long the snow lasts on some of our mountains and think that just because the weather is warm out that the trails will be snow free in the later Spring months. It is important to do your research before heading up some of the higher elevation trails so that you do not show up unprepared.

Something I learned from a fellow hiker is that you can wear microspikes on your hiking boots on many of the well populated trails instead of wearing actual snowshoes. This can make it a lot easier to hike especially on narrow trails. I used microspikes for all of the trails that I snowshoed in North Vancouver this year as the snow was very compact so I did not have to worry about post-holing.

On trails that get a ton of fresh powder constantly like Manning Park and Mt. Baker (Washington) you will definitely want to wear snowshoes! The time I went to Manning Park, my friend and I had quite the hilarious time hiking around Lightning lake as we did not have snowshoes on. Even the well-populated North shore trails will sometimes require snow shoes if there is a fresh large amount of snow recently. Always do your research before hand!

I would highly recommend getting a pair of microspikes to own. Have these on hand anytime during the winter and spring months just in case (even if you think you are hiking a snow-free trail). If you do not want to buy your own snowshoes than I highly recommend renting from MEC on those days that you know microspikes will not suffice. Their rental rates are $15 for standard snow shoes (good for flat snow shoe trails) and $18 a day for performance snow shoes (necessary for snowshoes that have steep inclines as you will need the heal lift to get up the hills without slipping/falling).

This winter I did not own hiking poles but I have some now for next winter. It is up to you if you want to use hiking poles or not but they can be very helpful for stability up and down inclines.

I look forward to venturing on more snow shoe trails in the future in the Lower Mainland area.

If you are looking for a great spot just across the border for snowshoeing than you must go to Mt. Baker ski area and snowshoe the Artist Point trail! You will need high performance snow shoes for this one as it has some steep sections and a ton of snow! It is very beautiful and scenic. The trail is not marked so I recommend downloading a trail map that you can use offline to make sure you find your way. The park rangers are pretty helpful on helping you find where to get started but they are not out on the trail so it is up to you to know your way once you are on the trail. *All trails has a map of the “Heather Meadows trail to Artist point” that you can download to use offline.

We did not get the view of Baker this day but it is a very beautiful trail and we got to go inside a man-made igloo! So neat! Next time we will go on a clear sunny day!

I hope to see some of you on future snow shoes and hikes!