Swan Falls Viewpoint Hike

April 14, 2019,

On this wet and soggy day, 14 of us headed on an adventure to Swan Falls at Buntzen Lake. We thought the weather was going to hold out for us on this day but lucky for us, it started down pouring once we hit the steep part of the trail. Classic Lower Mainland weather!

Swan Falls is actually part of the Halvor Lunden trail; which is a loop trail that takes about 10 hours to complete. However, you can take a shorter ‘out and back’ route to the falls that only takes 3.5 hours to complete. This route is accessed by starting on the east side of Buntzen Lake trail (from the main parking lot) and switching to the Halvor Lunden trail from North beach.

Hiking along the Buntzen Lake trail is the easier part of the trek. It is also quite beautiful as you are walking along the lake the whole time. You can access the start of the east side of the trail by cutting through the dog park at the main beach by the restrooms. Take this trail until you have made it to North Beach. To find the Halvor Lunden trail from North beach you need to head north a short distance up the gravel road first and then the trail will start on the right side.

Once you have switch to the Halvor Lunden trail you are in for a steep hike up to Swan Falls. This part is not easy to hike in the pouring rain; especially the part where you have to use a wire like rope to get up. Avoid using this if you can in the rain as it’s slippery and hurts the hands.

Trail map at North Beach

The start of the Halvor Lunden Trail aka Swan Falls trail.

There are a couple of viewpoints that you will reach. The first one you will come out to is part of the falls and looks out to Buntzen Lake. The second viewpoint is a nice view of the top of the falls flowing down.