Crown Mountain Hike

Iconic North Shore Scramble

Hiking Severe

Distance: 14 km
Ascent: 1.8 km
Descent: 1.8 km
Duration: 5-6 hrs

Low Point: 283 m
High Point: 1.5 km
Gradient: 27˚

Crown Mountain is the most dramatic North Shore peak after the lions. Because it's visible from much of the city, it is a fairly popular route. It also helps that you can take the Gondola up most of the ascent. One can approach more directly from the BCMC trail/Grouse Gondola, or up the Haines Valley. The Haines is much longer, and has some tricky route finding at the end.

Description

From the Gondola the route meanders along a road to the ridge that connects Grouse, Goat and Dam mountain. The trail is rocky, but fairly strait forward to follow. At the turn off to Goat the trail descends steeply. In the rain this section is rocky and can be rather hard to navigate. There is a chain on the steepest section. At the Goat-Crown Col it becomes a steep climb, up plenty of slab rock. It is reminiscent of Mt Seymour, but steeper.

This gains the top ridge, and there is a scramble to the true summit only a few meters away.

Difficulty

Severe

Hiking challenging trails where simple scrambling, with the occasional use of the hands, is a distinct possibility. The trails are often filled with all manner of obstacles both small and large, and the hills are very steep. Obstacles and challenges are often unexpected and can be unpredictable.