The Best Day Hikes Around Vancouver

Vancouver has a justified reputation as one of the best cities on the planet to live in. The city itself is bustling and vibrant, with huge diversity, a legendary food scene and endless sporting, cultural and artistic attractions to explore. That's a pretty good package on its own, but the city is perhaps best known for the proximity of incredible natural wonders. Whether it's ocean, forests or mountains you're looking for, all are easily accessible from downtown Vancouver.

In this guidebook we've got 6 hikes for you, all of which are easy - both technically and logistically. They can all be done in a single day from Vancouver (albeit you'll need a car for most of them) and none of them require any mountaineering skills at all.

The trickiest of the hikes to access is the trip up Mount Gardner on Bowen Island, which is reached via a ferry from Vancouver. Getting to Bowen Island and climbing the peak is an effort worth making because it provides you with some fabulous views (which begin from the second the ferry pulls out of Vancouver Harbour) and a satisfying summit in a unique location. Logistically easier options in this guidebook include Middle Needle Peak and St Marks Summit, both of which are beautiful but remarkably close to the city. The other 3 hikes in here are a little further away but are still perfectly feasible as day trips.

If the hikes listed in here sound like fun but you'd like to push things a little bit, check out our guidebook to the classic scrambles of Howe Sound, just north of Vancouver - https://fatmap.com/guidebooks/31451/classic-hikes-and-scrambles-above-the-stunning-howe-sound

Once you've done those routes, and the 6 listed here you'll have seen the very best of what Vancouver has to offer. If you're still keen for more, BC is almost twice the size of France, so you've got plenty left to explore!