3 Terrific, Tough Hikes in North Vancouver

A trio of epic challenges, all within easy reach of downtown Van.

Charlie Boscoe

Images

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Looking out towards runners peak. Creative Commons: No Derivatives
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The view of the Howe Sound and the lions from the summit Creative Commons: No Derivatives
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Great views of the lions on the way up Creative Commons: No Derivatives
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The service road up to the trail head Creative Commons: No Derivatives
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The alpine meadows with beautiful views of Howe Sound Creative Commons: No Derivatives
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Coming back from the summit Creative Commons: No Derivatives
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Looking up the Christmas gully at Strachan

by Tam McTavish

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Looking down the Christmas Gulley from halfway. It's lot's of creek rubble. Creative Commons: Attribution
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Heading back along the St Marks trail

by Tam McTavish

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Down climbing the upper section of the Christmas Gulley, beneath Strachan's summit

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Summit of Hollyburn

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Steeper trail near the summit of Hollyburn

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Looking towards Strachan and the Lions from Hollyburn

by Tam McTavish

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Plane crash on the side of Mt Strachan

by Tam McTavish

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Heading up the Hollyburn trail from the carpark

by Tam McTavish

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View from the sub-summit of Strachan to the true summit.

by Tam McTavish

Creative Commons: Attribution
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Licence Free

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Strachan Summit, looking towards Bowen

by Tam McTavish

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Descending the Strachan subsummit

by Tam McTavish

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Scrambling up easy slabs just beneath the true summit of Strachan

by Tam McTavish

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Summit of Strachan

by Tam McTavish

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The last section of the sub summit of Strachan passes near the chairlift. Creative Commons: No Derivatives

Description

When wandering around Vancouver city centre and harbour, it's impossible to miss the mountains which tower to the north, high above Howe Sound. There are plenty of easy strolls in the hills north of Vancouver (check out our guidebook to them here - https://fatmap.com/guidebooks/92822/the-best-day-hikes-around-vancouver/@49.2881213,-123.1422031,13712.2719864,-24.3499343,0,7.7193880,satellite) but in this guidebook you'll find a series of much tougher challenges.

Mount Harvey's Southwest ridge is the furthest north of the routes, and involves a physically hard, steep climb followed by an easy and breathtakingly scenic scramble. The route is even possible in winter for those with avalanche training, snow shoes, ice axes and a sense of adventure!

Not far to the south of Mount Harvey lies Hollyburn Mountain, home in turn to our route "Hollyburn-Strachan Loop". Sometimes done as a trail run (but more commonly as a hike) the route is an adventure regardless of how quickly you travel. There's some scrambling involved, and the route findings isn't always obvious - this is a real challenge despite its remarkable proximity to the largest city in western Canada.

The final route in here - the trip up Mount Seymour - is similar in that the scrambling is pretty easy, provided your route finding skills are good enough to always locate the line of least resistance!

Tick these 3 off and you'll be ready for the many tougher challenges which lie deeper into British Columbia!

Adventures