Level: Moderate
Distance: 3.9 km
Time: 2 h Elev. Change: 60 m
Season: April to Nov
Map: 92 G/6 & 92 G/7
Access: Bus #229 services the trailhead and can be reached in one of two ways. Cross to North Vancouver’s Lonsdale Quay on the SeaBus and change to the #229 Phibbs Exchange via Westlynn bus. Alternately take the #210 Upper Lynn Valley from Dunsmuir Street next to Burrard SkyTrain station. At Phibbs Exchange change to the #229 Lonsdale Quay via Westlynn bus. Whichever direction you come from get off the #229 at Peters Road and walk east to Lynn Canyon Park.
This section of trail resumes some 2 km from where the last one left off. From the Ecology Centre at the heart of Lynn Canyon Park cross the suspension bridge, pausing the mandatory moment to ogle the frothy tumult below.
Douglas Fir: Though clear-cut during the first decades of the 20th Century, the North Shore’s south-facing slopes have reforested themselves over the past hundred years. Modern hikers enjoy a mature, though hardly ancient, temperate rainforest environment.
From the bridge turn immediately downstream looking for the distinctive Baden-Powell trail markers. Heavy foot traffic in the canyons has created numerous intertwined routes that can be confusing. No need to cross the bridge at Twin Falls unless you require a second gawk at the gorge. After some 25 minutes or so of easy hiking through the floodplain forest you’ll come to a boardwalk over a skunk cabbage patch from which you’ll begin climbing steeply out of the canyon via a series of switchbacks. You have now reached the 2.7 km mark. Once on top you’ll need to cross dusty Lillooet Road and find the trail again some 50 metres to your left [north.]
The end of this section is just 1.2 km further on. Soon you’ll come up on a huge powerline right-of-way beneath the gaze of Mount Seymour. In early summer you’ll likely find plenty of plump huckleberries here but keep your ears and eyes alert at all times since black bears cherish this tart fruit too. Next the trail plunges down a steep staircase to cross a pipe-bridge over the Seymour River and climbs back up the other side to Riverside Drive. This area is not serviced by public transportation so you’ll have to continue on through a muddy, uphill section before finally emerging on Hyannis Drive. If you have had enough for one-day turn right and continue on past Berkley Avenue to the first bus stop. Bus #214 will take you down the hill to Phibbs Exchange where you may change to the #210 bus to downtown Vancouver. Otherwise, if Deep Cove is your destination, plunge back into the forest and continue the next section as detailed below.
Baden-Powell Centennial Trail: Grouse Mountain to Lynn Valley Road <<->> Baden-Powell Centennial Trail: Hyannis Drive to Deep Cove