Mount Seymour Provincial Park

Mount Seymour Provincial Park is a large park found on Vancouver’s North Shore that offers both summer and winter recreational activities.

Mt. Seymour, the ski resort, is located within the park.

Mt. Seymour Provincial Park

Mount Seymour Provincial Park is in North Vancouver, a 30-minute drive from downtown Vancouver. From the top of the mountain the park offers great views of Vancouver, Mount Baker and Indian Arm Provincial Park.

The place is popular for skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing in winter, as well as hiking and biking in the summer.

Mount Seymour Snowshoeing — Snowshoeing on the provincial park trails

Summer Activities

Mount Seymour is a great place to visit in the summer time. The park is equipped with picnic areas, washrooms and opportunities for bird and wildlife viewing.

The park is also popular for hiking, mountain biking and other outdoor sports.

Hiking at Mt. Seymour

There are a total of 14 hiking trails found in Mount Seymour Provincial Park. Popular trails include ones to Dog Mountain and Mystery Lake. Both are relatively short and easy hikes that are popular with locals. Although it may be chilly, you can also swim in Mystery Lake.

The Baden Powell Trail is a hiking trail that goes from West Vancouver to Deep Cove in North Vancouver. It goes through a section of the provincial park too.

When you turn off Mt. Seymour Parkway on to Mt. Seymour Road on your way up the mountain to the provincial park, about three kilometres up the road on your right is a small parking area. There is parking for only about half a dozen cars, so it’s not a big area. Here, though, you’ll find one of the access routes to the Baden Powell Trail. The hike from here to Quarry Rock is about four kilometres one way.

For a video of the Baden Powell Trail leading from Mt. Seymour Park towards Quarry Rock at Deep Cove see further below or click Mt. Seymour Park

Mt. Seymour Baden Powell Trail — Baden Powell Trail on Mt. Seymour

Camping at the Provincial Park

There is one group campsite within Mount Seymour Provincial Park. It is located about 50 metres from parking lot #1, which is the first of the four parking lots at the top of the mountain just before you get to the ski hill. The site is reservable year-round.

Mountain Biking and Cycling on Mt. Seymour

Mount Seymour is home to a myriad mountain biking trails of varying difficulty levels. Popular trails include Old Buck and Bridle Path. For a full map of trails see the North Shore Mountain Biking Association website.

In addition to the mountain biking trails, a fun bike ride for families in the summer is from the parking lot at the top of Mount Seymour back down to the bottom of the hill in North Vancouver. You’ll need a car with a bike rack, and one person needs to drive the car back down. Only serious and extremely fit cyclists ride all the way up the hill.

Cycling Mount Seymour — Cycling down Mt. Seymour Road

Winter Sports at Mt. Seymour

During the winter months, Mount Seymour is home to all kinds of snow sports. The mountain is popular for skiing and snowboarding, as well as Snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and tubing. Some (but not all) of the snowshoeing trails are free so it’s a great option for budget-friendly folks.

The mountain has 39 runs of varying difficulty for skiing and snowboarding. There are also several ski lifts and a magic carpet for beginners.

Mount Seymour offers gear rentals including skis, snowboards, snowshoes and more.

For more details, visit our article about the Mt. Seymour Ski Hill or Snowshoeing on Mt. Seymour.

Mt. Seymour Park Video

The following video is of the Baden Powell Trail beginning at Mt. Seymour Park. We started at the small parking lot at the side of the road about three kilometres up Mt. Seymour Road from Mt. Seymour Parkway. We followed the trailhead from there towards Deep Cove and Quarry Rock. In other words, we headed east.

The video was taken in July, 2020. At that time the final part of the Baden Powell Trail, the section leading to Quarry Rock, was closed. This was because of COVID-19 and the District of North Vancouver’s concerns about too many people hiking to the popular lookout.

Because of the above-mentioned closure, our hike went from the trailhead at Mt. Seymour Provincial Park to just past where the trail meets Indian Arm Road and you cross a small bridge over a creek. We got to within about a kilometre or so of Quarry Rock. It wasn’t so far.

The first half or so of the video is within Mt. Seymour Park. The second half is outside the park (but still on the Baden Powell Trail). The scenery looks pretty much the same along this whole section of the trail. It’s beautiful and full of nature.

As you’ll see from the video, the area is forested. The trail isn’t too steep, but there are ups and downs, plus stairs in a few places. It’s a great route to hike (and, if you can go when Quarry Rock is open, the view from the lookout is spectacular). Also as you’ll see from the video, hikers, dogs and mountain bikers use the trail.

To learn more about the trail, and to see another video of the same section of the route, see our article about the Baden Powell Trail.