Burnaby Mountain
Markus enjoying the snow up at Burnaby Mountain
As we've been in the middle of a pandemic, those of us living in British Columbia have been limited to where we can travel. During this time of year, we would normally drive out of town to someplace unknown to tackle a new trail or hike to document here on The Markus Project, but we've recently kept our explorations more local - to things that we can do in an afternoon.
During one of these colder winter days and since we didn't get any snow in the Lower Mainland area of Vancouver, we decided to drive out in search of snow! Go figure. In Vancouver where we complain about the rain and the one day a year it snows, we actually went out of our way to look for some snow. We had heard from some friends that it had snowed on Burnaby Mountain, so we decided that it was going to be our destination.
About Burnaby Mountain
Markus balancing himself on some snow-less parts of a large rock
Burnaby Mountain might be better known for what's at the top - Simon Fraser University's Burnaby campus takes up a large portion of the top of Burnaby Mountain. The campus itself is surrounded in greenery complete with trails that can be biked or hiked. To get to the top of the mountain, there is a fairly steep drive up Gaglardi Way or Burnaby Mountain Pkwy (the less steep of the two) so it's worth checking the snow conditions before heading up.
Since the roads are steep where it gets colder and more dangerous the higher up you go, the university has the tendency to cancel classes or close campus if it's not safe to go up because of these conditions. What's nice is that the school has built live camera feeds along the streets so you can visit their website to see if the roads are clear. Before you head up, be sure to take a moment to check if there's a threat of snow.
Pro Tip: If you need an alternative because it's not safe to make it up Burnaby Mountain, we recommend going to Barnet Marine Park which is along the backside of Burnaby Mountain.
Trails on Burnaby Mountain
Type: Trail
Length: 2.0km
Traffic: Low Route
Type: Loop/Multiple Trails
The area immediately surrounding the campus is intertwined with a number of trails that you can do with your dog. That said, a lot of these trails are quite long and steep (think of the hill you drove up, but now you're hiking it) so I don't recommend doing the bulk of these trails with your dog unless you're both looking for an extended workout.
The length of your hike will depend on the combination of trails that you decide to take and since we were only up there to catch a bit of snow, we didn't go for a very long hike. We started by parking at the East Parking Lot (which was free at the time we went) and worked our way down Tower Rd. cutting through Discovery Park until we reached University Dr. E. From there, we carefully crossed the street and headed in through the trailhead.
Markus loves being the first to step on fresh and untouched snow!
The paths were covered in snow and some of the areas were steeper, which made it a bit riskier to walk down especially since Markus was pulling us to go faster. This is to say that if you're bringing a dog and there might be snow, just be sure to put on the proper footwear and you should be fine.
On this day and from the trailhead, we made our way down the Water Main Trail before going on Mel's Trail. Using Mel's Trail as a connector, we eventually made our way back up the Poplar Trail coming back out close to where we began. This short little trail was just under 2 kilometres, but it was enough for us to get our snow fix for the season.
Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
After having completed the trail, we got back into the car and drove to the other side of the mountain to the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. Based on how quiet the trail was, we were surprised at how many people were here! It's because there are large hills running from the parking lot all the way down to the road and because there was so much fresh snow, there were plenty of families (and dogs) sledding down the side of the hill.
In the area around the parking lot, there is also sculpture art known as the Kamui Mintara Playground of the Gods. There are also a few more trailheads for some short and peaceful hikes surround this area - ones that we didn't get to try this time around, but will definitely be back in the future to do.
What we liked
It was surprisingly quiet when we were there (though it was cold and as it turned out, everyone was hanging out by the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area).
What we didn't like
Just be aware that if it's snowing season, it might be hard to make it up the mountain to the trail in the first place and the trail itself could be slippery, especially where it's steep.
Our Recommendation for Reactive Dogs
During the hike, it was fairly quiet and we really only came across a couple of other hikers. We did come across an off-leash dog, but we didn't have any issues as the space was wide enough to walk through. That said, we did come during the wintertime when it was cold out, so I would imagine that these trails get a bit more traffic in the summer.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area was extremely busy! There were plenty of off-leash dogs and people there, but the area is so wide that you should be able to avoid the off-leash dogs if you need to.
Disclaimer
Markus is a reactive, but not aggressive dog. His instinct is to avoid other dogs and he may growl, bark or lunge if provoked, but will not attack. We normally do not have issues with leashed dogs when both sides are controlled, but we will be on guard when an oncoming dog is not leashed. There are varying levels to a dog’s reactivity and only you can decide if this park, trail or hotel is appropriate for your dog. Our visits generally will not include off-leash areas; most experiences shared on The Markus Project are within leashed or undefined areas.
Please remember that our past experience visiting a park, trail or hotel may not be the same as your experience at the same park, trail or hotel. We have no control of who visits the park and whether they adhere to park rules - like leashing their dogs on leash-required paths - or not. Please use your discretion with the information provided and with your personal knowledge of your dog’s reactivity when visiting these parks, trails or hotels.
