About Pacific Spirit Regional Park (North)

• Type: Trail (Leash Optional)

• Length: 2 km

• Traffic: Moderate

• Route Type: Loop/Multiple Trails

Last weekend while we were taking a walk along Spanish Banks beach in Vancouver, Canada, we stumbled upon this trail by accident. From the parking lot where our car was, we saw a trailhead that other people were going in so we decided to check it out too. What we found was this slightly hidden trail that we're excited to share with you.

This trail is still technically a part of the Pacific Spirit Regional Park, which is a massive park with multiple trails and routes that you can take. For a trail that's a little hidden, it was actually quite busy (so maybe it's not that hidden after all). Still, because of how long the trail is, we weren't coming across people all the time and it was an enjoyable walk for us with our dog. The elevation gain on this trail wasn't much. In fact, there are a few stairs steps in the beginning and that's about it.

The trail is well-shaded because of the numbers of trees covering the paths. It's a great way to enjoy nature while getting a little bit of exercise. When we went, we had sun shining through the trees and it was great. The other nice thing about this trail is the combination of multiple trails that you can choose from. Depending on how you're feeling that day, you can do a longer loop or just keep it short. This also means that you can visit this trail multiple times and experience something different each time. During our time on this walk, we came across other dogs and owners, runners, bikers and parents pushing strollers, so it is a popular trail with all types of people using it.

Our specific walk was a combination of the West Canyon Trail and the East Canyon Trail, which ended up taking right around 50 minutes or so with a dog. We started with the trailhead that's across the street from the Spanish Banks Parking Lot B and from the first fork in the trail, we went right and up the stairs. From there, the West Canyon Trail branches off to other trails that you can take to extend your walk, but we just followed the trail until it met with the East Canyon Trail, which brought us back to the parking lot. 

Pro Tip: If you look up Spanish Banks Parking Lot B on Google Maps, you'll find the trailhead across the street from the parking lot. From there, you can see the actual trail paths on the map and use this guide for your walk. On some phones (but not all, for some reason) you can find these trail paths on your Google Maps app as well, which is great to have on-the-go.

We came across many dogs during the trail, but it wasn't overwhelming. Please note that this particular trail in the Pacific Spirit Regional Park is leash-optional, so most of the dogs we met were off-leash. Because there are some straight and long paths, some dogs did take off from their owners and straight towards Markus, which he doesn't like. If your dog doesn't do well with other dogs, we recommend avoiding this trail for this reason. In general, though, the paths on the trail were pretty wide so we were able to walk past most of the dogs without much hassle.

One small issue that we had with the trail was that it had rained the day before and there were still pools of water on steps and certain areas on the trail. Even though we went on a nice day, the water stuck around so we had to step into them with our runners to get around certain areas. It's also not great for dogs, but overall, it's not too bad.

What we liked

• Although it can be busy, it's a nice and quiet trail to enjoy the sights and sound of nature.

• The main trail connects with multiple other trails, which allows you to pick between a shorter or longer walk.

• There were pointers and maps along the trail that made it easy to follow where we were.

• There were viewpoints that overlooks Spanish Banks and the Burrard Inlet.

• The Spanish Banks Off-Leash Dog Area (unfenced) is within walking distance.

What we didn’t like

• There were pools of water in the area, but if you're going in the spring or summer time, this might not be an issue.

Our Recommendation for Reactive Dogs

Between the north and south parts of the Pacific Spirit Regional Park, this is the reactive dog-friendlier of the two. The trail is leash optional, so we did still come across a number of off-leash dogs, but they were well-behaved and controlled by their owners. The other thing that helps about this trail is that it’s fairly wide throughout the walk. We had a good time with Markus here and although there were some dogs that were quite a bit ahead of their owners, we didn't have any issues.

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.