Dog Mountain Snowshoe

Dog Mountain is an excellent family-friendly showshoe or microspike hike. Located adjacent to the Mount Seymour Provincial Park, the trail offers spectacular views while also avoiding the elevation gain of almost all other marked routes on the North Shore.

From the Mount Seymour Trailhead, the well-marked trail undulates through the forest of mountain hemlocks, yellow cedars, and firs. Bare sections of the trail can be found early in the season. Thick forests open up to views of First Lake. From the lake, the trail rolls along the southern side of the spur-line and crosses a series of streams until it abruptly exits the forest onto an exposed Dog Mountain bluff.

This hike won't provide a fitness test, though the views on a clear day will take your breath away. You will be able to see north up the Georgia Strait and across to Vancouver Island as you step further out on the rocky bluff, and the views stretch south to the Fraser Valley and Washington and northeast through the trees into the North Shore backcountry.

Retrace your steps to First Lake, where you have the option to take a diversion toward Dinkey Peak. This 400-meter portion of the trail follows the small cascading waterfalls that feed into First Lake before joining in with the Mount Seymour Trail and the return to the trailhead.