Current Trail Closures around Vancouver and Southwest B.C.
Last update: 7:05 am, Dec 2, 2021
On this page we will do our best to keep a current list of all known trail and park closures in and around Vancouver. We’ll also use this page to keep track of any trail restrictions that are seasonal or temporary (ie, winter closures, trail maintenance, or B.C. Parks’ day-use passes).
If you are aware of a trail closure that isn’t listed below, please let us know by emailing info [at] outdoorvancouver [dot] ca or sending us a message on Twitter. You can also leave a comment at the bottom of this page. Thanks, and safe hiking!
Current Trail Closures
Metro Vancouver Regional Parks
Due to flooding and hazardous conditions as a result of the Nov 14/15 storm, many Metro Vancouver parks are currently CLOSED or partially closed. A few of the impacted parks are Grouse Mountain, Kanaka Creek, and Colony Farm. See the current list here.
North Vancouver
- Lynn Headwaters Regional Park
- Due to unpredictable and rapidly changing hazardous mountain weather conditions, effective Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021, the backcountry at Lynn Headwaters Regional Park is CLOSED. This applies to routes beyond Norvan Falls (Hanes Valley, Coliseum Mountain and Lynn Lake) as well as routes in the Grouse subalpine north of Dam Mountain and Thunderbird Ridge (Crown Mountain, Goat Mountain, Little Goat and Goat Ridge). More details from Metro Vancouver here.
- Quarry Rock – The trail is currently closed with no scheduled reopening date.
- Grouse Mountain Regional Park – The entire park is currently CLOSED due to heavy rainfall and hazardous conditions. Details.
- Grouse Grind – Currently CLOSED due to heavy snow. More details from Grouse Mountain here & Metro Vancouver here.
- BCMC Trail – “Heavy rain has washed out a portion of the BCMC Route and Baden-Powell Trail, causing a debris slide which makes access dangerous. For now, the lower portion of the trails are CLOSED. A geotechnical assessment is underway to determine damage and needed repairs. To access either the BCMC or the Baden-Powell for now, a detour is in place using the Baden-Powell Trail and the Larsen Trail that allows hikers to connect with the upper part of the BCMC around marker 29/50. The detour will add an extra 30 minutes to the one-way BCMC trip”. Updates from Metro Vancouver.
- Capilano River Regional Park (Pacific Spirit Trail) – A section of the trail remains impassible due to landslide and it may takes months or years to restore.
Vancouver
- Pacific Spirit Regional Park – “Many trails are closed and trees are down in a number of areas in the park due to the recent storm. Please avoid trails in the following areas for now:
- area between University Boulevard and Chancellor Boulevard
- Douglas Fir Trail (east of south campus area)
- Canyons area (north of Chancellor Boulevard)
- Park staff are assessing all trails and clearing downed trees. Please use extra caution on trails as there may be downed trees or debris”. More from Metro Vancouver.
Tri-Cities
- Buntzen Lake > Swan Falls Trail – “Due to a rockslide, there’s no pedestrian access on Powerhouse Road between North Beach and Buntzen Dam. Swan Falls trail is also inaccessible to hikers at this time.” Read the current updates on the B.C. Hydro website.
- Buntzen Lake Loop > The suspension bridge near north beach has been closed as it is in need of replacement. There is currently no timeline for this to be completed. B.C. Hydro website.
- Colony Farm – “The western perimeter trail at Colony Farm Regional Park is closed until early 2022 to serve as a temporary staging and storage area for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.” More details on Metro Vancouver website.
Chilliwack & Hope
- Bridal Veil Falls is CLOSED due to storm damage and flooding. More from B.C. Parks here.
- Othello Tunnels (Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park )- CLOSED for the winter due to hazardous conditions and rockfall. The area sustained significant damage during the Nov 2021 storm. A timeline for re-opening is unknown. BC Parks has been slow to update their website, but you can always check here.
- Mt Thom. CLOSED for repairs after recent damage.
Squamish & Whistler
- Rainbow Lake Trail – and surrounding area is closed due to grizzly activity. (unclear if still in effect).
- Rubble Creek Parking Lot – “The Rubble Creek trail is closed until further notice due to flooding, washouts, and unstable debris. BC Parks will re–evaluate opening the trails once debris has settled”. This affects access to Garibaldi Lake. More details from B.C. Parks here.
Pemberton
- Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park – Fully closed due to COVID-19. Latest details from B.C. Parks here.
B.C. Recreation Sites and Trails
See here for a full list of current closures across the province.
A Starter’s Guide to Hiking in Vancouver.
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C
Lighthouse Park and Whytcliffe are both open, as are their parking lots.
– June 23, 2020
Karl W
Thanks, I’ve updated the list!
Sandy
Will tennis courts in parks be opening?
Natasha
I’m wondering if you can post about what’s open. I’m having a difficult time determining where I can go since all the trails I used to go on or roads to them are closed. Can you be clear on where we CAN go? I think that would be really helpful. I’m not savvy in the loop holes here.
Natasha
I’m wondering if you can post about what’s open. I’m having a difficult time determining where I can go since all the trails I used to go on or roads to them are closed. Can you be clear on where we CAN go? I think that would be really helpful. I’m not savvy in the loop holes here. Alternatively, a filter on your database with closures would be great. Thank you.
Anon
Agreed. It would be amazing to know what is actually open for those of us that want to hike, but that don’t have an entire database of parks/trails in our brains.
Guiseppe
All trails are open unless specified in the list above. This includes trails in all BC Parks but they are set to open on May 14.
Melissa
I fully agree Natasha! While this page is helpful, I just want to know where I CAN go, so it’d be very helpful to have a page just on what’s open.
Karl W
There’s literally hundreds (a thousand?) of hikes and only dozens of them are off-limits at the moment… It would be futile to try and list them all here.
Your best bet is to use our hike finder (https://www.outdoorvancouver.ca/vancouver-hiking-trail-guides/) where you can filter down by the city you want to hike, if you want to bring your dog, if you want a waterfall, etc. and find a hike that you want to do. Then reference this page to see if its on the list of closed places.
For BC Parks, most are open now except in the lower mainland (not including Golden Ears, Murrin and a few others).
Almost every Metro Vancouver Regional Park is open.
Most other places are open, though some have closed their parking lots or have limited access by municipal by-laws.
If you want a specific recommendation, please comment here with what city are you in, what skill level/ difficulty you want, or what kind of hike you want to do and I’ll do my best to give you some suggestions.
Karl W
Alright I relented and wrote another post on some suggested open trails here :)
Hopefully it’s helpful for generating a few ideas of places to go!
https://www.outdoorvancouver.ca/where-to-hike-in-vancouver-during-covid-19/
Tomina
Whytecliff Park and Lighthouse Parks in West van are NOT closed.
Whytecliff Park parking lot is closed and
Lighthouse Park parking lot is closed.
washrooms being maintained!