Dog Mountain Snowshoe Trail in North Vancouver

Dog Mountain Winter Trail – Table of Contents

1. Hike Introduction
2. Hike Statistics
3. Map and Elevation
4. Dog Mountain Video
5. Hiking Route Description
6. Directions and Parking
7. Free PDF Download

Dog Mountain Snowshoe Trail Intro

Dog Mountain is a great snowshoe trail in Mount Seymour Provincial Park. The trek is fairly easy, making it a great place to head for a comfortable trek during the winter months. The trail has some ups and downs along with the occasional awkward section, but overall this is a flat and beginner-friendly snowshoe trail. There are plenty of markers and the trail is well used so your chances of straying off-course are minimal.

If you’ve never been on snowshoes before, a trip out to Dog Mountain is the perfect place to see what the hype is all about. Maintained by Metro Vancouver, the Dog Mountain trail is free to use and dogs are allowed. All these factors make a Dog Mountain snowshoe the perfect family outing. Not to mention the spectacular view of Vancouver from the summit.

The summer version of the Dog Mountain guide can be found here.

Dog Mountain Snowshoe Stats

Dog Mountain Snowshoe Map and Elevation

Dog Mountain Snowshoe Video

Here is a 4-minute video of our experience on this hike!

Dog Mountain Winter Route

To get to the trailhead, drive up to the Mount Seymour parking lots (the road to Mt Seymour is a Class A Highway and requires drivers to use winter tires or carry chains between October 1st – April 30th). At the end of the parking lot, you will see the B.C. Parks information board. Check out the map and get your bearings for the hike. From the parking lot you head north, just left of the chair-lift/ ski run.

Almost immediately, you will see a sign for First Lake with trails to your left (going straight will take you up the 3 peaks of Mount Seymour – a much more difficult hike). Follow the sign for First Lake and head left into the trees. You will drop down a bit and begin winding your way through the trail.

Pro-tip: The trail is heavily used, and unless there has been fresh snowfall and you are breaking trail, you can usually fair quite well (or even better) hiking out to Dog Mountain in MICROspikes (or Hillsound trail crampons). Before heading up, you can also look at the Mount Seymour Provincial Park website to see if there are any updates on the trail conditions.

After about 1 km, or 30 minutes of hiking, you will reach First Lake (which will of course be a field of snow). This is about the halfway mark, and if you want a break this is a great place to do it.

Cool fact: “Although the first recorded climb of Mount Seymour was made in 1908 by a party from the BC Mountaineering Club, Mount Seymour was virtually unknown to most of the residents of Vancouver and vicinity until the late 1920s.” ^[Source]

Carrying on west of the lake, you’ll see a sign for Dog Mountain along the same trail you took to get to the lake. Simply follow the markers and after some slight uphill climbing, you’ll be at the spectacular viewpoint (assuming you’re lucky enough to have a clear day) which extends from Mt. Baker in the east to Stanley Park and beyond in the west. You’ll also have a great view of Grouse Mountain and several nearby mountains.

Now you can rest, soak up the view, take some pictures and hang out with the resident ravens – all before retracing your steps back to the parking lot.

Download the PDF version of this guide for offline use

Directions and Parking

Drive east on Highway #1 over the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge. Take exit #22 for Mt. Seymour Parkway and follow it for about 10 minutes until you see the signs for Mount Seymour Provincial Park. Here, you turn left at Mt. Seymour Road and follow the road all the way up the to Seymour parking lot. The trailhead is at the northern-most point of the lot.

The park gate is closed from 10 pm – 7 am during the winter until April 30th. The road to Mt Seymour is a Class A Highway and requires drivers to use winter tires or carry chains between October 1st – April 30th.

Winter parking designations are in effect from November to April. On peak days during the winter months, parking capacity can be exceeded at the upper parking lots of Mount Seymour Park. These parking lots service the customers of Mount Seymour Resorts Ltd., who pay a fee to ski, snowboard, snowshoe and snowtube. Visitors accessing the backcountry, areas outside of the Mt. Seymour Resorts Ltd. ski area are required to park in parking lot 1 and lower parking lot 5. Overnight parking is permitted in parking lot 1.¹

A map of the parking lots is here.

Google Map directions are available here.

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Other Hikes and Related Posts

1. The Snowshoe Grouse Grind (moderate)
2. Mount Seymour Snowshoe Trail (moderate)
3. Hollyburn Mountain Snowshoe (moderate)
4. 14 Best Snowshoe Trails around Vancouver
5. View all hiking guides here

Download the PDF version of this guide for offline use

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