More Walking Around the Lynn Headwaters Regional Park

Lynn Headwaters Regional Park is another popular destination in North Vancouver for avid hikers. At more than 9,000 acres, it is the largest of 22 regional parks in Metro Vancouver. And yes, you heard it right…there is that much greenery and wilderness around the city.

That is why Vancouver stereotypes include such things as a healthy lifestyle; a wardrobe that consists mostly of yoga pants, leggings, and biking shorts; fast-paced walking even along downtown streets; and adapting “hiking” as a middle name.

I consider myself as a Vancouverite, although my years of living here in the East Coast has already surpassed my time there. Hiking in a temperate rainforest is one of the best memories I have of living in the Pacific Northwest. The abundance of rain in this area creates the most spectacular forests, with lush canopies, stately coniferous and deciduous trees, shade-loving shrubs and ferns, and a rich carpet of ground flora, such as mosses, ferns, and a variety of mushrooms. Being inside these forests feels almost magical, with its low-intensity lighting, moderate temperature, and fresh air.

When you see the proliferation of lichens hanging from the tree branches, it is a sign that you are breathing fresh rainforest air, because these species are highly susceptible to any type of pollution. And with the convenient proximity to the city, these parks provide a tranquil respite from the hustle and bustle of life, only minutes away. Imagine that!

Lynn Headwaters sits between Mount Fromme and Mount Seymour and offers 40 kilometers of trails to explore that encompasses the entire Lynn Creek headwaters, from the mountain peaks to the banks of the rushing creeks and streams. The trails range from flat paths in the valley bottoms that are relatively easy to navigate, to the steep climbs up the hills, classified as intermediate or challenging. There is something for everyone, including bikers, families with children in strollers, and dogs in leashes.

At the main entrance, one will see the B.C. Mills House, a historic structure that now functions as a museum. It houses artifacts and mementos from Lynn Valley’s long history of mining and logging, which is also evident in the cedar stumps one can see throughout the park.

Right outside is a picnic area. Tables and chairs are strategically set up with a view of the rushing waters of the creek. Over the creek, there is a wooden bridge and across is an information board that shows a map of the trails around the park and a description of trail conditions.

On our last visit with our son, my husband and I decided to pursue the easy trails that are accessible from this point – the Lynn Valley Loop Trail and the Varley Trail. The intermediate and challenging trails branch out from these three, but there are two others that are also accessible from the parking lot – The Baden-Powell Trail which also runs through the neighbouring Lynn Canyon Park, and the Rice Lake Trail within the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve, which we previously accessed and navigated through the aforementioned neighbouring park on a hike several years back.

The Lynn Valley Loop Trail is an easy five-kilometer loop that runs parallel to the Lynn Creek for roughly two kilometers before it switches to the top second half that heads up into the lush rainforest and involves some steep sections. But towards the end, the incline returns to normal and takes hikers back to the bridge area. It also includes a few wooden stairs and boardwalks through the marshy parts of the forest that made it a little easier for me to tackle the challenging sections. This trail connects with the Cedars Mill Trail and the Lynn Headwaters Trail Loop at some point (you won’t miss the section where the well-marked paths diverge), which is an additional eight-kilometer walk, but we didn’t do this.

Instead, we did the Varley Trail, a one-and-a-half kilometer walk south of the creek. It was named after Frederick Varley, a member of the famed “Group of Seven” Canadian artists, who lived in the area in the 1930s. The path is along a flat, forested trail, also next to the creek with some gently sloping sections that did not give us any trouble at all.

During our walk, our son enjoyed climbing the boulders, hopping on the river stones that dot the creek, wading in the water, watching the swimmers do their dives, looking for fish underneath the clear waters, picking up pebbles, examining fossils, and playing with a couple of dogs that we had met along the way.

It was an afternoon well-spent on a family-friendly leisurely-walk in nature. We bumped into a few serious hikers on their way to the more difficult trails and we spoke with some of them. I knew that deep inside, my husband longed to join them. The other trails they described sounded like the ones he would have liked to take on – with steep inclines, treacherous ridges, rocky outcrops, long distances, rough terrain, and high drop-offs, and some taking you deep into the backcountry and remote areas. These require a different level of hiking experience and fitness level, which I didn’t (and still don’t) have, and that our son was too young for.

But these hikers also told us that you’d be treated to a pretty waterfall, scenic viewpoints, and rare sightings of rainforest creatures, such as black-tailed deer, bald eagles, grey wolves, and even bears, both black and grizzlies. There are five species of salmon that thrive here, so it is not a surprise.

When we moved to Ontario, we continued going on forest hikes. But it’s not the same, of course. Ontario is also blessed with extensive forest regions – boreal, deciduous, and the ones near the Great Lakes and the Hudson Bay Lowlands. The forests in the north are characterized by bogs and fens, tundra, and wetlands. The boreal one, with coniferous and mixed-wood, while their Great Lakes cousins are dominated by hardwood. There is a variety of diverse plant and animal life over here, especially in the deciduous forests.

While I miss the mystical quality of the Pacific rainforests, what I like about the forests here in the East Coast is the way they burst into fiery colours once the fall season commences. It is a visual feast that I have never experienced in the West Coast. Vibrant oranges and reds, bright yellows, and various shades in between dot the landscape in all their glory. And when you hike in a forest like this, with a canopy in a kaleidoscope of warm tones and the floor littered with crunchy brown leaves, the effect is exhilarating.

Summed up in one sentence, I will say that hiking in the West Coast is like a journey into an enchanted realm, while hiking in the East Coast is an excursion to a world of whimsical charm.

Each one has its own allure, enough to entice us to keep coming back.