Hanes Valley Trail
| Hanes Valley Trail | |
|---|---|
 Looking east down Hanes Valley towards Lynn Creek from the saddle between Crown Mtn and Goat Mtn. | |
| Length | 13.0km |
| Class | Class1 |
| Status | Clear |
| Access | Lynn Valley Road |
| Destination | Grouse Mountain |
| Caretaker | Metro Vancouver |
| GPS | |
| KML | |
| Maps | |
The Hanes Valley Trail (also known as the Lynn-Hanes Trail) hike is a popular loop from Lynn Valley to the top of grouse mountain. It's about 15km with 1150m of elevation gain from the Lynn Valley Parking lot to the top of the grouse mountain cable car.
The Trail
There are a couple trails that go north up Lynn Valley - it doesn't matter which one you take because they all merge down to one after 3 or 4 km. At about 4km, the trail to Colliseum Mountain branches off to the right, and the Lynn Valley trail continues over a suspension bridge crossing Norvan Creek. a couple km farther, the trail to Lynn Lake goes off on the as right well.
Next up is the crossing of Lynn creek on a large logjam to reach an island in the centre of the channel, and then another log crossing (a bit downstream of the first) to finally reach the far side. The trail is nice and easy going up the Hanes Valley until the final headwall going up to crown pass. There isn't much of a trail here - just climb the boulder field and look for the trail again in the forest at the top. At Crown Pass, keep left again unless you are planning an ascent of Crown Mountain as well. The climb out of Crown Pass is incredibly steep and rugged, topping out not far from the summit of Goat Mountain. Fortunately easier terrain prevails after this point on the final leg back to the Grouse Mountain skyride. It's $10 to take the cable car down, or you can walk down the BCMC trail or the Grouse Grind or one of the other trails (there are many) back to North Vancouver.
Trailhead
| Translink Bus Information | ||
| 210 Upper Lynn Valley | map | schedule |
| 228 Lynn Valley | map | schedule |
The park gate is at the end of Lynn Valley Road, and then it's about 1km along a paved road to the parking area. Note that the gate closes around sunset, so park outside the gate if planning on a late return. If your car is still there when the gate closes, a rescue operation will be initiated. City Bus 228 (from Lonsdale Quay) stops right beside the park gate and the 210 (from downtown Vancouver) stops a block from the gate.
The hike is usually finished by coming down the grouse mountain gondola (or the BCMC trail or the Grouse Grind, which is a few km from Lynn Valley, so make appropriate plans to stash a car at the other end. If doing the trip by bus, this need not be a concern because bus 236 take you back to Lonsdale Quay.
Summer Access
| 2WD | |
|---|---|
| Parking Location | 1.0km up Lynn Valley Rd @ elev. 200m |
| Nearest Town | North Vancouver |
| Hiking distance | #.#km |
| Elevation gain | 1,123m (3,594 ft) |
| Approximate time | One way 5-10 hours depending on speed |
Winter Access
The Hanes Valley Trail is closed over the winter and is highly dangerous due to avalanches. The valley is a big terrain trap with convex rolls. Read about a close call here: https://bivouac.com/TripPg.asp?TripId=6340
Links
GVRD Lynn Headwaters Regional Park - has pdf map of the park and trails.
