🇨🇦 Vancouver Hike - Dog Mountain Trail

One mountain a week ⛰️ This week’s family hike took us to 🐶 Mountain in North Van! Dog Mountain Trail on Mt. Seymour is one of the most popular hiking routes in Greater Vancouver. The summit offers stunning open views, it’s not too difficult, close to the city, doesn’t require a special vehicle, and has a huge FREE parking lot + restrooms. Lots of people bring their 🐶🐶 here for the hike! 📍 Google "Seymour Parking Lot" or use 1700 Mt Seymour Rd. Don’t park in Lot 1—keep driving up to the big open area at Lot 3/4. There are restrooms 🚻 in the parking lot. 🔁 Distance: This time, we combined Dog Mountain Trail + Mystery Lake Trail, totaling about 9km. If you just do Dog Mountain Trail, it’s around 6km round trip. ⚠️ Warning: We followed an AllTrails route linking both trails, but the path from Dog Mountain to Mystery Lake was unfamiliar—lots of sketchy, dangerous off-trail sections, including walking directly over streams. Later, the trail got too slippery and steep with snow, and we almost stepped into hidden gaps. Plus, mosquitoes were attacking non-stop! We turned back 600m short of Mystery Lake. Recommend doing these trails separately—finish one, return to the start, then do the other. 🕒 Duration: Both trails took us over 3 hours (slow pace with photos, lunch, and snowy sections). If just doing Dog Mountain Trail, 1-2 hours is enough. 🥾 Trail Conditions: Since we did two trails, we faced EVERY possible terrain—twisted roots, slippery moss-covered rocks, loose gravel, snow (super slippery, easy to misstep), creek crossings, mud, and water pits. Waterproof hiking boots are a MUST! ⚠️ Important Notes: 🦟 MOSQUITO APOCALYPSE—they swarm your face, fly into your nose/mouth… bug spray felt useless. If you hate bugs, wear a mosquito net! ❄️ Snow near the summit—very slippery, easy to slide or step into hidden gaps (trust me, I learned the hard way). #VancouverLife #VancouverHikes #ExploreBC #HikeVancouver #HikingCommunity #HikeTheWorld #DayHike #WeekendAdventures