Hey yall,

I'm heading to Vancouver for business and want to squeeze in a backpacking/wilderness camping trip from 6/22-6/24 at Mt. Seymour. I'm not from the BC area and I have no context of the weather patterns, terrain, etc. and was hoping that people on this forum could help me

I've read that you're allowed to camp anywhere past Brockton point, after parking in parking lot 1 of Mt. Seymour Resort. My question is, given the time of the year, will there be snow around Brockton Point, De Pencier Lake, and Elsay Lake? Additionally, does anyone know, roughly, what the elevation gain from the resort to Brockton point?

Much appreciated!

This year there will be snow - especially amongst the trees and gully, etc. *is looking at seymour right now and can see a dense snow pack*. If you are familiar with snow camping and equipped for it, it's no problem (but markers/trail signs might be buried and if you are not familiar with the area, you could get lost).

There are other places where you can wilderness camp at lower elevations (burke mtn, eagle ridge coquitlam, golden ears, etc), below the snow line. But I am sure others will chime in soon enough.

Cheers.

There is still a fair bit snow at the base of the Mystery quad chair at Seymour. Going up towards Brockton, you will definitely be above the snowline, and snowshoes/microspikes/ice axe will be a must depending on the route, you take...be very careful of the snowpack as there is extreme avalanche danger past there.

Wow, thanks for chiming in! I definitely won't be prepared for that... I googled "wilderness camping near Vancouver" and this was the first site that popped up http://boredinvancouver.com/listing/...ing-vancouver/

For context, I'm from California and wilderness camped, in May, at Yosemite, close to 7,000 feet elevation, with barely had any snow... Stupidly, I thought end of June in Vancouver, at 4,700 feet elevation, wouldn't require me to have full snow gear!

Appreciate the response

Appreciate the suggestions WildernessMan! I'll look into these other options at lower elevations and might hit you up again for more details, if you don't mind

You should look into the Skagit River Trail outside Hope. Low elevation, no snow. Was out there may long weekend. Nice overnighter.

Hey pdomansky, I looked up Skagit Valley Park and it'll probably be too far of a drive away, unfortunately Thanks for the recommendation though!

No worries. Another one relatively close to town that is a nice little getaway is the East Canyon Trail in Golden Ears Provincial park. You can camp at viewpoint beach (4.5KM) or half moon beach (9.8KM).

Hey WildernessMan, I looked into your suggestions and Burke Mountain appears to be my best bet!

My tentative plan is to arrive at Port Coquitlam & District Hunting & Fishing Club, around 6PM, and hike a distance of 2.5KM and 350M in elevation gain to Prichett Creek, setting up camp there for the night:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Port...!1m0!3e2?hl=en

The next day, I'll hike to Munro and Dennett Lakes, then trace my trail back to where I set up camp the night prior. The out and back trail looks to be a total of ~15KM in distance and ~550M in elevation gain, which I feel pretty comfortable doing in a day, given the abundance of creeks in this area.

A few questions:

-Can I park overnight for a couple of nights at the Hunting & Fishing Club?
-Am I allowed to set up camp anywhere, as long as I respect the nearby ecosystem?
-Are the creeks safe to drink from, with a water filter?
-Is there any cell service around this area, for emergencies?
-Should I bring my bear canister for this trail?
-Any other tips you have?

Thank you!

I don't have answers to all your questions but can make a start...

Yes to bear spray. Keep it available on your belt if you are hiking alone and know how to use it. Hang your food and prep and eat food away from tent etc ("common" sense stuff)...

There is next to no cell service up there as far as I know, unless things have changed recently.

This is a hot spot for vehicle break ins. So don't leave anything in the car.

Burke is actually in Pinecone Burke Provincial Park. Website here has some good info: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/exp...kpgs/pinecone/

Creek water can be boiled/filtered for drinking

Cheers!

Sixes answered most of them, but I (personally) wouldn't leave my car there. It's not a good spot to park overnight. If anything you should park further down the road (near the houses) and walk up to the trailhead.

Yes, as far as I know you can camp anywhere but be respectful of the env.

PS - higher areas around the lakes will have snow and the trails are not well marked at the best of times. Make sure you have a gps and a map/compass if you are not familiar with the area.

Also, forgo the park map of burke and google maps for the area. You can find some real detailed trail/bike/road maps of the lower areas of the park. Much better than the ones the park provides.

Best of luck. Cheers.

It's not a best place for a camp. It's in a dense young forest with a lot of underbrush. It is also more easily reachable by road than by that trail. Trail is poorly marked, if you start in the evening you can easily loose it in the dark.
If I were to camp in Burke park I would make a camp on one of the lakes, Ted Kay lake, Dennet lake, Twin lakes, etc, not Munro though, it's too marshy. It's nicer up there on plateau, then on lower slopes. But we had very snowy winter, so, there still may be snow around the lakes.

Hm, where else can one camp close to Vancouver?.. Seymour is a good option, but too much snow this June. Same goes for Cypress prov.park. Golden Ears park is not too far and has some snow-free options. East canyon trail has already been mentioned, there is also a wilderness camp at Alder Flats on Golden Ears trail. It should be snow-free by now, but trail to the summit still has tons of snow, I think.
Ah, there is Widgeon creek camp site in Burke Park, it's on the east side and is only accessible by boat. Usual starting point is Grant Narrows regional park on Pitt lake. There is canoe rental right across boat launch, so getting to that camping is not a problem.

Thanks everyone!

Is bear spray necessary? We're prohibited in using bear spray in CA, but it might be because the bears are more conditioned around people. I've never been camping in Vancouver so I'm not sure if the bears are super aggressive there or something haha

It's a shame that google maps doesn't work... that was my plan for maps!

Looks like I'll need to change my plans to somewhere else then and I didn't see that Dennet Lake was nearly 3K meters hahaha