Really? I thought only parks close to Vancouver remain closed

Hi,

Has anyone been to Tunnel Bluffs starting from Lions Bay or any other hikes starting from parking lot(s) in Lion's Bay? Is it possible to park anywhere reasonable distance from the trailhead without being ticketed/towed/abused?

Second question - looking at alternative hikes e.g. from Deeks Lake TH - what is the snowline level in the area?

Thanks!
w

If you look at http://bcparks.ca/covid-19/parks-affected/
first column is current status -- which shows all closed -- and then second column has little icon for parks that have scheduled re-opening date. Lots of parks don't have it set yet, some quite surprising i.e. Carmanah Walbran on Van Isle

I haven't been, but how about parking at the school? I'd assume that parking lot would be open.

Regarding Deeks Lake, it is open but the lake itself is in the provincial park. I know some people that did it this Saturday and the snowline starts quite close to the lake inside the provincial park. No rangers there. Its a hefty ticket if you are found in a closed provincial park.

Regarding Lions Bay, I don't think they have updated their stance on no hiking or trail access through their community. If you do go, don't post online as it will prompt others to risk it as well. You could always part for TB at the pullout on the S2S and hope you don't get a ticket there as they have 30 minute max parking signs now. Past 4 weekends its been full with no one being towed.

Pierce Lake is one of those that is not subject to closure:

Several cars, several hikers there yesterday (sunday).

Hi all,

My partner and I are trying to go camping somewhere on the Island as both grew up and live in Victoria. We are renting a vehicle so the spot has gotta be vehicle accessible. We are aware that there are no sites open currently but Crown Land opens up on May 14th, so we are going to have to be bushcrafting a bit. I'm hoping the collective hive mind here could help us out and think of Crown Land spots they know of. We are looking to find a place near a lake so we can fish too, trout, sunfish and bass have been favourites of ours, though we are stoked to try to catch new species.

Thanks in advance!

I'm not familiar with any Vancouver Island spots, but the best way to find new camping spots is to spend some time on Google Earth or a good topo map site that shows back roads and just do some virtual exploring. You will have to invest some time exploring to find the good spots, because people will tend not to reveal their favourite locations. The elusive drive-to lakeside spot with good fishing and no crowds within a 3 hour drive from town is very hard to find! Good luck!

I've heard from someone that despite the Mt. Seymour PP being closed, you can still bike up the road. I don't know if this is true or not but if it is that would be a great outing and a unique time to get some bike exercise up that road without the danger of being hit by a car.

Yep, I've been up that road 4 times in the last month on a bike. Nobody seem to care. Note I only went as far as Mushroom parking lot each time.

Two bike rides this weekend, one over Lions Gate Bridge to Stanley Park to take advantage of the car-free roadways around the park. Unfortunately we got a bit rained out on this one and had to retreat back to N.Van. The park seemed different, no tourists, just locals walking and biking around.
Today we tried the new e-bikes heading up the road behind Grouse Mtn. Lots of people biking up the road and down the trails, seemed busier than Stanley Park on Saturday, even though you can't park anywhere and have to pretty well ride in.

Visited Golden Ears today with the idea of trying My Nutt. That was impossible - whole North section of the park was closed. Not sure if they initially allowed some cars in and then closed it - was at the boat launch turn off at 9:30am - so if you do try it on a nice weekend day I'd suggest being at the gate at 7 and having a plan B. In any case do not trust info on the park website which basically says the playgrounds are closed - but nothing like this.

Went up Alouette Mountain trail instead starting at the Incline Trail. A lot of parked cars but not many parties on the trail - maybe met 10 other parties whole day. Didn't make it all the way to the summit. Went via the section of the trail through old growth near Beautiful Lake. Lovely forest there but trail muddy and falling behind in maintenance (e.g. rotted out walkways/bridges). Had to turn around roughly 3km from the summit at ~900m asl due to time of day and increasing snow coverage. Went down via helipad. That section is much better - but forest there definitely less interesting. If you are looking for faster access to Alouette from the south this is definitely it.

Sounds like you were on Old Mountain Highway on Mt Fromme. That is one of the most popular MTB destinations in the world, let alone Vancouver, it's always pretty busy Fantastic trails out there, a lot of them are very unique.

On their social media they stated that they will allow 100 cars to park at the east canyon lot then close it. They will also close the park after 700 cars enter the park in total and allow 50 more in for every 50 that leave. So yes be there are early as possible if you plan to do something out of the East canyon lot. There is a connector trail from the West canyon lot to the East canyon lot if you can still get access to that one if the East is closed. I am not sure where they put up the road block to close the East canyon lot.

In Golden Ears Park, I Hiked up to Alder Flats via the East Canyon and across the connector trail via the bridge. a great piece of work. No obvious signs of closure or visible enforcement, probably do check around.

Photos of the approach to bridge, trail other side, and the junction:







I will put up a full detail trip report on this

K