Fall Foliage Hikes in Vancouver for the Best Views

Crisp air, fiery leaves, and the crunch of gravel underfoot make autumn the perfect season to lace up your hiking boots. Vancouver’s fall activities go beyond pumpkin patches and cozy cafés to include autumn trails with golden forests, sweeping mountain views, and alpine meadows painted red and gold. Whether you’re looking for a gentle city walk or a full-day wilderness adventure, these hikes will immerse you in the magic of the season.

Pacific Spirit Park

For a quick hit of fall colours without leaving the city, head to Pacific Spirit Regional Park on Vancouver’s west side near UBC. It’s easy to get there via several Translink bus routes.

The sprawling park has over 55 kilometres of trails to explore, so you can choose your own route using the park map. Most wind through shady evergreen forests filled with ferns and moss. But the Admiralty Trail near Spanish Banks Beach bursts into gold in the fall, a vibrant tunnel of bigleaf maples with sea and mountain glimpses through the trees. The easy hike takes about 1.5 hours.

After your hike, treat yourself on West 10th Avenue in Point Grey. The cheery Little Umbrella Cafe is a cozy place to warm up with a gooey grilled cheese on a chilly fall day.

Maplewood Flats

If you want to combine the serenity of bird watching with the splendour of autumn colours, go for an easy 1-hour loop hike at Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver. Run by the Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia, this oceanside conservation area has a network of perfect-for-autumn-trails that wind past tidal flats, ponds, and groves of maples and alders bursting with fall hues.

Use the self-guided tour brochure and bring binoculars to spot finches flitting through brambles, blue herons stalking in the shallows and bald eagles soaring overhead. Stop by Otter Point and Osprey Point for sweeping great views of Burrard Inlet framed by autumn colour.

Cates Park, just down the road, is a dreamy picnic spot. Pick up some sandwiches and coffee from United Strangers Coffee, a community-focused cafe, then enjoy your lunch in the salty ocean air before beachcombing to spot starfish and tiny crabs.

Goldie Lake Loop

Fall in the alpine looks a little different than at sea level. Instead of leafy maples and oaks dropping leaves from far overhead, you’ll walk through waist-high thickets of blueberry bushes, their leaves glowing yellow and orange against the crisp blue sky.

For a gentle introduction to Vancouver’s mountain-top trails, try the Goldie Lake Loop in Mount Seymour Provincial Park. The 1.5-hour loop trail dips through ski runs and circles quiet little lakes edged in heather and blueberry bushes in shades of yellow and red. Every breath tastes of cold, clean alpine air.

Cap it off in Deep Cove, where the ocean sparkles and Honey’s Doughnuts serves up warm, cake-style treats that are a favourite with locals and visiting celebrities like Harry Styles and Kate Winslet.

Hollyburn Mountain

Up for a moderate challenge? The 7 km hike up Hollyburn Mountain in West Vancouver’s Cypress Provincial Park delivers a kaleidoscope of fall colours. Cross-country ski trails transform into corridors of huckleberry bushes blazing red and gold. i

From the top, the skyscrapers of downtown Vancouver look like toys, shifts drift through Burrard Inlet, and on a clear day, the snowy peaks of Vancouver Island shimmer across the Straight of Georgia.

After your hike, head to the Cypress Village Pop-Up on the lower slopes of the mountain. Order a wood-fired pizza at The Shed, then enjoy the panoramic city views while you eat.

Elfin Lakes

For an all-day adventure, tackle the challenging 22 km round trip to Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Provincial Park near Squamish, about 1 hour north of Vancouver. Heads up: This autumn trail requires a free BC Parks day-use pass on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holiday Mondays between mid-June and mid-October.

Your six-to-eight hour hike starts with a climb through damp, mossy rainforest before bursting into an open ridgeline where autumn paints the heather, huckleberry bushes, and meadow grasses in bold strokes of amber and crimson. Birdsong carries on the wind while glacier-capped Mount Garibaldi (Nch’kay in the Squamish language) towers in the distance. The sparkling twin Elfin Lakes are a welcome rest stop and picture-perfect lunch spot before the return journey.

While you’re in Squamish, wander recently-opened Sp’akw’us Feather Park for front-row views of the Stawamus Chief, rising like a granite giant beside the thundering waters of Shannon Falls. Reward yourself with a coffee and naturally leavened doughnut from Fox & Oak.

Fall Hiking Tips

Hiking is one of the most fun and rejuvenating fall activities, but you need to be prepared. AdventureSmart recommends bringing a backpack with essential safety and first aid gear on every hike. Check the forecast and pack extra clothing for the conditions. Leave a trip plan so someone knows where you are going and when you will be back. Bears are more active as they get ready for winter, so hike in a group, make noise, and carry bear spray. Read our tips for safe fall hiking in Vancouver for more advice.