Hiking in BC

The British Columbia Mobility Opportunities Society 2012 hiking season opens Wednesday, May 30.

Summer 2011 was our most successful season ever, and we expect to build on it during 2012. Again we will offer hikes (including day excursions, theme hikes and geocaching), a highly popular gliding program and kayaking.

Another truimph in 2011 was the opening of a new hiking centre at Pacific Spirit Regional Park, Vancouver. Check out the video of the launch, and for pictures, take a look at our facebook page.

Looking ahead, we continue to make TrailRiders available for rent ($10 per day), year round. For details, call 604-688-6464 ext. 117.

We will also continue to focus on outreach, making people with disabilities aware of the TrailRider and how it helps create recreational opportunities for individuals and families. We are working to inspire community organizations to offer similar programs (we make our own program 'blueprint' available to all). TrailRiders can be found in many communities across North America.

The season closes Friday, Aug. 31.

 

In store for 2012

BCMOS will continue to offer a wide selection of organized hikes for people with disabilities between Wednesday, May 30 and Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. (In addition to gliding and kayaking.)

We will be making TrailRiders available for guided hikes at Pacific Spirit Regional Park Wednesdays to Fridays throughout the 2012 summer season. (The 1,885-acre Pacific Spirit Regional Park, on the University of BC Endowment Lands, is a truly beautiful multi-purpose recreational area. Use the entrance at 4915 West 16th Ave., approximately 400m west of Blanca St. - see park map or wiki map)

In addition, BCMOS will operate theme hikes that venture further afield on Saturdays and Sundays . These will be half-day hikes to specific destinations, or with specific activities in mind, such as geocaching - a high-tech hide-and-seek in which you explore the outdoors in search of hidden treasure and adventure. Please let us know your interests.

(There will be no organized hikes Mondays and Tuesdays, but the TrailRider is available for rent every day of the year for people that want to arrange their own excursions.)

In all cases, contact our hiking office to make arrangements. Participants will need to organize their own “Sherpas” to assist on the hike, wherever possible.

 

Arrange your own hike – any time

BCMOS offers year-round TrailRider rentals, giving clients more say in their destinations. TrailRiders fold up to fit into most hatchback vehicles, enabling people to take part in activities ranging from family picnics to school outings.

 

Lend us a hand

BCMOS struggles to find sufficient volunteers, especially on week days, to enable clients to experience BC’s beautiful scenery. Can you, or someone you know, help Sherpa a TrailRider? Please talk to us if you can help.

 

Follow us on Facebook

 

Ask a question

For general information about our programs or the TrailRider, you can also email or phone Eric Molendyk at 604-688-6464 ext. 117

 

Destinations for BCMOS theme hikes

These will resume in May - check here for details.

Admiralty Point, Belcarra Park, Port Moody: A beautiful hike along waterfront forest trails, boasting great ocean views. It’s a moderate trail with some hard sections, with a variety of picnic points. Allow two to four hours.

Brohms Lake, Squamish: A difficult hike, requiring four Sherpas per TrailRider, but rewarded by beautiful views of Paradise Valley and the Cheakamus river. Not recommended for people afraid of heights!

Burnaby Lake: In the heart of Burnaby, this is an easy-to-reach hiking location for many of our clients. Essentially a flat trail around a lake, through an area rich in birdlife. There are many picnic locations along the route.

Burns Bog (Delta Nature Reserve): a very accessible trail, considering the amount covered by boardwalks. Being so wheelchair accessible, most clients can access it themselves.

Buntzen Lake: A moderately technical trail through a beautiful area, crossing over a variety of small creeks. It’s possible to follow a circular route around the majority of the 4.8 km hydro reservoir.

Comosun Bog, Pacific Spirit Park: Offering a longer hike within Pacific Spirit Park, this three-hour route crosses a series of fallen trees in order to access a biologically important wetland habitat.

Cypress Falls Park, West Vancouver: A tough, technical hike to a spectacular canyon boasting two breathtaking waterfalls. It’s well worth the effort.

Four Lakes Loop, Squamish: A modified version of the classic Lake Loop, extended and improved! It’s a tough hike, but the breathtaking views make it all worthwhile.

Green Timbers Urban Forest, Surrey: A patch of forest in urban surrey with a manmade lake stocked for fishing. It’s an easy hike, within easy reach of a great number of people, with free interpretive trail walks offered by park staff during the summer.

Giant Douglass Fir Trail, Cultus Lake: A brief, 15-minute excursion from the Clear Creek Campground to the large tree of the title.

Hick’s Lake Loop, Harrison: A beautiful circular walk with amazing views of the water and mountains. Being located past Chilliwack, it’s a long drive – but worth the effort.

Kilarney Lake, Bowen Island: A beautiful hike through Crippen Regional Park that takes participants to, and around, the beautiful and peaceful Killarney Lake. An ideal hike for someone looking to venture a little further afield, but without having to spend hours in the car to get there.

Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver: A low-level old growth forest with 55m Douglas firs that offers a variety of terrain, with fantastic lookout points across English Bay and a historic lighthouse (the original 1874 lighthouse burned down and was replaced 1912). The trails are tough in places.

Lower Seymour, North Vancouver: A trail through the woods of the lowerMount Seymour, over bumps and rocks and tree roots. Hike lasts around two-and-a-half hours.

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge/Rice Lake, North Vancouver: The hikebegins with a crossing of the swaying suspension bridge, 50m above Lynn Creek,and then goes on to get even morespectacular as it takes you through dense forestry. It includes a hike around Rice Lake.

Rocky Point, Port Moody: This hike follows the boardwalk along the water’s edge in Port Moody. There are interpretive signs along the route identifying the local birdlife.

Seven Sisters Trail, Cultus Lake: A narrow trail leads through dense woods to view the famous seven sisters, a group of giant Douglass fir trees

Spanish Banks, Vancouver: Starting from the Pacific Spirit Park trailer, this hike takes you through the wooded trails to the beach. There are picnic tables along the waterfront.

Tea Pot Trail, Cultus Lake: This hike, although only 2km long, gains 280m in height. It takes around two hours to reach the top of Tea Pot Hill by TrailRider, but once there, the views take in Cultus Lake and the rest of the Fraser Valley.

Tynehead Regional Park, Surrey: A thickly forested area, with a variety of views: from forest to open wildflower meadows, and some pretty bridges to cross.

	Admiraly Point		Cypress Falls Park
	Kilarney Lake, Bowen Island		Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge
	Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver		Spanish Banks, Vancouver