apostis

Hi everyone,

I'm new to biking, have been rinding bikes before of course, but only now discovered the fun in it again and got a new bike that I want to go ride now.
I'm living in Vancouver currently and I'm looking for trails to ride.
The thing is only, it needs to be quite close to downtown since I don't have a car.
I've already done the obvious things many times, Stanley park, sea wall, but that's just enough for a few laps in the evening after work. So what I'm looking for are longer trails and especially something not on asphalt (mountain bike), for the weekend.
The other day I went to Lynn Cannyon from downtown but that was also 90% street, 5% trail and 5% carrying the bike, so not exactly what I was looking for.
Grouse Mountain is of course the first thing that came to my mind but I couldn't find anything about bike trails there, is it really possible that the only ways to get up there are the Grouse Grind and the gondola?

I'm thankfull for any advice!

Big Lew

No, there's a gravel road off the end of mountain hwy at the top of north vancouver (gated) that goes all the way to the resort. I've taken large 'booster' concrete trucks on that road all the way to the resort. There are some fairly rough sections, and it's a long way. Google it on 'google earth' (I used 1300 borthwick rd. north vancouver bc canada to get close)

apostis

Oh I found it! But it looks like it requires pretty much the same trip to get there like lynn canyon, meaning 3h in traffic.
The gravel road seems perfect tho, just what I was looking for and I'm guessing it gives you a nice view, too.
I might give it a try, thx!

If anyone has any other suggestions....

lhbernhardt

You can put your bike on a bus and ride to Cap University in North Van. From there, you ride UP Lillooet Rd (the street that goes uphill past the entrance to Cap U). Just keep following the main road. You'll pass a big cemetery, then you go along a newly-paved section, then arrive at Seymour Demonstration Forest. There's a 9.5 km trail (no motor vehicles allowed) that takes you into the forest. It's pretty quiet on weekday evenings, but can get pretty crowded on weekends. This is probalby what you meant by Lynn Canyon? You can get there from Lynn Valley Rd/Rice Rd as well, but it's a lot easier going by way of Cap U. That newly-paved section used to be gravel several years ago, so Lynn Valley was a better way to go at one time. Just watch out for bears if you're the only one out there. This is also a popular place for cross-country ski racers to do their dryland rollerskiing in the fall.

I have a hard time calling it Cap U. It used to be Cap College.

The other farily quiet ride from downtown is to go over the Lion's Gate Br, make a HARD right thru the works yard parking lot at the north end of the bridge, head over towards Park Royal, turn left at the 4-way stop just after the bridge, and follow this ring road about 200 meters until you see a paved trail to your left. Follow this trail. Just after the railroad bridge, you make a right turn, and the trail joins you to Bellevue St. in West Van. Just follow Bellevue. You'll need to make a left/right past the RR tracks and work your way left and right over various lanes and stuff, but generally following the RR tracks. You eventually end up at 31st and Marine Dr. after going past some of the most expensive waterfront property in Canada. You can then come back along Marine Dr. Or you can just follow Marine Dr. ("the Lower Levels") out to Horseshe Bay. There's a nice spur you can take down to Whytecliff Park, which is not steep and usually very quiet. Marine Dr. in West Van is another popular training route; you'll see lots of racers and wannabees along here, but it can get busy during rush hour.

Luis

bghill1

Try the Central Valley Greenway from Science World out to New Westminster.