British Columbia

Grouse Grind reopens for 2021

The popular North Shore hiking trail has been nicknamed "Mother Nature's stairmaster."

The popular 2.5-km trail up the face of Grouse Mountain draws 370,000 visitors every year

The Grouse Grind is a 2.9-kilometre trail made up of thousands of stairs.

Grouse Grind enthusiasts rejoice! The popular North Shore hiking trail nicknamed "Mother Nature's stairmaster" reopened for the 2021 season on Monday.

The trail is open 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily, and hikers should be aware the trail is one-way, uphill, only.

Reservations to take the Grouse Mountain Skyride down the mountain are available online.

Upgrades scheduled for the nearby BCMC Route mean that trail will be closed at various times through the spring and summer, leaving the Skyride as the only option for Grind descents.

The first scheduled closure of the BCMC Route is May 10 to accommodate helicopter drops of materials. Starting later this month, the trail will be closed from Mondays to Thursdays for up to 10 weeks. 

"For public safety, it is imperative that hikers do not use the route while crews are working," said a release from Metro Vancouver.

The Grouse Grind is a steep, 2.5-kilometre trail with an elevation gain of 853 metres that winds up the south face of Grouse Mountain. An average of 370,000 people hike the Grind every year.

Corrections

  • A previous version of this story cited statistics about the Grouse Grind using information from Grouse Mountain Resort. Those figures have been corrected with updated information from Metro Vancouver Regional Parks, which states that the trail is in fact 2.5 kilometres long and attracts 370,000 hikers a year.
    May 11, 2021 10:38 AM PT