The weather has been really good to those of us who live in Southwestern British Columbia. Robyn, Jenny and myself though it would be a good time to get out over to Dog Mountain this weekend, with the beautiful weather we have. We tried to do hike Dog Mountain earlier in the year but when we got up to the parking lot at Mount Seymour, we were greeted by at least a half a foot of snow at the far end of the parking lot. The snow has since significantly melted away and we were excited hike Dog Mountain.
Dog Mountain is located off of Mount Seymour in North Vancouver. The trail head is roughly a hundred feet from the end of the parking lot at the top of Mount Seymour and quickly ducks into the trees heading West. The trail itself is a bit rough with rocks and roots, so don’t expect to get a stroller through it. Check out Vancouver Trails for information on getting to the trail head.
The total journey from the parking lot to Dog Mountain and back is roughly 2 hours. Of course this is when there is no snow on the ground and the ground is fairly dry. We hit some muddy patches along the way, but nothing horrible.
About the half way point you come to First Lake. A great place to stand and admire the beauty hidden by the trees. Though don’t hang around too long, during the beginning of Summer the flies and mosquitoes are out in full force. Be sure to use bug repellent or you will complain about it the whole trip like I did.
Eventually you will reach the end point; Dog Mountain. It offers a spectacular view of Vancouver as well as Grouse Mountain. If you have binoculars or even a decent zoom lens, you can see various highlights of our beautiful city too.
Another highlight for Dog Mountain is the remains of an old cabin. As each year passes, less and less evidence of the cabin remains. Why was there a cabin and what happened? Who knows?
While you are at Dog Mountain, it is a great place to sit, relax and even enjoy some lunch. You might even see the occasional chipmunk or grey jay bird too, whom might sneak near you asking for a crumb or two. We also heard an owl hooting in a local tree, though we could not locate it among the branches.
When you are ready to head back to the parking lot, just turn around and head back the way you came. The majority of the trail is downhill so it might be easier than the hike up. I also recommend heading up earlier than later as once the sun peaks, it does get fairly hot.
Dog Mountain is a great way to spend a morning on a sunny day. It is also a decent little work out as well as you scramble up and around the various roots too. Just be sure to put on bug repellent!
Don’t forget, you can click on any photo above to view it’s larger version!
Photography Notes:
It was difficult to get photos of Vancouver and the surrounding area when on the top of Dog Mountain. Our city can be fairly polluted and hazy, specially closer to noon. The photos of the city I edited with Lightroom to help take away the crazy haze as well as blue tone you get when you shoot landscapes from a far distance. The circular polarizer on my 18-55mm kit lens did not help much, and I do not have any sort of UV or Haze filter on my 70-200mm lens either. An UV or haze filter might have helped, but my edits were alright.
Shooting in the trees was not too difficult though I did need to bump up my ISO to 400 to get a decent shutter speed, even when using an f-stop of 2.8. I’ve had difficulties before with shooting in a forest on a hike do to the poor lighting you can get. I probably also should have used a wider angle when we got to the First Lake, as the 70-200mm was attached. I just didnt want to stop and switch lenses at the time. Perhaps I should get a second camera body 
VancityAllieJul 06, 2009 at 14:10:46
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Looks like a fun hike and a beautiful view at the end!
You’re right, it’s definitely hard to get city photos like that when it is hazy and it’s pretty hard to get good nature/hiking shots… but you’ve found a way to make them look interesting and vibrant!
Your edits look great.
A second camera body? Sounds good to me!
TawcanJul 07, 2009 at 14:23:56
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Dog mountain is a good hiking destination for both winter and summer time. In the winter you can always go up in snowshoe. Done it a few times myself. For me the trail is in pretty good shape, but then I do have a completely different definition when it comes to “hiking.”
Tyler Ingram July 7th, 2009 at 15:19:58[Link]
@Tawcan – Yea we would like to get into hiking that you do, especially the over night/camping ones. We just dont have the gear or knowledge yet, so these little quick half-day hikes are alright for us
We will be building up to bigger ones!
KarlJul 09, 2009 at 11:57:26
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Nice post Tyler
Like Tawcan says, its also a good snowshoe trail for sure. You wouldn’t need much (any) experience to get out in the winter for a day hike. You just have to watch less hours of sunlight. I know you ski so you would dress the same more or less and just rent the snowshoes from Grouse! (just need warm/ waterproof boots).
I have a Grouse pass this year, and when winter comes plan to do this one a few times for sure. Just hit me up if you and the ms’s would like to join, @Tawcan @VancityAllie as well! hmmm… I’m sensing a tweetup here… haha, I’ll have to remember this and organize one in the winter.
business managementJul 09, 2009 at 22:45:20
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Going camping to split rock lighthouse state park with a friend of mine. Looking to do some hiking. Any trails anyone can recommend in the park or in the area? We are looking for 1-4 hr hikes. Thanks.