Grouse Mountain

The Skyride carries visitors from about three hundred metres to just under twelve hundred on the shoulder of Grouse Mountain, and the platform gives Vancouver, the delta and, on clear days, Mount Baker in Washington. A refuge on the summit holds two grizzly bears, Grinder and Coola, both orphaned as cubs in 2001 and unable to survive in the wild; they hibernate through winter in a den on site. The Grouse Grind, a trail of about two point nine kilometres gaining eight hundred and fifty-three metres, climbs the face and is walked by around a hundred and fifty thousand people a year; it is one-way up, with the Skyride down.

What you actually see

• The Skyride - a large aerial tram to just under 1,200 metres.
• The grizzly refuge - two orphaned bears in a summit enclosure.
• The Grouse Grind - a punishing 853-metre climb up the face.
• The city panorama - Vancouver, the delta and Mount Baker on clear days.

When to go

Year-round: skiing and snowshoeing in winter, the Grind and lumberjack shows in summer. The Grind opens roughly May to October depending on snow. Bears hibernate from about November to April.

Honest expectations

The bears are asleep for nearly half the year. The Grind is steep and people are regularly rescued from it; descending on foot is prohibited. The summit is often in cloud when the city is clear.

Nearby

Capilano Suspension Bridge lies south; Deep Cove is east.