Tunnel Bluffs Trail
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A pleasant half day hike to Tunnel Bluffs.
Statistics
| Total Distance: |
12.0 km (return) |
| Estimated Time: |
4 hours |
| Average Grade: |
10.4% |
| Structure: |
Linear - Return |
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Elevation Gain:
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626 m |
| Start Elevation: |
65 m |
| Max Elevation: |
691 m |
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Directions
Park in a BC Highways pullout about 3.2 km north of Lions Bay (just past the "M" creek bridge). Pullout is on the west side of highway 99. Trail begins at the north end of the parking lot and is marked with a 6" x 8" yellow sign.
Details
Follow yellow trail markers up though numerous bluffs and old-growth trees to an old logging road at about 600 m elevation. Follow the road (rough in places) to its intersection with the Hat trail near the latter's intersection with Yahoo creek. Follow the Hat Trail NW for about a kilometer to the Hat / Tunnel Bluff junction (yellow sign). Turn left on the Tunnel Bluff logging road for about one kilometer. A short scree patch covers part of the road for about 100m - contour across it to pick up the road on the other side. Look for the turnoff to Tunnel Bluffs when the trail enters the bottom of a short but prominent valley at 690m. Turn left at the yellow sign, and traverse 100m up and along the south side of the bluff to the top. Continue another 50m north along the top of bluff to the west edge and the spectacular lookout. (Optional) Continue north, about 1 km past the bluff to reach the Logger Creek bluffs with an even better view of Howe Sound.
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Tunnel Bluffs can also be reached from Lions Bay, or the two sections can be joined to form a traverse. From the watershed parking lot, hike up the Lions trail, take the Mt Brunswick turnoff (left), cross Magnesia Creek, then take the Hat Peak/Tunnel Bluff turnoff (left). The road crosses three tributaries of Yahoo creek. Look for the Tunnel Bluff trail intersection just beyond the third one.
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Notes:
There are no tunnels on either section - the names refer to a BC Rail tunnel near the original trailhead.
If approaching the Tunnel Bluff parking area from Vancouver the nearest turnaround is 1 km further north at Logger Creek. (The nearest legal turnaround is about 4km north near Deeks Creek).
The BC Highways pullout has 24 parking spaces and is never full - even on weekends.
For several years the only approach to Tunnel Bluffs was via the Lions Bay logging roads. But now that highway construction has finished, the historical "Tunnel Bluff" hiking trail is open once again. It is preferable to the Lions Bay approach.
Google map (copy and paste URL into your browser):
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=106954972148932384440.000455b341ee42822d94f&t=h&z=15
Photographs
GPS Waypoints
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