The Beautiful Quarry Rock Hike in Vancouver

Quarry Rock Lookout

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Distance: 3.8km Time: 1.5hrs Elevation: 100metres From Vancouver: 30mins Dog Friendly: Yes Toilets: Yes Deep Cove beach area

Quarry Rock Lookout is a short and easy Deep Cove hike in North Vancouver that leads you to a stunning views overlooking Deep Cove, Belcarra, and Indian Arm. Quarry Rock offers some of the best views in Vancouver and is an amazing place to spend sunrise or sunset! The main trail is 3.8km with an elevation of 100m and will take you around 1.5 hours. There is also an alternative trail for the Quarry Rock hike which is detailed in this guide.

You might even see swimmers or paddleboarders in the water below. We are pretty sure we saw a swimmer in March which would have been FREEZING! The trailhead is a 30 minute drive from Vancouver and there are also public transport options as detailed below.

This guide will tell you everything you need to know about the Quarry Rock Hike, as well as details on the alternative trail and where to park.

❗ March 2023 UPDATE: The Quarry Rock Lookout Trail is now open after 2 years of closure due to storm damage that occurred in 2021. I recommend visiting on a weekday or in the early morning as this trail will be crowded after being closed for so long.

couple standing at Quarry Rock Lookout in British Columbia at sunset

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Where to Park for the Quarry Rock Trail

You will need to park in Panorama Park carpark for the Quarry Rock official trailhead. There are toilets available at this trailhead in Panorama Park. If the small parking lot at the park is full, there is street parking you can use. This may lead you to park 10-15 minutes walk away.

As Quarry Rock has only just opened after 2 years of being closed, there will be crowds of people trying to do this hike bring fierce competition to the Quarry Rock parking lot. I recommend trying to arrive first thing in the morning or on a weekday in an attempt to avoid the crowds.

Where to start the Quarry Rock Lookout Trail from

There are multiple places you can start this short but beautiful hike from. It follows the Baden Powell Trail so as long as you are on this trail, you could technically start it from anywhere if you wanted.

The Alternative Quarry Rock Trailhead

We did the Quarry Rock hike for sunset and chose a short track which starts on Indian Arm Drive (marked as A on the map below). Park on the side of the road, but be weary of the no stopping signs and walk straight down the fire trail.

If you choose to do the hike from this point it is only about 1.8km return and took us only 12 minutes one way. This is the perfect route in our opinion to use if you are just looking to head to the viewpoint for a picnic or to take some pictures and aren’t looking to do an epic walk.

Please note that this is literally a trail off the side of the road and there are no toilets available here.

The official starting point for the trail is on Panorama Drive and is marked as B on the map. The trailhead is next to a sign at the base of a set of stairs. From this trailhead, it is 3.6km return and about 100 metres elevation. No matter which trailhead you start from, you will take the Baden Powell Trail.

Man hiking through the forest on the Baden Power Trail — *The alternative route*

How to get to the official trailhead by public transport

If you don’t have a car, you can still reach the Quarry Rock trailhead by public transport. The best option to get to the official trailhead by public transport is to take one bus all the way from Burrard Station to Panorama Drive. The trip is a total of 55mins.

Catch the 211 Bus from Burrard Station at Bay 2 to SB Panorama Dr at Naughton Ave. (50 mins bus ride)
From here it is a 5 minute walk to the trailhead.

How Long is the Quarry Rock Hike

If you choose to do the whole hike from the Panorama Drive parking lot, it is 3.6km return with 100 metres elevation gain. The Quarry Rock hike usually takes 1.5 hours in total on average. For the incredible views that you get at the viewpoint, the 3.6km is well worth it!

Is the Quarry Rock Hike Hard?

The official trail is a bit longer than the alternative trail that we took, however it is still a short trail. The trail has quite a few stairs so this is something to keep in mind. If it wasn’t for the stairs, we would rate this trail as easy. There is also a little bit of scrambling in sections but nothing extreme. Overall, Quarry Rock is an easy hike but if stairs are not your favourite thing in the world, you may consider the difficulty moderate.

Man hiking through the forest on the Baden Power Trail to Quarry Rock Lookout

Couple standing at Quarry Rock at sunset

Other Useful Tips

Bring Mosquito Repellent – We did this hike at the end of March and the mosquitos at the viewpoint were insane. This was probably due to a large pool of standing water in between the rocks at the lookout. We highly recommend bringing mosquito repellent!
Bring headlamps if you plan on hiking at sunset. We use lightweight headlamps from Nitecore. You can purchase these here.
Leave no trace (LNT)! Respect the beautiful nature that is British Columbia and take out everything that you take in, take only photos and respect the wildlife and other people. You can read more on the 7 LNT principles here
Try to go on a weekday if possible as this is an extremely popular and heavily trafficked trail on the weekends.
Dogs are allowed on the Quarry Rock Trail off leash but be extremely careful with them at the viewpoint as it is a long fall down!

What to Wear Hiking in Vancouver

Hiking Boots – Kerry’s loves the Oboz Bridger Mid B-Dry Boots and Dave’s favourite boots are his Scarpa Kailash Plus Gore-Tex Backpacking Boots.
Hiking Socks – Good hiking socks are important to make your boots as comfortable as possible! Our favourite hiking socks are Smartwool Hike Classic Edition Light Cushion Crew Socks and the Darn Tough Hiker Midweight with Cushion Micro Crew socks.
Merino Top / Tee – Merino is a great material to hike in so we use Merino tops to hike. Our favourite Merino tops are the Tech Lite II Crewe T-Shirts from Icebreaker! Mens is linked here and Women’s is linked here.
Kerry’s Leggings – I wear leggings on every hike and my favourites are the Lululemon Align pant because they are super soft and comfy.
Men’s Hiking Pants – A great option for men’s hiking pants are the KUHL Renogade Rock Pants.
Fleece – Our favourite fleeces are the Patagonia Better Sweater 1/4 Zip (Kerry’s) and a Mac Pac Fleece from Australia (Dave’s).
Puffer Jacket – Dave’s favourite puffer jacket is the Arcteryx Cerium LT Hoody and Kerry’s favourites are the Eddie Bauer CirrusLite Down Hooded Jacket and Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket.
Rain Jacket – We bring our raincoats along on all of our hikes, because you know.. just in case!
Beanie – Some of our favourites are from Dakine and Eddie Bauer.
Hat – A hat is so so important when hiking during Summer in BC as the sun is extremely strong. Tilley makes some really great hats for hiking.
Check prices for Tilley hats on REI here.
Check prices for Tilley hats on MEC here.
Day Backpack – Our favourite backpack for day hikes is the Osprey Tempest 20 Backpack.
Trekking Poles – For hikes with more elevation, we like to use trekking poles to take some of the pressure off our knees.

Our Thoughts

The hike to Quarry Rock is a great one to do after work to watch the sunset or to get in a walk with your dog. We are all about hiking to epic viewpoints and this one definitely did not disappoint, especially in the golden light at sunset. We can also imagine that there would be good sunrises from this lookout if you feel like waking up early enough for it! If you love short and easy hikes with insane views, be sure to also check out Murrin Loop Trail.

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