Top 10 British Columbia Trails

I live in North Vancouver, and British Columbia is my home province. The province is generally very mountainous and forested, providing excellent topography for scenic, ripping, steep descents throughout.  The most popular regions are along the southwestern coastal areas in North Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler.  However, for those willing to venture further afield, there are great trails in Cumberland on Vancouver Island, the Okanagan Valley (including the cities of Kelowna and Penticton) and the smaller towns of Revelstoke, Rossland and Nelson in the West Kootenay mountain range.

The Okanagan Valley is reminiscent of the Mediterranean wine regions of Europe and offers visitors incredibly scenic vinyards, with wine tasting and great lakefront beaches to swim while you visit. Alternatively, the towns of Revelstoke, Nelson and Rossland, nestled within the West Kootenay mountain range, offer visitors incredible “Alps like” environment with excellent hiking and backpacking among the revitalized formerly railway and mining towns. Below, I show you a map of southern British Columbia, where I circle some of my favourite riding regions.

The best riding weather is typically obtained in the July through September timeframe since the higher elevation, mountain top rides are typically snow covered until mid-July. However, you can still ride at lower elevations nearly throughout the year in North Vancouver, Squamish and Vancouver Island – if you don’t mind the rainier weather.

The best regions to ride for steep, technically challenging trails are North Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler. North Vancouver has dozens of unique, man-made wooden features to challenge the most nervy riders. You will find the best flow trails in Squamish (on the highway from Vancouver to Whistler) and Cumberland on Vancouver Island. If you are looking for outstanding mountain-top vistas, you can find them in Whistler, Revelstoke and Rossland. However, you will also find outstanding mountain biking, small town hospitality and excellent craft breweries throughout the province – towns such as Valemont and Nelson for example, you just need to be adventurous to head further afield. For those visitors to BC who might be more familiar with US ski towns, you will find the towns of Rossland and Nelson similar to those in: Truckee and South Lake Tahoe in California, Park City in Utah and Telluride and Crested Butte in Colorado.

Have a look at my Top 100 List for other outstanding trails in BC! Of my Top 100 Trails, I count 30 trails within the Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler highway corridor – all within a short 90 minute drive!

(Note that the trail rank numbers below are that from my overall Top 175 MTB trail list)

Top 10 Trails in British Columbia

Rank	Trail	City	State	Difficulty	Score
12	Ladies Only	North Vancouver	BC	Double Black	6.53
17	Boogyman	North Vancouver	BC	Double Black	6.15
32	Overnight Sensation	Pemberton	BC	Black	5.85
25	Frisby Ridge	Revelstoke	BC	Blue	6.03
16	Seven Summits	Rossland	BC	Black	6.20
21	Whiskey	Rossland	BC	Black	6.10
29	In-N-Out Burger	Squamish	BC	Black	5.88
19	Duncan’s	Whistler	BC	Black	6.13
22	Dark Crystal	Whistler	BC	Back	6.08
26	Happiest Days	Whistler	BC	Black	6.00

And for a further detailed list of recommended trails in Whistler, North Vancouver and Whistler, see the list of the Top 10 trails in each city below.

Top 10 Trails in North Vancouver

Rank	Trail	City	State	Difficulty
12	Ladies Only	North Vancouver	BC	Double Black
17	Boogyman	North Vancouver	BC	Double Black
35	Boundary	North Vancouver	BC	Double Black
39	Pipeline	North Vancouver	BC	Black
41	Pangor	North Vancouver	BC	Black
52	CBC	North Vancouver	BC	Black
82	7th Secret	North Vancouver	BC	Black
91	Expresso	North Vancouver	BC	Black
104	Floppy Bunny	North Vancouver	BC	Black
137	Kirkford	North Vancouver	BC	Black

Top 10 Trails in Squamish

Rank	Trail	City	State	Difficulty
29	In-N-Out Burger	Squamish	BC	Black
44	Half Nelson	Squamish	BC	Blue
46	Pseudo Tsuga	Squamish	BC	Blue
72	Meadow of the Grizzly	Squamish	BC	Blue
78	Rupert	Squamish	BC	Black
93	Cakewalk	Squamish	BC	Black
94	Pamplemousse	Squamish	BC	Black
156	Leave of Absense	Squamish	BC	Blue
163	Entrails	Squamish	BC	Black
165	Room with a View	Squamish	BC	Black

Top 10 Trails in Whistler

Rank	Trail	City	State	Difficulty
19	Duncan’s	Whistler	BC	Black
22	Dark Crystal	Whistler	BC	Back
26	Happiest Days	Whistler	BC	Black
43	Original Sin	Whistler	BC	Black
51	Clown Shoes	Whistler	BC	Double Black
56	Schleyer	Whistler	BC	Double Black
62	Detroit Rock City	Whistler	BC	Double Black
67	Comfortably Numb Descent	Whistler	BC	Black
75	On the Rocks	Whistler	BC	Blue
77	No Joke Upper	Whistler	BC	Black

If you have any thoughts or comments on my trail lists, please comment in my Blog Post section. Thanks!