Brunswick Mountain Trail

Attempted this on Nov 25 after an overnight snow dump on the North Shore mountains. Unfortunately all the fresh powder was too slippery and lightweight for our microspikes to dig into, and we turned around about a half km from the ridge line. It was a bummer not to finish, but we felt the descent would be too sketchy. And sure enough my poor hubby lost his grip in the powder at a steep section and slid 15 feet or so and cut up his hand a bit. We’ll be back next summer when the trail is clear (or at least visible!) to bag the peak!

Trail conditions Nov 10th: there is no snow or ice on the trail.

Did this hike on November 10th, having done Harvey the week before. I thought that the Harvey trail was a much more pleasant hike (basically straight up through beautiful forested slope with a waterfall and midpoint view) compared with the Brunswick trail which involves a laborious and uninteresting trudge up a moderately steep gravel switchback for what seems like ages. I was expecting it to be a steeper hike based on the comments, but in fact I'd suggest that the Harvey trail is steeper for more of its length, but it is also much more direct, and you've had a chance to get the heart rate down prior to the steeps on the Lions trail, which is a pretty flat traverse. However, the summit of Brunswick is far more interesting - a ridgeline of shattered rock with at least three distinct summits, great views of Howe Sound, mountains in all directions, the lakes to the north, etc. Beautiful with recent snow in the bowl below. Managed to do the climb in just under two hours, spent a half hour exploring the summits, then bombed back down for a ~4 hour car-to-car. This is basically briskly walking the on the ascent with some jogging, and then charging the whole way down. Good trail for trail running for most of its length - the West Lion's trail at the start is a wide switchback, and the slope is gentle enough to run for a good portion of the remainder. Only the last several kilometers are too steep for running.

Hello hikers, we did this trail Nov 3rd. Excellent workout and super fun scramble at the end. Please be careful during the last section as it is steep and there's some loose rock. There's plenty of footholds but exhaustion can make you pick the wrong steps, so take a pause and choose wisely :). The day we did it was probably the last day of the season before it gets covered in snow (hopefully I'm wrong and you can do it too). There's some snow and a few icy patches in the last quarter of the trail, but nothing serious that demanded microspikes. The view up there is simply astonishing.

Not much to add the previous very thorough review except a brief conditions update. There appears to be a bit of new blowdown on the lower sections probably caused by the recent windstorm, but easily stepped over. Icy sections begin at about the HSCT junction and careful footing above that is required, there is plenty of evidence of kicked steps into the hard and thin icy snow. The next major storm system will likely bring copious amounts of snow that will remain as the base layer for the winter/spring season. Views spectacular as always and only one other soul up there today enjoying it before winter. 10/29/2019

Uninteresting first 1-2km improves once you break off from the deactivated service road at the Brunswick/Lions junction. Single-track begins and would make for good trail running terrain. The route is very well delineated and maintained. The final push through the treeline is steep, climbing about 600m or so in about 1km. By comparison, the grouse grind is 850m over 2.9km. While it is steep, it is neither technical nor rugged. Continue straight through a 4-way junction, ignoring the left turn which takes you down to the lakes and right which goes south. Terrain becomes steeper and more rugged with larger route systems and some short scree sections. The final 100-200m involves a steep, non-exposed, ascent on rocky terrain. Amazing views visible throughout this section and even more await once you gain the ridge. A short, 50-100m class 2 scramble up the ridge, including one brief, exposed traverse across a 5-step section leads to a summit. All parties we saw today stopped here. Route to true summit involves another 100m of ridge scrambling, with a section of greater exposure than the first, is about same elevation but may award better views of south including the Lions. Variably cloudy day and views were still fantastic. Breaks in cloud offered views of howe sound and nearby mountain ranges like Sky Pilot and a trio of lakes below. 3H 10m from parking to summit going steady pace. Equal time to descend. Frigid, windy at the top. Merino layer, down puffer, and shell and still freezing. While no snow on the route on Thanksgiving weekend, forecast called for 3ft of snow at Lions which is 100m below Brunswick. I would expect snow from the Howe Sound Trail junction onwards, if not before (final 300m).

What a hike! What a workout! The last 1/4 or so of the trail is the steepest and features roots and loose rocks. The view at the top is lovely. Plenty of room to play up there, too, with the various peaks close by. Would recommend if you're up for the challenge. Took me about 7 hours total. About 4.5 up, time at the top, then a couple hours down.

Starts in the forest on a well-maintained, wide, steep trail shaded by trees. Keep hiking into a narrow even steeper trail, still shaded by trees, watch out for roots here especially on the way down because they’re slippery. End up scrambling up sharp shale steps to get to three peaks, then keep adventuring from peak to peak if you want! Such an epic climb! Climb climb climb then eat a sandwich at the top and share snacks with the friends you’ll make through a shared understanding of how insane this hike is!

Did this trail in light rain. The fork where the Brunswick trail begins is a bit muddy but not too bad. Only went as far as the log bridge, about 2 miles up, as the trail gets steep after that. Rocky on the way up with lots of dense foliage.

Trail is in great condition. Loose rock makes the decent a bit annoying but straight forward otherwise car to car in 5 hours with a 45 minute lunch at peak. Be prepared to work. It is pretty much a climb from the trailhead to the end and is steep.

Only 3 Cars in parking lot at 7:00 am on Tuesday August 27th. Note that pay parking in now in effect at this trail head and it is pretty expensive ($16 for 8 hours!!!!) - Parking lot full at 1:20 pm when I got down. 3.5 hours up, 50 minutes at the top, 2 hours down (but a ran a bit). 6.5 hour round trip (but I hike a lot and didn't take any breaks). This trail is in EXCELLENT condition. No snow at the moment. No problem finding routes, a couple of logs to jump over, that's it. STEEP though. It is basically three parts: PART I: Forest service road turns into switch back trail to Howe Sound Crest trail. This section is well maintained and hardly technical at all, but it is steep AF. Tree bound the whole time, can't see shit. PART II: After intersecting the Howe Sound Crest trail, the Brunswick trail becomes increasingly steep and technical until it becomes a full-on scramble. Medium sketchy. You can finally see some views. PART III: First peak to second peak and third peak. This part gets sketchy AF. The crux is between the first peak and second peak, where you must tight rope walk across a narrow ridge with no hand holds, exposed on both sides. After getting to the second peak, you will have no problem getting to the third peak. Third peak is where you finally get a true 360 degree view, but epic views start way before that. There are some nests swarming with flying ants on the third peak, believe it or not. They get all up in your grill. No mosquito though. This trail is awesome, if not a bit unpleasant when you are tree bound and trudging up hill for what seems like forever. Definitely save this one for a blue bird day so you can see the view. Also, would not want to do when the trail is wet, because steep AF. Sit this one out if you have a bum knee, have never heard of scrambling before, are afraid of heights, have sub par cardio-vascular endurance or are allergic to fantastic views. RESPEK

Awesome hike and well worth doing. Completed on August 18 and the trail was in good shape. It took me 4 hours to get to the top and I did make it to all three peaks there. Challenging but well worth it. I have some photos from the hike at photokaz.com