Belcarra Regional Park (now re-named to acknowledge the Tsleil-Waututh peoples*) is a 1,100-hectare…read moreregional park. It is an extremely popular regional park with beaches, picnic areas, a lake, and numerous hiking trails of various difficulty levels. There is something for everyone at the park, including decent washrooms.
The various trails within the park are: Bedwell Bay Trail, Woodhaven Swamp Loop Trail and Woodhaven Trail, Sasamat Lake Loop Trail, Springboard Trail, Admiralty Point Trail, Jug Island Beach Trail, Sugar Mountain Trail, and Buntzen Ridge Trail (and the nearby Buntzen Lake and Diez Vistas trails).
Until recently, I had only hiked the Jug Island and Admiralty Point trails (both excellent, easy to intermediate hikes), and on Sunday I had planned to hike around the Woodhaven Swamp Loop, continue along the Woodhaven Trail to Sasamat Lake, and around the lake with my hiking group. Unfortunately due to a recent windstorm, the Woodhaven Trail leading to Sasamat Lake was closed, but we still enjoyed the lovely hike along the Springboard Trail and around the swamp. It was a very easy hike (pretty much a walk), but the trails were beautiful, and being the off-season, very peaceful.
I love Belcarra Regional Park and would like to eventually hike all the trails, as well as re-hike the ones I have already done. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to get there by transit, although it is technically possible -- the #182 bus runs from Moody Centre Station to the park, but it only runs once an hour. During the summer months, the #150 runs to White Pine Beach and the #179 runs to Buntzen Lake (I don't recall if it is once an hour or every half an hour). So because transit is so lousy, most people drive, but parking is very limited -- good luck finding parking after 8am on a weekend during the non-winter months! IDEA: to alleviate the parking issue, have transit run more than once an hour!
Despite the horrible transit to the park, at least it is technically possible to get there by bus, and with my hiking group (which focuses on transit accessible hikes), I will definitely be going back to Belcarra.
*I cannot include the name in my review as Yelp does not recognize Indigenous script.
[Yelp collections: Hiking; Parks and Gardens]