British ColumbiaA B.C. trail in North Vancouver, which sees around 250,000 visitors a year, will close on Tuesday for annual maintenance for three weeks.Local elite athletes who use it to train say Grind is unique and valuableChad Pawson · CBC News · Posted: Oct 11, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoHikers are pictured on the Grouse Grind trail in North Vancouver, British Columbia on Monday, June 22, 2020. (Ben Nelms/CBC News)A B.C. trail in North Vancouver, which sees around 250,000 visitors a year, will close on Tuesday for annual maintenance for three weeks.The Grouse Grind attracts people of all ages and fitness levels — and some with dubious footwear choices — for its 800-metre steep climb up 2,830 stairs, amid a lush, second-growth forest.“It’s really cool every time I’m doing it, seeing such a wide diversity of people,” said professional trail runner Jade Belzberg, who lives in Fort Langley, B.C. “I think I saw … a three-year old doing it the other week, which sounds a lot harder than me honestly doing it.”What you need to know to hike the Grouse GrindBelzberg was part of Canada’s team at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships that won a bronze medal in Spain’s Pyrenees mountains in late September.She used a race up the Grouse Grind before the championships as a final tune-up before the race in Spain. She won the Grind race in a time of 31:53, more than twice as fast as a very fit person can make it up.“The trail is so nicely maintained … I use it for training quite frequently,” she said “The first time I did it, I think I took about an hour. So it’s taken me a long time to get to like 30-ish minutes.”Jade Belzberg from Fort Langley, B.C., crosses the finish line at the top of the Grouse Grind Trail at a race on Sept. 12, 2025. (Grouse Mountain Resort)Fellow world mountain and trail-running championship team member Jordan Guenette, 43, says he’s done the Grind around 750 times since 2012. He set his best time this year at 26:04.“It’s such an accessible trail. I do a lot of ascents of other mountains as well but they’re harder to get to, sometimes I don’t want to have to run down, so having the ability to take [the] gondola [down Grouse] makes it very convenient.”Belzberg and Guentte say they’re thankful for the effort the regional government, Metro Vancouver, takes to maintain the trail, especially after the high traffic spring and summer months.“I think it’s probably the best of any trail that I’ve done,” Guenette said. “They are maintaining it every single year.”Guenette said the trail used to be more rugged but the regional government continues to add stairs and retaining walls for a good reason.“The reality is, for the maintenance, there’s going to be a lot of erosion with that much foot traffic,” he said.Jordan Guenette competes at the Grouse Grind Mountain Run in 2024. (Devin Manky/Grouse Mountain Resort)In a release Metro Vancouver said crews will be working on the upper section of the trail, starting Tuesday Oct. 14, to repair and replace steps, stairs and retaining walls to increase trail resilience.“The Grouse Grind Trail must be closed during these upgrades because the terrain where the work is taking place is steep and hazardous and detours are not possible,” it said. Metro Vancouver is asking people to stay off the trail while it’s closed to allow crews to work.Hikers are pictured on the Grouse Grind Trail in North Vancouver, B.C., on Monday, June 22, 2020. (Ben Nelms/CBC News)Guenette says, for the most part, in past maintenance closures, most — but not all — have respected it being off limits.“I would say 80 per cent of people will respect the closure … but you occasionally get people that do the trail during the maintenance,” he said. “I think that can be frustrating for the workers because they have to stop what they’re doing to let people pass.”The adjacent BCMC Route and the Baden-Powell Trail will be open during the Grouse Grind closure, with the BCMC being similar to the Grind in length and elevation, and ending in the same location. Metro Vancouver says the Grouse Grind trail will reopen on Nov. 8, weather permitting.ABOUT THE AUTHORChad Pawson is a CBC News reporter in Vancouver. Please contact him at chad.pawson@cbc.ca.
North Shores popular Grouse Grind Trail to close for annual maintenance
