Brunswick Mountain and Lake

July 22, 2022

Distance: 18km round-trip

Elevation gain: 1875m

Time required: 8-9 hours total

Brunswick Mountain is the highest peak on the North Shore, at 1788m. It has a lake below it (Brunswick Lake) that is equally as beautiful as the mountain itself. My stats are for a trip that includes both the mountain and lake (but either can be done separately).

You can reach Brunswick Mountain (and lake) via 2 different routes:

1. Via the Lions Binkert trail from Lions Bay (most popular route)

2. Via the Howe Sound Crest Trail (HSCT) starting from Cypress resort

Most people choose to use the trail that starts from Lions Bay, which is 4km shorter and 100m less elevation gain than if one were to do the HSCT. I'd only recommend doing the HSCT route if you were actually doing the full 28km trail (which most people do as a multi-night point-to-point trip or as a trail run).

There is a tiny, paid parking lot at the trail head in Lions Bay. It is almost always full. Thankfully, there is a larger, free parking lot 500m down the road near the elementary school.

The hike follows the same route that you take to reach The Lions, starting with a steady climb up a wide FSR. After a couple of kilometres, the trail diverges from the Lions Binkert trail (be sure to pay attention to signage indicating which FSR to take). After more FSR climbing, you eventually get onto a forested trail which you then climb until reaching the HSCT junction. From here, the trail becomes even steeper and more exposed as you gain the ridge. Finally, you pop out at the top of a col on the ridgeline that contains Brunswick Mountain. It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to reach the peak from the trailhead.

Mount Brunswick is at the end of a rocky ridgeline (seen here as the bigger bump on the ridge)

Many people stop at the col and don't go all the way to the true Mount Brunswick summit as it does require a scramble through scree and talus and over semi-exposed rock columns. However, it is not that difficult.

On top of one of the rocky columns on the ridgeline. This was in 2019.

Looking down on Brunswick Lake and Hanover Lake. Mt Hanover is the rocky massif on the right.

Obscured view of the Lions and HSCT ridgeline to the south

Snow-filled slopes directly below

Howe Sound to the west

From left to right: Brunswick ridgeline, Hat Mtn and Fat Ass Peak, Hanover Lake and Brunswick Lake visible below.

Close up of the ridgeline scramble. You start from the snowy col and work your way to the left around and over and rocky columns towards the true summit.

Now that the summit was complete, my next destination was Brunswick Lake. I hiked back down to the HSCT junction and took the HSCT heading north. Here, you cross through two passes on the way to the lake. The passes contain scree slopes that are usually covered in snow until well into August. You must cross through them, which can be quite slippery. I took my time kicking foot holds into the snow as I crossed each one. Finally you make the descent down to Brunswick Lake. This portion of the trail (from the HSCT junction) had taken me one hour.

The bright luminous blue of Brunswick Lake

Brunswick Lake emergency shelter. There is space to lay sleeping bags in if need be.

More Brunswick Lake

You can just see Brunswick Mountain peaking out from the trees on the right

From the lake, it took me 3 hours to hike back to the trailhead. Both the peak and the lake are a really rewarding day trip (or overnighter) and I would highly recommend both.