The Cabin Area on Cypress Mountain is a great place to go for an off-leash hike with your dog. Especially if your dog loves the snow! The trails are just outside the perimeter of the Cypress Mountain Resort and Cypress Provincial Park. They connect to the Baden Powell Trail.
The Cabin Area has many acres of heavily forested trails and old gravel roads winding through the hills. The roads are easy to navigate, let in the sunlight and are wide enough to safely throw a stick or ball for your dog. The gravel roads are behind a locked gate and don’t appear to have been driven on in years.
If you want to get a little more technical, there are trails off these roads which lead into the dense forest for a very different experience. The trails are narrow and windy. Exposed roots and rocks can be slippery and there are makeshift bridges and raised pathways. The trails have been built by the local cabin owners. Some can be dangerous because they are getting old or weren’t built well to begin with.
Where is the off-leash area?
Not to be confused with Cypress Provincial Park or Cypress Mountain Resort – The Cabin Area abuts the southeast border of Cypress Provincial Park. Whereas Cypress Mountain Resort “is located in the southern section of Cypress Provincial Park, operated under a BC Parks Park Use Permit.” (source: Wikipedia)
To be clear: dogs must remain on-leash at all times within Cypress Provincial Park. This is designated on the darker green background on the BC Parks map below.
The Cabin Area, however, allows dogs off-leash but they must remain on the trails. The District of West Vancouver has delineated The Cabin Area in purple on the screenshot below.
Heading up Cypress Parkway from Highway 1, just after the 4th switchback you’ll find a pullout on the right side of the road. A gravel road hooks right from there and leads to a small parking area. It is rough but most vehicles can make it through when there isn’t any snow.
When we get a good dump of snow, the snow on this road can get very deep – to the point that some 4x4s will get stuck. In this case, you should park at the pullout, if there is room, or consider heading a little further up the hill to the Hollyburn Lodge Rec Area. You may have to pay for parking, but there is a public trail heading south from the lower parking lot which will take you into the Cabin Area. The first stretch of trail is on-leash only and hooks over to Hollyburn Lodge on First Lake, before heading south again and into the Cabin Area.