Deep Cove is a little village with a lovely waterfront at the base of Mt. Seymour. “It’s an insane tourist trap in the summer where parking can require shuttles, and locals generally avoid it,” says Adam Lee, host for the Community Trail Running Podcast and newsletter. “Those who don’t avoid it and are looking for a hike while in the area make their way to the Quarry Rock Trail. This trail is just as busy as the rest of the village and is generally a butt parade for the couple kilometers you cover before an overcrowded lookout. What the crowds often don’t realize is the Quarry Rock Trail is actually the Baden Powell Trail (BP) which is over 40km long and travels the length of the entire north shore. Simply going past the overcrowded lookout for another 100m or so brings you to another lookout where typically nobody is around.”

“This is one of the first trail runs I did on Mt. Seymour, states Adam. “It’s a short one and absolutely gorgeous. The lookout at Quarry Rock is a fun reward, and I love the elevation packed in.”

“The reason I know about this lookout is that the best way to get there is to come from the other direction on the BP trail. With the BP being over 40k, you can do this from an endless amount of start points. I have a favourite from over the years because the run ends up being nearly 10k with 500m of elevation, and I know I’ll be back at the car in about 90 minutes. The car is parked at the base of the trail known as “Old Buck.” There is plenty of parking here and a toilet (that’s very old…). Old Buck gets you climbing immediately, and you’ll be warm by intersecting with Baden Powell. The BP is awesome, with lots of little bridges, and you run mostly downhill to get to the Quarry Rock area. The lookouts around Quarry Rock are beautiful and worth taking in before you turn and head back the way you came.”

 

 

“Going back up the BP is fun climbing, and I enjoy watching my elevation profile climb during these shorter runs. Once you return to Old Buck, you stay on the BP and keep climbing. Nearly one kilometer later, you will intersect with two trails. The one on the right, coming down the mountain and finishing on the BP, is called “Pingu.” The one on the left is the one I take for this super fun descent, and it’s called “Pangor.” Pangor is a mountain bike trail with all kinds of features. It’s almost 2k down the mountain and a quad-crushing good time. I love running all the big bike features, and there is always another way around them if that’s not your jam.

Pangor finishes when it intersects with a trail called “Bridle Trail,” and it’s easy to continue down the mountain towards the car on the trail “Fern Gully.” Fern Gully is a little trail that allows hikers/runners to avoid mountain bikes on the way back to the parking lot.