While Vancouver is a city defined by its spectacular outdoor amenities, it’s often fun to seek out the beautiful spaces outside of the city’s limits. Here are five of my favourite trails, perfect for a Saturday morning run.
Central Valley Greenway
My favourite section of the Greenway enters off of East Columbia Street in New Westminster. Framed by the beautiful Brunette River and a thick, lush forest, you would never guess that the trail neighbours Highway 1.
The gravel path is easy on your knees, and the greenery is always astounding, no matter what the weather.
Green Timbers
Similar to Pacific Spirit Park, Green Timbers offers an amazing array of trails, many of which are nestled under the impressive expanse of a second growth, West Coast rain forest.
From the entrance at 100 Avenue and 144 Street in Surrey, you’ll be dazzled by the park’s diversity of habitats, including marshland, lakes, and grassland meadows. The best part is you’re free to decide how far you want to run, whether 2 or 22 kilometers.
Delta Watershed
The Watershed is the perfect place for a solo trail run. Entrances are located off of 64 Avenue and Highway 10 and the intricate trail network, complete with hills and stairs, allows you to make your run as challenging as you’d like.
Byrne Creek Trail
Enter the Byrne Creek Watershed at the Edmonds Street Skytrain and follow the trail all the way to Marine Way. It parallels the gentle wind of Byrne Creek and is canopied by forest and ferns.
Part dirt, part gravel, the trail also includes stairs and bridges, giving it a uniquely rural feel.
Crescent Beach Trail
Lesser known than its White Rock counterpart, Crescent Beach offers amazing mountain and water views. Enter off Beecher Street, and follow the gravel path along the beach to Blackie Spit.
See if you can spot any of the 200 species of bird who use this area as a yearly migration spot.
Have a secret trail you love to run? Share in the comments below!
Rant and Roll 
safe to say that’s a constant in my life (trails for running OR riding) — kinda like friends — have a variety to choose from, know what kind of weather or conditions may favor some over others; and always (well, usually) enjoy “exploring” when visiting a new place. recently the challenge has been negotiating varying depths and consistencies of snow, as you’d expect.
Do you run with yak tracks? I cannot even imagine how much snow you must have to navigate! Also, I am laughing to even compare the trails that I love in my city to the AMAZING paths that surround your amazing home. I would love to run about those hills one day!
i DO have yak-trax (but some 5-&-dime store generic equivalent) which i probably should have worn a couple times of recent. yeah, we have more snow than usual and my last … oh, 7 or so runs have all been in the white stuff — but (surprizingly?) NO major slippenslides, etc. i can manage if it’s hard-packed, or — if soft/new, then 3 or 4″ or less deep. we rode bikes four times in December and it was challenging but fun (dogs sure liked it) — and, we usually relied on 4WD (you know, SUVs out skanking in the snow) tracks…
well, YOU have the forest(s) primeval to run thru’ — which is (are) not close to my house. however, i’ll enter you in (take your pick) — a big high-altitude run like Imogene Pass? or a low-key locals-only (if 40 people show up it’s a crowd) desert scramble, or check my two posts on last Fall’s North Rim races (along the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nat’l Park). now, i think you could have won the longer (20k) event outright! seriously! (and you and your cat and husband) can stay with our cats in their bedroom)
i’ll do a few barefoot-beach runs inna coupla weeks …