Trail Name: Jug Island Beach trail with optional short side trip on the Bedwell Bay trail

Distance (roundtrip): 5.5km

Time (roundtrip): about 2 hours

Elevation: 100 metres

We have done the Jug Island Beach trail a few times now and each time we have found it to be a pleasant, quiet trail with a nice scenic beach as a reward. The hike is located within Belcarra Regional Park in the suburbs of Vancouver and it follows along a peninsula between Bedwell Bay and Deep Cove. The end of the trail is a pleasant pebble beach with a view of a small uninhabited island, known as Jug Island. The trail has enough elevation changes that it feels like you are getting a bit of a workout, but isn’t too difficult or long. The trail is also fairly well maintained.

Each time we have done this trail we have only run into a few other hikers and there were only a handful of people at the beach when we arrived. The beach is also a popular stopping point for boaters who swim in the waters between the beach and Jug Island. The optional Bedwell Bay trail is a much shorter easy trail to view the waters of Bedwell Bay.

Getting There:

• About a 45 minute drive from Vancouver, the Jug Island trail head is located a short distance from the parking lot for the Belcarra Picnic Area. The parking lot can get quite busy in the summer months.
• The #181 Belcarra bus takes you directly to the Jug Island trail head. The #181 Belcarra bus can be picked up from the Moody Centre Station on the Millenium skytrain line.

Facilities: Picnic area, restrooms and parking available at the beginning of the hike at the Belcarra Picnic Area. An outhouse is also available at the end of the trail at Jug Island Beach.