Mount  Nutt was a lovely surprise. It’s a fun but tough hike in Golden Ears Provincial Park. We were staying at Alouette Lake Campground in late September, but didn’t quite feel brave enough to attempt the epic hike up Golden Ears. Mount Nutt worked out perfectly as it’s not crazily long and it is super quiet so we had all the incredible viewpoints to ourselves. Just be prepared if you’d like to attempt this one, it is steeper (and less maintained) that other steep local trails like the Grouse Grind. On sunny days the views from Mount Nutt are fabulous.

Mount Nutt South Peak – the basics

Distance: All trails says 10.6km we recorded more like 16km.
Elevation Gain: 1090m (to the top)
High Point: We stopped at 1140m. The true peak is 1210m.
Time: 6-7 hours
What to bring: Water, snacks and your camera! The 10 essentials
Facilities: There are loos at the Gold Creek trailhead
Dogs: Dogs are allowed on leash.
How hard is it? Hard as it is so steep, but not technical.

The previous day we did a quick walk to Gold Creek Falls so we’d seen the view of Mount Nutt from below.

Mount Nutt Getting Started

Start at the Gold Creek trailhead in the North Beach Campground in Golden Ears. It takes just over an hour to drive from Vancouver. This is a very popular parking area (as it’s close to one of the easiest trails in the park) so you might need to park further down the road.

The trail starts on the East Canyon Trail. Before you cross the bridge and head up the trail, there is a fabulous view of Evans Peak at the trailhead.

On the first part of the trail we overtook a massive hiking group! There were around 60 people all hiking together. It’s pretty cool that groups can get so many people out to enjoy nature! Still, it was a bit of a relief once we’d got past them to a calm, empty trail.

Turn right onto Mount Nutt Trail

About 1.2km into the hike, watch out for the sign/turnoff to Mount Nutt. Although the East Canyon trail is often busy, we didn’t see any other hikers on the way up Mount Nutt. Near the turn off there is a massive log that you need to hike over.

The steep part

My photos don’t really show off how steep this part of the trail is, but it’s really tough. You climb about 300m in 0.7 km.

You get a brief reprieve from the steep trail at a tarn half way up the trail. Then it’s gets steep-ish again.

There are a couple of different routes up to the first viewpoint, easy to the right (which is slightly longer) or tricky to the left (which is the steeper option.)

You’ll get a moment when you can peek through the gorgeous trees down to Alouette Lake.

There are several more impressive viewpoints along the trail. I looooved this one a bit higher up. That is Alouette Lake below, with the Golden Ears Massif towering behind.

From left to right, these are Evans Peak, Alouette Mountain, Blanchard Peak as well as Edge Peak and Golden Ears.

End of the trail

The end of the trail stops at another incredible viewpoint at a bluff. This isn’t the Mount Nutt South Peak (that is a little further via a bit of a bushwhack.) We couldn’t find the next part of the trail to the true peak, so we were happy to turn around here.

This is the view from the bluffs down to the east side of Alouette Lake and Mount Crickmer.

I think the tree-covered bump in my photo below is the true peak.

We spent time at each of the viewpoints as we’d never seen the surrounding mountains from this direction. Then we slowly made our way back down the ridge to the steep trail below.

Head down the same way you went up, then follow the East Canyon trail back to the trailhead. It’s a beautiful area late in the afternoon with the sun streaming through the trees!

Gold Creek Falls

If you have extra energy at the end of the walk, you can reach two waterfalls less that 1.5km further along the East Canyon trail. The Lower Gold Creek Falls is the easiest to reach. The trail to the Upper Gold Creek Falls is slightly more technical.

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Panoramas from Mount Nutt

The highlight for this hike is definitely all the viewpoints! I’ve shared a few panoramas from the nicest spots.

Mount Nutt South Peak is a bit of a grind at the start as it is so steep, but it’s easy to forget that as you climb higher into moss-covered old growth forest! This isn’t one of the most famous hikes in Golden Ears Provincial Park, but it is well worth visiting! Do you fancy it?