Mount Washington is the name of the largest Alpine ski resort on Vancouver Island. Did you know in addition to winter sports, it is also possible to hike or cycle there in the summertime? We did some incredible walks within Strathcona Provincial Park to Kwai Lake and Cruickshank Canyon. But while we were there, we looked over to Mount Washington and wondered if the scenery would be good up there as well. It turns out, the views are spectacular!

This is one of those short workout hikes that people seem to love here in British Columbia, Canada! The trail won’t take you very long, but it will also really get your heart pumping!

Mount Washington – Linton’s Trail

Distance: 7 km
Cumulative Elevation gain: 420m
Highest Point: 1591m,
Time: 2-2.5 hours (We recorded about 1.5 hours, but we ran down.)
What to bring: The 10 Essentials
Facilities: Parking and loos at the lodges.
Dogs: Great for dogs, but you should keep them on a lead
How hard is it? Intermediate. This is a short, steep hike that is easy to follow.
Extra notes: It sounds like if you visit in the summertime, you can do this hike in one direction and take the chairlift down.

Linton’s Trail Map – Mount Washington

This is the map of Linton’s trail. See the full Mount Washington Hiking Map here, or my strava recording here.

Linton’s Trail – Getting started

We did this hike in October, when the mountain seemed to be completely empty! We didn’t see any other hikers until we were almost finished and there was oodles of space to park at the end of Strathcona Parkway by the base of the chairlifts.  From the Alpine Lodge, follow the wide access road onto Mount Washington.

The trail is pretty flat for the first kilometer. You drive up to an elevation of 1200m, so your vehicle does most of the hard work. This means even at the start you can look down at the scenery below. That road below is Strathcona Parkway.

This is the view up the ski slopes. I loved how colourful it was in autumn. I guess these meadows would be full of wildflowers if you hike in the summertime.

Once the trail turns uphill it is a pretty constant steepness the entire way up the mountain.

Views for miles

If you ever feel tired, just turn around and take a peek at the fabulous views behind you. The scenery in Strathcona Provincial Park look stunning from up here.

Not bad as views go eh!?

The final Kilometer

Once you make it up to the shoulder of Mount Washington, you can see the trail wibble it’s way up to the summit. The mountain is steeper but there are more switchbacks so it doesn’t feel any steeper.

Before you hike up the last kilometer, you can peek down to the northeast side of the mountain.

First Viewpoint

There is a wooden viewing platform that makes up part of the “top of the world trail” for hikers that ride up on the chairlift. I love that you can see Battleship Lake and Lake Helen Mackenzie that’d we’d visited the previous day.

Once you reach the first viewpoint and the Eagle Express chairlift, you’re almost there!

Mount Washington Summit

There is quite a lot of space at the summit, so you can look around in all directions. I loved the view out to the mountains of Strathcona Provincial Park best.

There is a steep drop down on the north side of the mountain, looking down to the “outback” part of the ski hill.

Heading down

We ran down the way we came. However when I was double checking the details for this post, I noticed that there is a longer, alternative route down called the West Ridge route. If you have time, that would make this into more of a loop.

Running on Mount Washington

Linton’s trail is a pretty constant gradient, and was pretty for running. We both had great fun running down the mountain. If you decide to run, just be really careful on the rocky sections. Gravity does most of the work so it’s a super easy run.

Hiking up Mount Washington doesn’t feel like you’ve made it into the wilderness of Vancouver Island. But the views are fantastic and it is great that you can see so far into the distance with so little effort! Do you like the look of hiking here, or would you prefer to visit in winter and ski down those inviting wide slopes!?