Rice Lake Loop

30 to 40mins from Vancouver, right at the edge of Lynn Headwaters Regional Park. This 3km loop will take you around Rice Lake. When we went the road and parking lot were closed so we had to park at the end of Rice Lake Road right by the “End of the Line General Store” (I’ll come back to this).

If you walk down Rice lake road and head through the concrete barricades over the bridge you can look down into the canyon below. On the other side of the bridge is a gravel path that will take you up to the “Baden Powell Trail” and from there into the parking area of the Park. Follow the “Seymour Valley Trailway” until you see the sign for Rice Lake. This will add about 1 to 1.5km to your walk.

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Rice Lake is a peaceful lake that has many viewpoints and benches around it’s perimeter. The trail is wide, packed gravel, and has minimal elevation so it’s perfect for Wheelchairs and Strollers. We had fun taking all the side trails to little secluded areas that would be great for fishing… As for fishing, there is a metal dock (also wheelchair and stroller accessible) and the lake is stocked with Rainbow Trout in Spring and Autumn. We were there in summer, so fishing was a long shot but we took our rods and tried anyway.

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Since we didn’t catch anything we opted to watch the amazingly coloured dragonflies that inhabit the edges of the lake (see photos and cue the Barry White music ;))

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Lynn Headwaters Regional Park has a lot of trails for all skill levels; however, trails such as “Cedar Mill” marked as easy, are not fully accessible for wheelchairs and strollers. I will be exploring this park more and will update as I go. For now here is a trail map: Lynn Headwaters Trail map

As many of you know I always treat the boys after a hike. I highly recommend the “End of the Line General Store”. This is a small grocery / coffee / souvenir shop that sells amazing coffee, pastries, local art, local honey, ice cream, etc. I guess everything happens for a reason because if the road and parking lot weren’t closed we never would have found this place and I know we are going back!