Feature · 6 min read
What can you do on Vancouver's North Shore mountains after dark?
All three local hills switch on their lights once the snow comes, and two of them give non-skiers a reason to ride up at night as well. Your ride home decides which one suits the evening.
By Adam BognarPublished
Each of Vancouver's North Shore hills lights its slopes for night skiing in winter, and the evening you get depends on which one you ride. Cypress Mountain lights the most runs and adds lit cross-country trails and a lantern walk to an old lodge for anyone who doesn't ski downhill. Grouse Mountain is the one you reach by SeaBus and bus, and from late November it puts Santa's Workshop on top beside a lit loop around Blue Grouse Lake. Mount Seymour keeps its evenings for skiers and park riders. Getting home shapes the plan more than the terrain does, because Grouse is the only one of the three with a public bus at the door.
We drew this from each operator's own pages and TransLink's fall 2026 timetable, read on 16 October 2026. None of the three had opened for 2026/27 by then, and Grouse and Mount Seymour hadn't posted their 2026/27 night hours or prices, so the lines below say which season a figure comes from. We didn't ride any of them for this piece. Our night skiing guide sets the tickets and lift hours side by side.
Which hill lights the most terrain?
Cypress does. Its February 2026 stats page listed 21 night runs across Black Mountain and Mount Strachan, and the chairs turn from 5 pm to 10 pm every night of the regular season. An adult Night Owl ticket costs $75 for 2026/27 plus tax. Grouse lists 15 night runs among its 33, and Mount Seymour counts 13 with its four lit terrain parks among them. On the 2025/26 timetable Seymour's lifts ran until 9:30 pm, and on a January 2026 weekday Grouse's chairs stopped at 9 pm.
What does Cypress offer after dark besides the chairs?
Cypress runs the Hollyburn Nordic Area two kilometres short of its downhill area on Cypress Bowl Road. It lights 7.5 km of its groomed track, and it calls its 12 lit trails the only night cross-country skiing on Vancouver's North Shore. A trail ticket for a full day or an evening costs $38 online for 2026/27 plus tax, and the rental shop and the Nordic Cafe stand at the trailhead.
For snowshoers, Lights of Hollyburn follows a lit trail of about 1 km through old-growth forest to Hollyburn Lodge by First Lake and comes back on a second lit trail. Book a time slot and arrive 15 minutes before it, as Cypress asks. Swedish-born Rudolph Verne and his friends opened the Hollyburn Ski Camp on this spot in January 1927. The old lodge came down in 2015, and its replacement went up on the same site in the same shape and opened on 15 January 2017. Cypress keeps dogs off every ski and snowshoe trail.
The drive is the work. Cypress requires winter tires on Cypress Bowl Road from 1 October to 30 April, and the downhill area sits 15 km up from Highway 1 exit 8. The Cypress Coach Lines shuttle picks up downtown at the Vancouver Art Gallery and on the North Shore at Lonsdale Quay and Park Royal, and its fares page prices an adult return at $35 plus GST and a fee it doesn't name. Its 2026/27 timetable wasn't posted by 16 October 2026, so check the last bus down before you buy a night ticket.
Why does Grouse suit an evening without a car?
The bus runs late. Ride the SeaBus 12 minutes to Lonsdale Quay and take bus 236 from Bay 6 to the base in about 25 minutes. The Blue Grouse Gondola makes the climb to the plateau in 5.5 minutes, and Guest Services takes $10 off a ticket for anyone who arrives by transit. On weekdays the last 236 leaves the base at 12:34 am, and on Saturdays at 12:32 am. Sundays and holidays end at 10:32 pm, which is the bus to watch.
Non-skiers ride up on a Mountain Admission ticket, which cost an adult $89 in 2026. After dark the Light Walk starts at a light tunnel beside the Skating Pond and loops Blue Grouse Lake at no extra charge, and Grouse suggests snowshoes or cleats on its slippery paths. Skates rented for $10 for adults and $6 for children in 2025/26, and in January 2026 the pond stayed open until 8 pm. Grouse says its guided snowshoe tours return for 2026/27 with full moon and new moon outings on select dates.
From 20 November to 24 December 2026, Peak of Christmas puts Santa's Workshop on top, and Elf Headquarters opens from 10 am to 8 pm daily. Mountain Admission, a pass or a ski ticket covers the programme. Sleigh rides leave from behind the workshop once the snow is deep enough. The Red Skyride has been closed since 28 September 2026 for new cabins, so the gondola carries everyone this winter.
Grouse acknowledges that the mountain stands on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation).
Who should spend the evening at Mount Seymour?
Park riders and learners. Seymour lights its four terrain parks and their more than 30 features, and it rates 40% of its terrain novice. Strong all-mountain skiers run out of new ground fast on 330 metres of vertical.
Seymour's other winter activities keep daytime hours. Its Discovery Snowshoe Trails to Goldie and Flower lakes are unlit and close near sunset, and in 2025/26 the tube park and toboggan park ran from 10 am to 4 pm. Book your ticket in Mt Seymour's own online store, since it voids tickets bought anywhere else, and on weekends and holidays pick "arriving by car" if you'll drive, because attendants turn away cars without that ticket or a reservation.
Plan the way down before you go up. Mt Seymour closes Mount Seymour Road at the gatehouse from 10 pm to 7 am every day from November 2026 to April 2027, and winter tires are required on it from 1 October to 31 March. The resort's own shuttle leaves from Parkgate Community Centre and from across the street from Rupert SkyTrain Station, and a return seat cost $10 and $15 in 2025/26. Mt Seymour reports Uber drivers turning down pickups at the ski area.
The map
The map marks every place this piece visits.
Contours come from Mapterhorn, and the coast and water from OpenStreetMap.
When do the lights come on for 2026/27?
With the first good snow. Mt Seymour anticipates opening on 11 December 2026. OnTheSnow projects 28 November 2026 for Cypress and 18 December 2026 for Grouse, and those dates stay projections until each hill posts its own. Hollyburn's trails open once there's enough snow.
British Columbia stays on UTC−7 all year from 1 November 2026, so winter sunsets come about an hour later by the clock than in past winters. BC also runs an hour ahead of Washington from November until mid-March. When Cypress stops its chairs at 10 pm, it's 9 pm in Seattle.
Past each ski area boundary you're in the backcountry. North Shore Rescue asks anyone heading out there to leave a trip plan and carry the ten essentials, with a headlamp at the top of the list. Read Avalanche Canada's forecast before you go.
Quick answers
Can you go up Grouse Mountain at night without skiing?
Yes. Grouse Mountain sells a Mountain Admission ticket for the Blue Grouse Gondola and the winter activities on top, at $89 for an adult in 2026. After dark the Light Walk loops Blue Grouse Lake at no extra charge.
Is there night cross-country skiing near Vancouver?
Yes. Cypress Mountain lights 7.5 km of groomed trail at the Hollyburn Nordic Area, 13 km up Cypress Bowl Road in West Vancouver. An evening trail ticket costs $38 online for 2026/27 plus tax.
What time is the last bus down from Grouse Mountain?
The last bus 236 leaves the Grouse Mountain base at 12:34 am on weekdays and 12:32 am on Saturdays on TransLink's fall 2026 timetable. On Sundays and holidays it leaves at 10:32 pm.
Can you drive down Mount Seymour Road late at night?
No. Mt Seymour closes Mount Seymour Road at the gatehouse from 10 pm to 7 am every day from November 2026 to April 2027, so drive down before 10 pm.
We write from operators’ and agencies’ own pages, open map data and published research, and we date every fact we check. How we research.
Sources (19)
- https://www.grousemountain.com/ski-board-tickets
- https://www.grousemountain.com/light-walk
- https://www.grousemountain.com/peak-of-christmas
- https://www.grousemountain.com/gondola
- https://www.grousemountain.com/news/iconic-red-skyride-gets-an-upgrade-with-new-tram-cabins
- https://infomaps.translink.ca/Public_Timetables/221/tt236.pdf
- https://www.cypressmountain.com/downhill-tickets
- https://www.cypressmountain.com/hours
- https://web.archive.org/web/20260212120809/https://cypressmountain.com/trail-maps-and-stats
- https://www.cypressmountain.com/nordic-tickets
- https://www.cypressmountain.com/winter-activities/lights-of-hollyburn
- https://www.cypressmountain.com/getting-here
- https://www.cypresscoachlines.com/fares
- https://hollyburnheritage.ca/mtn-lodges/history-hollyburn-lodge-don-grant/
- https://mtseymour.ca/the-mountain/trail-map
- https://mtseymour.ca/the-mountain/hours-of-operation
- https://mtseymour.ca/the-mountain/getting-here/shuttle-bus
- https://www.onthesnow.com/vancouver/projected-openings
- https://www.northshorerescue.com/education/heading-outside/
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