Conquer the Grouse Grind

The glacier-fed lake so clear you'll forget there's a Costco 40 minutes away, paddle included.

A 25 km river loop around all of Port Coquitlam, almost zero hills, salmon in the water and absolutely no pressure to finish it.

Locals' pick over Capilano: a free 50-metre suspension bridge over a roaring gorge, with emerald swimming holes and no eighty-dollar admission guilt.

Grab rentals on Denman, go counter-clockwise, and let 9 km of Coal Harbour yachts and Lions Gate Bridge views do the romantic heavy lifting.

Paddle a glacial fjord from a sheltered postcard village and earn a legendary Honey Doughnut on the way back.

Six flat kilometres along Burrard Inlet to a sandy beach at Old Orchard Park. Most first-timers never make it.

An 11-km round trip on the Howe Sound Crest Trail delivering clifftop lunch and ferries crawling below like bath toys.

Walk a wobbling 137-metre bridge 70 metres over a river canyon and discover what your date's face looks like under genuine terror.

An 8 km Cypress climb past historic log cabins and First Lake to a summit above the Lions and Howe Sound.

Four kilometres of gentle climbing buys you a wooden platform over Howe Sound with Bowen Island below and the city behind you.

A West Vancouver forest walk past 300-year-old cedars to two waterfalls that make you instinctively lower your voice without agreeing to.

Vancouver showing off everything it has in one gloriously flat, car-free, 10 km loop where the ocean is the only map you need.

Prince of Whales runs heated catamarans out of Granville Island after orcas and humpbacks, with a 95 percent sighting rate and hot chocolate on board.

West Van's secret swim spot: 5 km of forest trail, 200 metres up, and a dock built for cannonballs.