The best MTB trails around Surrey

The Burnaby Mountain Biking and Hiking Trails span a total of 28 kilometres across 576 hectares of the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. The best place to park is the park at the Mountain Air Bike Skills parking lot, but there are smaller lots around the university as well for accessing different areas of the forest. Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area can feel quite wild sometimes, with wildlife sharing the trails and forests like blacktail deer, coyotes, bald eagles, black bears and cougars. However, you can also find quiet areas of the forest that feel totally removed from urban life.

Upper Cut Trail is open to mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners. Mountain bikers can enjoy some fun corners and a few wooden features, while hikers can enjoy this lush green forest, with lots of shade and small stream crossings. It's a singletrack trail, which means it's narrow and bikers may only ride from north to south.

A well-known part of Burnaby Mountain's trail network, Gearjammer is one of the area's most popular mountain biking routes. The trail winds through dense coastal forest, with the lower section featuring a series of tight switchbacks that zigzag down the hillside. These turns help manage the mountain's elevation while adding character to the route for both riders and hikers. Along the way, short ladder features and the surrounding rainforest scenery offer a glimpse into Burnaby Mountain's long-established mountain biking culture while still making for an enjoyable forest walk.

Much of Burnaby Mountain is covered by the temperate rainforest typical of British Columbia's south coast. Towering conifers, moss-covered logs, and a dense understory create a distinctly Pacific Northwest atmosphere, while the forest canopy provides shade throughout much of the year.

Unlike the surrounding forest trails, Powerline Trail follows an open utility corridor across Burnaby Mountain. The cleared route creates wider views and a greater sense of space than the densely wooded sections nearby, offering a different perspective on the conservation area.

The trail is an easy packed dirt track that is two people wide in most places. It's a pretty tour of the large ferns, mossy trunks, and other flora that this region of BC has to offer.

Also known as the Harry Jerome Sports Centre, you can play volleyball here and the indoor cycling track has an incredible banked wooden oval. If it's open, the velodrome is well worth a step inside to see the cycling track if nothing else.

Watershed Park protects one of the largest remaining old-growth forests in Metro Vancouver, with wide trails winding beneath towering western red cedars, Douglas firs, and western hemlocks. Ferns, moss-covered trunks, and a dense canopy create a classic coastal rainforest setting, while the mostly level terrain makes for easy walking. Although the park is best known for its extensive mountain biking trail network, many of the trails also make excellent hiking routes. Just stay alert for cyclists and follow posted trail signs, particularly at intersections and on narrower sections.