Fodor's Expert Review Grouse Mountain

North America's largest aerial tramway, the Skyride is a great way to take in the city, sea, and mountain vistas (be sure to pick a clear day or evening). The Skyride makes the 2-km (1-mile) climb to the peak of Grouse Mountain every 15 minutes. Once at the top, there are plenty of activities included in the ticket price. From spring through fall, you can catch a lumberjack show, a ranger talk, a documentary video, or a falconry demonstration. Go hiking, ride the chairlift, play disc golf, or visit a pair of grizzly bears in the mountain's wildlife refuge. For an extra fee, you can mountain bike, tackle a ropes course, go zip-lining, or take a helicopter flight. You can even pay extra to ride on top of the Skyride car. Popular family extras include a treetop canopy course and a chance to have breakfast with the bears. In the winter, you can ski, snowshoe, snowboard, sled, ice skate on a mountaintop pond, or stroll through the Light Walk, an illuminated pathway around a lake. A stone-and-cedar lodge is home to snack shops, a pub-style bistro, and a high-end restaurant, all with expansive city views. The Grouse Grind—a hiking trail up the face of the mountain—is one of the best workouts on the North Shore. Depending on your fitness level, allow between 40 minutes and two hours to complete it (90 minutes is an average time). Then you can take the Skyride down. The BCMC Trail is a less crowded, slightly longer alternative. From late May through September, you can catch a free shuttle to Grouse Mountain from Canada Place. Bus 236 from Lonsdale Quay stops at the base of Grouse Mountain year-round.