Ride 29 (full ride) – Horseshoe Bay, Vancouver's most beautiful cycling route, and most dangerous.

Published on January 22, 2024

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Anyone familiar with cycling in Vancouver will tell you that the most popular riding route in the city is the Stanley Park Seawall. When it comes to cycling routes, the seawall is not particularly popular. It is flat and about 6kms in length. While it is a beautiful route, it is short and generally ridden by tourists and casual riders.

I had originally thought to claim that the Horseshoe Bay route was the most popular cycling route. But, after some consideration, I realized that that is not true.

I think it is Vancouver’s most beautiful cycling route. I also think it may be Vancouver’s most dangerous cycling route and that is what prevents it from being Vancouver’s most popular cycling route.

Horseshoe Bay is located at the western most point of West Vancouver on Vancouver’s north shore. The route is quite straightforward. I will ride Stanley Park Drive until the Lion’s Gate Bridge and cross Burrard Inlet to the north shore. I will then turn west and ride Marine Dr. all the way to Horseshoe Bay.

West Vancouver is located on the lower slopes of the north shore mountains. Marine drive winds along the oceanside and is bounded by seaside houses on the south and rock faces on its north. It is an undulating, winding road. It is often difficult to see far ahead, and there are often drivers wanting to pass by.

This road was constructed long ago. Because of the natural impediments and the practicalities of road construction in that day and age, the route is narrow, it offers few areas with any shoulder to ride on and, in many cases, it is quite dangerous to get to close to the righthand side of the road lest one fall into a ditch.

While I highly recommend cycling this route, a cyclist must be comfortable riding in traffic on what is becoming an increasingly busy road. It is best to hit this route early on a weekend morning as many cycling clubs do.
And, it is these realities that limits the popularity of the Horseshoe Bay route.

And, as you will also see, there are few sidewalks and even pedestrians have to walk on the road.

Despite this, the route is still very popular with cyclists and I think that is because of its incredible vistas.