Diez Vistas hike is famous for different viewpoints of the Indian Arm and the other islands along the way.
Diez Vistas Hike from White Pine Beach
If you are starting your hike from the white pine beach, I would suggest you going until Diez Vistas Trail – Vista #10. This lookout viewpoint offers the best view.
- White pine beach to Lookout 10: 6.5 Km (Round trip: 13 Km)
- Elevation Gain: 1870 feet
- Average time to reach Lookout 10 from White Pine beach: 2.5 Hours (one side)
- Difficulty: Easy to intermediate
- Best Season to do: July – October
- Dog-Friendly: Yes
Reaching White pine beach
You can go in your own car or take a bus to reach the white pine beach. There is ample parking space there along with washroom facility at the white pine beach. The trail is pretty clear from the white pine beach.
Sendero Diez Vistas Trail
If you look at the trail map above, you will see that from the white pine beach, the trail starts as Buntzen Ridge trail but soon after gets bifurcated. I have marked both of the bifurcated trails in the red and yellow color. I would not advise you to take the red trail. The red trail is very steep though it will save you almost a km, I think it will take more time.
So instead of following the red-marked trail, continue along the yellow trail. The yellow trail eventually joins the sugar mills trail. I also want to mention that when we started from the white pine beach, we did not see anyone except us on the hike until we reach the sugar mills trail. So, I think most of the people start their hike or trail running on the sugar mills trail.
You actually gain the elevation of 1870 feet in just 3.5 Km at the starting. The trail becomes really steep from 2.5 to 3.5 Km beyond that it is just a normal walk. In other words, the steepness is just before Lookout #3 on the trail beyond which the walk is normal. At some places, we also saw ropes tied to support the hikers. Also, carry a lot of water.
While coming we thought of taking the shorter route because it had begun to rain so we took the trail marked in the red above in the image. It runs along a water pipeline and then turns into a wide jeep trail. For easy memory, it runs just under the electricity poles as well.
Viewpoints or Lookouts along the Diez Vistas Trail
There are basically two viewpoints marked on the Google map called as Lookout #3 and Lookout #10. Lookout #10 offers a better, wider, and higher view of the Indian arm. Here are some pictures from the hike: