Diez Vistas hike is famous for different viewpoints of the Indian Arm and the other islands along the way.
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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.
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 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:
Diez Vistas Trek Buntzen Lake
For the Diez Vistas hike from Buntzen lakeside, please refer the hike route map below:
Walk Along the Lake
After parking your vehicle, you have to walk around half an hour to the cut which cuts into Diez Vistas trek. One way of identifying the cut is that the cut is just opposite to the bridge on the lake which has been marked with black ink in the picture above. Be mindful that on a clear sunny day and mostly on weekends, you might want to reach early. We reached around 11’o clock and we could not find any parking spot available.
Then we had to take a turn around and find a parking spot near a school which is around 2-3 Kms from the main entrance. Then, walking itself from the school to the trailhead was a hike in itself.
From Lake to Bearclaw trail intersection
From the lake to Bearclaw trail intersection, the hike is moderately steep with some plain in-betweens. It will take you around one hour or a little more than to reach the Bearclaw intersection. People starting the hike from Sasamat lakeside/ White Pine Beach meet at this intersection as both of these trails join.
Intersection to Lookout #3
From the intersection to lookout #3, the hike is pretty steep and takes around 1.5 hours to reach to Lookout #3 as shown on Google map. I am referring google map here because different people call the same lookout with different names.
Beyond Lookout #3
Beyond Lookout #3, the trail is easy and you can go to the next lookout in around 10 minutes. However, lookout #3 is the best lookout. While returning, if you have some time, you should relax by the bridge on the lake and also take some pictures. Here is the picture of the lake in the evening