Mount Coliseum & Burwell Mountain
- Kaitlin
- Sep 21, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 20, 2024
September 21, 2023
Distance: 26km round-trip
Elevation gain: 1471m
Time required: 11-12 hours total
Mount Coliseum and Burwell Mountain (does anyone else get annoyed that 'mountain' sometimes goes before and sometimes after the name?) are two mountains located within the boundaries of Lynn Headwaters Regional Park. Coliseum Mountain is the better known of the two but once you've reached it, Burwell Mountain is only a hop, skip, and a jump away.
There are two ways to get to these mountains: the easiest (and longest) way is to start from the parking lot of Lynn Headwaters Regional Park. The second is to start at the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve and bike 10km to the trailhead just before Stoney Creek Picnic Area, leaving you only 4.5 steep kilometres until you reach Mount Coliseum. The downside of this approach is you will require a bike to get to the trailhead. Of course, you could walk the 10km but that defeats the point of a shortcut.
I opted for the longer (and in my opinion, nicer) route through LHRP. The first part of the trail winds through 14km of relatively flat forest. Just before reaching Norvan Falls, there is a turn off to your right that begins the trek towards Mount Coliseum. After a journey up, up, and more up, you finally reach your destination.
From Mount Coliseum, you can continue hiking along the ridgeline for a further 30-40 minutes until you've reached Burwell Mountain. I would highly recommend this; the views are slightly different and just as stunning.
Mount Cathedral is on my to-do list. It is a common trail running route. It is long but can be done in a single day. It adds an additional 6-7km to the route.
Last but not least, I managed to get pretty close to one of my favourite birds of all time: a grouse. Specifically, a female sooty grouse. They are the most common grouse you will see here.
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