Did an exploratory circuit of the old Mackay Creek Trail the other weekend. Not much beta on this trail but it’s a great alternative to the BCMC. We parked on Redonda Drive, crosses the creek and Madeline our way through Malispina Park. In a couple minutes we hit Powerline Trail, turned right for another ~300m and then took the first left after the bridge across the creek.
The trail is super well marked with big signs strong the Mackay trail at every junction. Essentially, if you are going up steep, you are on the trail! The trail runs alongside the creek the first five minutes and the cold air of the gulley is very refreshing on a hot day.
The trail is in great shape for being unlisted and we made good time going up. At 750m there is the ruins of the once Tiltin Hilton, a large log cabin from back in the day that unfortunately perished four years ago. The out house is visible from the trail and you know it’s close by when you start seeing all the cabin garbage littering the trail.
From here on, you can follow the trail up to Grouse, but we decided to follow the trail of oil drums, wood stoves, fridges, and beer bottles up the west side of the mountain. It is disgusting the mess left behind from squashed cabins and the condemned cabins of Grouse Mountain. The cabin village has left a destruction and all Grouse has done to fix it is remove a few barrels and board up the windows of the once huge cabins. We even found a makeshift hot tub Built in to the ground made of cedar! Overall a fun trail, but would only recommend if you are looking for a quiet fitness hike as there are no views along the way. Beside cabin debris, there is not much to see! Also, no snow along the trail.