VANCOUVER -- Dotted with kayakers, paddle boarders and the occasional luxury yacht, Deep Cove is an adventure-lover’s paradise, and there’s no better place to take it all in than from high above on Quarry Rock.
But the District of North Vancouver closed the popular hiking trail in March of last year because it would be nearly impossible to physically distance on the normally crowded route.
"Just before we closed it, we had three to four thousand visitors a day going to Quarry Rock on a sunny weekend,” said North Van District councillor Lisa Muri. “So there's no possibility of social distancing with those numbers."
The closure, which includes padlocked fencing at the main trail entrance, has not kept everyone out.
In a short time Saturday morning, CTV News Vancouver saw several people making their way around that fence. Most of them declined to be interviewed on camera.
Off camera, however, some said they had accessed the trail in another area where there is no fence.
Many social media posts from the top of the lookout also reference a different way to get to the Quarry Rock trail, with some people seemingly under the impression that it’s OK to go in that way.
However, the district has installed large digital message boards along the road to that entrance, as well as signs at the trailhead, all of them indicating Quarry Rock is closed.
"It's been closed for the last year, and it will remain closed,” said Muri. “When we open it, we'll let you know."
At this time, the district is taking an educational approach with people park rangers encounter on the trail, but Muri said enforcement could be stepped up to include fines if the message doesn’t get through to people chasing the impressive views and social media clout.
