2.0 miles

Distance

277 ft

Climb

-527 ft

Descent

00:30:06

Avg time

Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Baden Powell (Fromme Section) Trail

lululemon athletica
Sponsor
More Bikes
since 2022
Sponsor
Sean Brassil
since 2016
Builder
Dave Clendenan
since 2016
Builder
Dodge Lancaster
Builder
past supporters

Norco Bicycles
2019 - 2021
Sponsor

Details

Activities
- Mountain Bike
- Hike
- Trail Running
Riding Area

Mount Fromme
North Vancouver, British Columbia
Difficulty Rating

Blue rate
Voted Difficulty

Black Diamond (22 votes)
Hiking SAC Scale

T1 Hiking
Trail Type

Singletrack
Bike Type

AM, XC
Direction

Both Directions
Popular direction shown
Climb Difficulty

Black Diamond
Physical Rating

Hard
Trail Visibility

Always easy to follow
Season

Year round
Dogs Allowed

Yes
TTFs on Trail

Bridge, Ladder Bridge, Rock Garden
Ride in Rain

Yes
Global Ranking
#49652 in Mountain Biking [+]
- #227 in Trail Running
- #1256 in Hiking
Local Popularity
25 in Mountain Biking [+]
- 90 in Trail Running
- 80 in Hiking
Land Owner

District of North Vancouver

The well known Baden Powell trail is named after Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting Movement and was built in honor of British Columbia's 100th anniversary as a Canadian province. Much of the trail was built by Boy Scouts and Girl Guides and officially opened in 1971. The building of the trail was led by Dirk Oostindie, North Vancouver's first Parks Manager (1959-1993) and Boy Scout leader.

Over the years sections have been improved to the point where it can be ridden West to East. The trail can be ridden East to West but is more challenging in this direction as there are some hike-a-bike sections for the mere-mortals amongst us.

The trail is used to connect the various trails on Fromme, or as a cross-mountain transport. Mostly a blue trail but there are some black if not double black sections that take a few tries to master and those new to riding should check out before attempting to ride.

Local Trail Association

North Shore Mountain Bike Association
IMBA Canada
Please consider joining or donating to the local trail association to support
trail development & maintenance.
donate to earn trail karma!

Traditionally Indigenous Territory

More Stats for Baden Powell (Fromme Section) multi-use trail trail

Altitude change

-250 ft
Altitude min

1,129 ft
Altitude max

1,605 ft
Altitude start

1,380 ft
Altitude end

1,129 ft
Grade

-2.4%
Grade max

-45.2%
Grade min

24.5%
Distance climb

4,744 ft
Distance down

4,970 ft
Distance flat

715 ft
Avg time

00:30:06
Avg reverse time

00:24:23
view trail stats

Status:

on Feb 5, 2023

Wet

Avg: 2.85 (47 votes)

Your vote: 0

view (734)

Directions to baden-powell-fromme-section trailhead (49.355250, -123.073660)

update trails status or condition

Baden Powell... Trail Reports

status	date	description
	Feb 5, 2023 @ 5:34pm 21 hours	reporter Cleared some drains, closed a braid, did a Little Rock armouring and raked the trail. One photo shows slats on a bridge that are not in great...
	Jan 30, 2023 @ 5:22pm Jan 30, 2023	Tree down in between upper digger and lower oilcan.
	Nov 30, 2022 @ 6:40am Nov 30, 2022	reporter Rebuilt lowest dirt step of Stairs of Despair, and re-armoured the runout. And lots of fresh gold! With More Bikes crew.
	Nov 21, 2022 @ 7:27pm Nov 21, 2022	reporter Expresso to mtn highway riding good
	Nov 15, 2022 @ 6:05pm Nov 15, 2022	Running great. Stairs of Despair from Lower Expresso to lot. Cannot comment on anything above.

view all reports »

Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

Past Week

0 rides

6 Months

18 rides
16 miles avg distance

All

193 rides
Last: Nov 5, 2022

Photos

63 |

Jun 14, 2021 @ 1:13pm

Jun 14, 2021

535 |

May 16, 2014 @ 7:24am

May 16, 2014

484 |

May 16, 2014 @ 7:12am

May 16, 2014

| 1 comments

632 |

May 16, 2014 @ 7:12am

May 16, 2014

Trail Lists

Fromme Mountain
58 trails
Mount Fromme
22 trails

Routes with this trail

title	distance
Expresso, Ladies Only, Big Stupid - Fromme - RideSpots.com	8 miles
What's this flow on Fromme?	6 miles
No Quarter (Fromme Climbing Route)	3 miles
Classic Adv-Intermediate Loop	7 miles

Trail Products

24 Reviews & Comments

Score Time Post Comment

theconorcons

(Dec 8, 2022 at 15:06)

I love this trail. Very challenging, but there is flow to be found here if you find the lines and the speed! The builders are doing a great job making it more rideable while still keeping lots of the challenge. Always a challenge to clean the whole section from Expresso to Mountain Highway, that one climb is tough!

[Reply]

provin1327

(Jul 26, 2022 at 14:28)

Rode this west to east after exiting Expresso and holy crap this trail has some technical and challenging sections! Although there are some traversing sections on this trail that are blue in difficulty overall it's a black, a pretty difficult black at that. It's fun and challenging but if you are an intermediate rider this trail will eat you alive and you'll probably be walking a chunk of it.

[Reply]

razzlebazzil

SHORE CORPS (Jul 27, 2022 at 14:37)

You got it, it's the blackest blue trail on the shore! All I can say is you should have seen it 6 years ago. A few thousand hours over the last six years have gone into fixing up this section of trail. We haven't eliminated the gnar but there are some relatively smooth lines (albeit about 4" wide) through the rougher sections. This trail definitely helps folks progress!

[Reply]

maggiedurkin

(Jun 20, 2022 at 22:03)

A bit of a surprise, a fun surprise, but after a pretty mellow traverse from expresso the trail changes it’s vibe quite drastically! Be prepared to ride through like 10 rock gardens. Very well put together rock gardens, but somewhat twisty rock gardens nonetheless. Helps to know what to expect! That being said still a great way to get back to the parking lot.

[Reply]

SpecSRAM (Nov 8, 2021 at 10:42)

Ridden many times...decided to finally post a comment lol. I really only use BP to ride back out to the Upper Parking Lot and the final descent once you get past Big Stupid is no joke. You can create and carry some ridiculously fun speed down here. Be careful though, as hikers regularly use BP, both ways. You CAN get down the final descent in about 1:30, but your hands will not like it.

[Reply]

mario9000

(Jun 14, 2021 at 13:12)

Found a piece if wood with a 3" nail sticking up out of it on a bridge going eastward just before pipeline exit. Seemed to be placed there purposely. It has been disposed of now. I will upload an image.

[Reply]

razzlebazzil

SHORE CORPS (Jun 15, 2021 at 10:45)

Thank you for taking care of that. I'll swing through and take a good look.

[Reply]

Wesmacaulay

FVMBA - ADMIN (Jun 5, 2021 at 21:09)

A decent but challenging traverse trail back from Espresso. Some of the steeps could be made a bit more ridable. The large rock gardens will be dangerous for many riders if it's wet. Only worth riding west to east.

[Reply]

quithollerin

(Jan 21, 2021 at 10:16)

Yup. I can honestly say that I'm over Baden. It's now just another fee to pay if you want to ride Expresso. Shaves some life off of your bike everytime you ride it.

[Reply]

98teg

(Jan 4, 2021 at 22:27)

This was harder than floppy bunny and expresso

[Reply]

ranchitup (Nov 23, 2020 at 21:53)

There are several sections on this trail that will f*ck a beginner up, especially in the wet. With that being said there are a few pretty fun sections on this trail and overall not terrible for a traverse.

[Reply]

darcraver

(Nov 14, 2020 at 19:39)

The trail totally rocks! Should have seen it 10-15 years ago

Great progression trail after the warmup on Expresso. Unbelievable amount of work done on this trail the last few years to make it more blue like, but it keeps fighting back

[Reply]

liamdubs

(Aug 25, 2020 at 16:19)

Like everyone says, not a blue. This is some sort of a prank.

[Reply]

SeventhSecret (Apr 28, 2020 at 20:48)

Agree with the comments here -- this is by far the blackest blue trail anywhere on the North Shore. It tends to get pretty beaten up as well, and can get super-gnarly. There are several corners on the downhill section going East towards Mtn Highway (from Espresso / Pipeline, etc.), that are essentially steep rock gardens, and pretty slippery especially when they're wet. Not to mention the beginning of the downhill section... the mandatory steep ladder onto steep rock garden, with a slight left turn at the bottom, would be pretty intimidating, even for a black trail.

[Reply]

SpecSRAM (Nov 8, 2021 at 11:18)

Its a super fun thrill ride!

[Reply]

B-Rough

(Aug 16, 2019 at 20:46)

Similar to many of the comments above I took this trail as a connector from Expresso. This trail did surprise me as due to the rock paths they have created (I think for hikers) it is actually pretty challenging, definitely harder than Expresso in my view.

[Reply]

JemSamonte (May 7, 2019 at 21:16)

Rode this trail after trying Expresso the 2nd time. Was very technical for me but was really fun. Walked most of the uphill part and some sketchy descent. You just have to be mindful since a lot of hikers are on this trail as well. Will definitely try again this weekend after pipeline or expresso.

[Reply]

andreyapopov (Mar 28, 2019 at 13:44)

This is NOT a blue trail; it should be marked as black diamond. I ride blue trails almost exclusively with couple black ones thrown in, and this one is by far the hardest I've done. There are some "black" trail in Squamish and Seymour that are easier than this one.

[Reply]

andreyapopov (Mar 28, 2019 at 13:48)

In fact, Expresso - black rated trail - is much easier than this one.

[Reply]

Edu888

(Jan 27, 2019 at 16:16)

Took the trail to go back to the parking lot after Espresso and I can safely say that this trail is significantly harder. Super steep rocky climbs lead to super steep rocky descents. The descents are really fun though.

[Reply]

JacksonThack (Jul 30, 2018 at 8:56)

This trail is exceptionally technical with massive uphill rock gardens, steep stairs, and not much fun for me as an intermediate rider

[Reply]

KevinStafford (Apr 4, 2018 at 6:27)

Yeah, that was the blackest blue I've ever ridden. However, I had a great time rolling those steps and re enforced stone descents back to parking. Great trail in its own right.

[Reply]