Quick Facts:
- AllTrails link: Admiralty Point Trail
- Difficulty: easy
- Traffic: heavy
- Facilities: flush toilet, picnic tables, fire ring, water access, playground, basketball court, grassy field at Belcarra Picnic Area. Pit toilet at Maple Beach (about 1.5 km into the hike)
- View: Burrard Inlet, Indian Arm (peak-a-boo view of the water throughout hike, and more expansive views at several rocky shore view points)
- Overall score: 7/10
We have done the moderately difficult Jug Island Trail a couple of times in Belcarra, so we came to visit the easier Admiralty Point Trail today. One of our focuses recently has been to boost up Junior’s appetite and confidence for hiking. After several months of biking and snow sports, it’s time to start preparing for our summer camping/hiking season.
The weather warmed noticeably and there were a lot more activity at the picnic area even on a weekday than our last visit just a month ago. The parking lot was about 90% full around noon. The overflow parking about 1 km away were empty still.
The Admiralty Point Trail is mainly surfaced with compact dirt, with a healthy dose of rocks and tree roots scattered in.
Trailhead 
We took our time and gave Junior lots of encouragement and hiking fun games. He didn’t need much motivation; after learning he could climb over obstacles using his hands, all he wanted to do was to find the next thing he can bend down and climb over, even the smallest roots or rocks that he used to just step over. We just kept pointing him to the next obstacle and he followed.
However, he did take a small tumble and called it a hike. We put him on the backpack carrier and did the rest of the hike.
Burnaby Mountain and Barnet Park across Burrard Inlet. 
Junior kept asking if we could go paddling, so we cut the hike short and skipped the section from Admiralty Point to Burns Point.
After a quick lunch break, we got an quick paddle workout in. We launched from the public deck this time, because the tide was low and I didn’t want to walk through mudflats. The deck was busy with people crabbing and fishing.
We found some sea stars below the deck, and a seal swam by just after we launched.
Hello seal
Tina and Little Bro hung out on the grassy field while we paddled for about 40 minutes. By then, Junior was running on fumes. He delayed his nap for as long as he could to go paddling, but he was mature enough to know his limits and calmly requested that we go back to mommy.
Belcarra is one of the rare gems of Lower Mainland where you can get not one, but two high quality hikes to choose from, ample family-friendly amenities, as well as easy access to beautiful waters to paddle in, all in close proximity.
