NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A heads-up to hikers: If you have been planning to hit the Grouse Grind, you should probably do it this long weekend.

Starting Tuesday, the trail will be closed for seasonal safety maintenance.

Crews will be rock scaling, removing dangerous trees, repairing some steps, and replacing safety netting. They want to get the work done now, ahead of the busy summer season.

“The work is needed to keep the Grouse Grind Trail safe and to ensure it can withstand the pounding of an anticipated 500,000 visits this year. Maintenance work is expected to be completed in three to four weeks,” says the Metro Vancouver regional district in a news release.

The work is expected to take three to four weeks to complete.

The regional district is urging everyone to respect the fact that it will be closed and look for alternatives, such as the BCMC Trail, which will stay open.

“For safety reasons, crews must suspend work if there are hikers on the Grouse Grind Trail, which will disrupt this work and delay the reopening of the Grouse Grind. Please respect the trail closure so that the necessary maintenance can be completed as quickly as possible.”