Lace up your hiking boots, grab your phone and watch the likes roll in.
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It's all about the #scenery. Scan the Instagram feed of any popular travel aficionado and you'll see a wash of colour, the beauty of nature, jaw-dropping vista after jaw-dropping vista; the sort of shots that rack up likes in their thousands.
To get photos like that, you have to be in a truly amazing location. You have to be somewhere spectacular, somewhere memorable, somewhere unique – somewhere that will inevitably be accessible only by foot, via a hike through the terrain of your dreams. And the good news is that Canada, one of the world's finest hiking destinations, is full of such locations.
So lace up your hiking boots, grab your phone and prepare to make an Insta-splash.
West Coast Trail, British Columbia
This might just be Canada's best known and most scenically spectacular hiking trail, a rugged 75-kilometre pathway that leads through the deserted beach and lush forest of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island. This trail was once used to help shipwreck survivors get out; these days, thanks to stunning imagery of coastal beaches, coves and rainforests being shared by those who have hiked it, people are desperate to get in.
Whistler Mountain Trails, British Columbia
Everyone knows Whistler in winter – this is one of the world's most famous ski destinations. However, few people realise the area's beauty in summer, when wildflowers shower the green meadows, leaves appear on vast stands of red cedar, glacial lakes thaw and sparkle, and the views from the likes of the High Note Trail, beginning at the summit of Whistler Mountain, provide all of the Instagram fodder you could ever need.
East Coast Trail, Newfoundland and Labrador
This entire trail, more than 300 kilometres long, is an absolute feast for lovers of photography, thanks to the sheer diversity of shots on offer. Most people come here for the rugged coastlines, for the cliffs that tower over deep, sparkling fjords. However, there's more to snap, including wildlife in the form of whales, caribou and seabirds, settlements in the form of lighthouses and abandoned towns and, if you're lucky, the stunning sight of passing icebergs.
Bruce Trail, Ontario
You can't fail to bag a few great shots on Canada's longest pathway, a 900-kilometre extravaganza that stretches from the Niagara Peninsula in the south all the way to the Bruce Peninsula in the north. Along the way you'll have the chance to explore and photograph the breathtaking limestone cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, as well as popular spots such as Jackson's Cove, Purple Valley, Spirit Rock and more.
Lake Agnes, Alberta
This reasonably short hike has Insta-love written all over it. It's got the log-cabin teahouse, the sparkling lake, the surrounding forests, and it even has a waterfall. You can't go wrong. The trail begins close to the beautiful Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise (perfect for a snapshot), before meandering 6.8 kilometres via a burbling waterfall to Lake Agnes. It's there you'll find a beautiful little teahouse that serves up locally made pecan pie, perfect fuel for the hike back to base to start uploading pics.
East Beach Trail, British Columbia
Sometimes to get that perfect shot, you have to go somewhere that few people have ever trod. And that could just be the East Beach Trail, a spectacular 75-kilometre hike that takes in the deserted beaches of Naikoon Provincial Park, situated on Graham Island in the archipelago off the north-western coast of BC. This area is known as the "Galapagos of the north", a natural and archaeological treasure in which you'll spot wildlife and stumble upon vistas you didn't think could really exist.
Grizzly Lake Trail, Yukon
Speaking of deserted – try exploring the Yukon Territory's Tombstone Territorial Park Mountains, an area that's frequently compared to Patagonia, such is the starkness of its rocky peaks and glacier-riven valleys. There's a very good chance that no one you know has been here before and hiked the challenging, 11-kilometre Grizzly Lake Trail, snapping the unique and beautiful sights that this remote region has to offer.
Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
Instagram loves a blast of colour, and there are few places more colourful than Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park in autumn. That's when the leaves of the maples, the beech and the birch explode into a riot of reds, oranges, yellows, and every hue in between. This park is one-and-a-half times the size of Prince Edward Island and it's riddled with hiking trails, so you can't fail to capture that perfect shot.
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