The trail is located mostly within Cypress Provincial Park and is typically traveled as a single or multi-day hike from south to north, or as a means to access peaks along the route such as Mount Brunswick.

It gets its name because it follows the crests of the North Shore Mountains that rise above the Howe Sound, the deep saltwater glacial fjord which parallels the trail to the west.

It can be accessed in the south from Cypress Mountain Ski Area and in the north from the Sea to Sky Highway at Porteau Road, or via many intersecting trails that start at Lions Bay.

The trail, no longer officially maintained after this point, then descends steeply before an equally steep ascent to Unnecessary Mountain (1,548 metres [5,079 ft]) then traversing rocky terrain to the base of West Lion.

Evidence of First Nations use has been documented along the trail, including 350-400 year old bark-stripping scars on old-growth yellow cedar trees above Yew Lake.

The southern route from Cypress Mountain to the Lions, originally known as the Skyline Ridge Trail, was maintained by UBC students and Varsity Outdoors Club members in the 1960s and 1970s.

[10] The northern terminus of the trail between Porteau Cove and Deeks Lake is not part of the provincial park, but was on land owned by BC Rail, a crown corporation.