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You are here: Home / Outdoors / North of the Border Adventures at Capilano Suspension Park, Vancouver Canada

North of the Border Adventures at Capilano Suspension Park, Vancouver Canada

January 21, 2018 by ~ Mike Barlow 1 Comment

Last week we took a trip from the Seattle area to Vancouver to visit Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and found that it is well worth the drive.

Capilano Provincial Park
Capilano Provincial Park

The idea to take his trip actually originated from a friends bucket list (hat tip to Tamera Yoachum).  It was so much fun I decided to make a new category of bucket list items… the “Retrospective Addition”….  i.e. in retrospect, this adventure wasn’t on my list but it should have been.

The park is located outside of Vancouver, Canada which is 3 hours north of Seattle.  Even if it is raining, which I suspect is often, a visit to the park is worth the drive.  Here is the best part:    time your trip right and you will find the whole place lit up with Christmas lights.

The lights aren’t too shabby and I loved them, but even more fascinating is the engineering used to establish the swings, platforms and walkways.  The design uses lots of iron, cable, lumber, natural anchors and provides an elegant way for lots of people to interact with a woodland ecosystem.

Map of the Park

The park consists of three areas:  the bridge, the treetop adventure, and the cliff walk.

Capilano Map
Map of Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

Our adventure took place after dark in the rain so the photo conditions were tricky.   As a result, they don’t even come close to representing the real thing, but I’m posting them here anyhow to celebrate the first “retrospective bucket list” item “checked off”.

For some really good shots, check out the Capilano Instagram Feed.

Capilano Suspension Bridge - waterfalls
Capilano Suspension Bridge

Capilano Suspension Bridge

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is a 450 foot bridge suspended by cables.  It was constructed in the late 1800s and  is the focal point of the park.  Crossing the bridge gives you a view of waterfalls and a raging river at the bottom of the canyon.  As people cross the bridge swings and sways making low light photography difficult, but fun nonetheless.

Tree Top Tour

Capilano Tree Top Tour
Capilano Tree Top Tour

Once you cross the bridge you can climb some stairs into a series of smaller bridges.  These allow you to climb about 100 feet above the forest floor.  And this is where the engineering gets really cool.

The tree top tour is designed with cables and collars that wrap around the tree.  There are no nails, screws, or penetrations into any of the trees that anchor the bridges or platforms.  Just considering the logistics of moving and placing all of this equipment by hand without damaging the environment is mind boggling.

Of the three areas in the park, the tree top tour was my favorite because it reminded me of the Swiss Family Robinson.

Cliff Walk and Visitor Area

The final stop for us was the cliff walk.  Since we did it at night we couldn’t really see the bottom of the canyon from some parts.  I didn’t get any good pictures of this because there wasn’t much to see except a dark abyss…. But I suppose if you are afraid of heights this may be a good thing.

The cliff walk drops you off into a visitors area with a really cool gift store.  You can pick up shirts, coffee mugs, art, smoked salmon, and locally produced honey and fudge.  I really liked that the gift shop focused on things that were made locally.

This was a really fun, family friendly experience.  We will likely turn this into an annual trek and Christmas and new year tradition.

 

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Filed Under: Outdoors, Photography, Raising Nerd Assassins

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  1. Sara says

    January 21, 2018 at 7:38 am

    ❤️

    Reply

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Mike Barlow - I like to write about baseball, climbing, outdoor photography, backyard cooking, kids, family, and biotechnology. Read More…

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