Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

North Vancouver's century-old suspension bridge (140 metres long and 70 metres above the Capilano River), paired with Treetops Adventure, a canopy walkway of seven bridges strung among 250-year-old Douglas firs, and the cliff-hugging Cliffwalk.

The original bridge dates to 1889, when the Scottish engineer George Grant Mackay strung cedar planks and hemp rope across the canyon, with August Jack Khahtsahlano hauling the materials up by horse and on foot. The Coast Salish called it the Laughing Bridge for the sound the wind drew from it, and at 140 metres long and 70 metres above the river, it still sways underfoot in a way that is entirely intentional.

Treetops Adventure, added in 2004, threads seven smaller suspension bridges between platforms set among eight 250-year-old Douglas firs, reaching some 33 metres above the forest floor. The structure carries its weight on a non-invasive collar system that never pierces bark or trunk (less than a thumbprint of pressure per square inch), and the platforms are built from reclaimed wood salvaged from a vintage Hudson’s Bay Company grain elevator.

The third walk, Cliffwalk, is a narrow cantilevered path pinned to the granite face of the canyon, high above the river.

Through the colder months the park lights the canopy for Canyon Lights, when the bridges and firs are strung with hundreds of thousands of bulbs.