Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

Tourists to Vancouver are often dragged on tour buses to a different suspension bridge. We won't mention that one here. That one you need to pay for, it's always crowded, and it's a commercial affair.

A much nicer bridge is the free Lynn Canyon Suspension bridge which is, obviously enough, in Lynn Canyon Park, in North Vancouver.

Here is someone else's good photograph of the bridge:

(photo credit: Natural Resources of Canada website)

If you look closely at the top quarter of this photo, you'll see the bridge.

It's a narrow, pedestrian only bridge held 50 meters above the canyon by steel cables. It sways as you walk on it. Here's our guest Sophie. We told her it was only a few meters high but I'm not sure she believed us.

The Baden Powell trail goes through Lynn Canyon Park. Here's a lovely staircase which has been built as part of the trail revitalization.

We climbed to the top of that but we weren't up for the full 48 km of the Baden Powell Trail. Hugo did scramble atop one of the large erratics which dominate the landscape near the canyon.

There is a beautiful, reasonably short loop you can walk which takes you across on the suspension bridge, and down along the canyon to the Twin Falls.

There you cross Lynn Creek again, this time on a regular bridge where you can enjoy the roar of the falls & the sparkling green of the water. From there, it's a small grind back uphill to the parking area.

Sophie & Amelia are standing in an area called the 30 foot pool, which is near that daunting staircase you saw above. It is a popular destination with youth in the summertime, with crazy youngsters diving off the cliffs into the freezing cold water. The canyon is unfortunately no stranger to death. It seems no matter how many fences and barriers you put up, & no matter how many warning signs, there will always be daredevils, and sometimes they slip, or misjudge the depth of the water.

Back near the parking lot is a small restaurant, and the Lynn Canyon Ecology Center which features a children-friendly educational display, ongoing videos about nature & forestry, and a low key giftshop.