Capilano Suspension Bridge

George Grant Mackay, a Scottish engineer, strung the first bridge across the Capilano gorge in 1889 from hemp rope and cedar planks; it has been rebuilt several times and the present wire cable span is about one hundred and thirty-seven metres long and seventy above the river. The site has grown around it: a Treetops Adventure of seven smaller bridges between Douglas firs on platforms that grip the trunks without bolts, and a Cliffwalk of cantilevered walkways pinned to a granite face. A collection of totem poles was assembled here from the 1930s. It is one of the most visited paid attractions in the province.

History

George Grant Mackay, a Scottish civil engineer and park commissioner for Vancouver, built the first bridge here in 1889 from hemp rope with a deck of cedar planks, and it was replaced by a wire cable bridge in 1903. Edward Mahon bought it in 1910, and Mac MacEachran, who bought it from him in 1935, invited local Indigenous people to place their totem poles in the park; the bridge was sold again in 1945 and completely rebuilt in 1956, and since Nancy Stibbard bought the park in 1983 it has added Treetops Adventure in 2004 and the Cliffwalk in 2011 (Wikipedia, Capilano Suspension Bridge).

The main sights

• The main span - 137 metres of cable bridge, seventy above the Capilano.
• Treetops Adventure - seven bridges between firs on non-invasive platforms.
• The Cliffwalk - cantilevered walkways pinned to a granite cliff.
• The totem collection - poles gathered on the site since the 1930s.

When to go

May to September for full operation; the site runs a Canyon Lights season with illuminations from late November to January. It is busiest from mid-morning through afternoon.

Good to know

Tickets are expensive, particularly next to Lynn Canyon which is free with a similar bridge. Queues on the span are long in summer and the bridge moves noticeably. Much of the site is a shop and cafe complex.

Nearby

Grouse Mountain lies north; Lynn Canyon is east.

Key facts