At Capilano Suspension Bridge Park you can see British Columbia through the eyes of squirrels and falcons.
In 1889, a Scottish engineer decided to build a suspension bridge across the canyon of the Capilano River, just north of Vancouver in British Columbia. George Mackay owned land on either side of the steep-sided canyon, and wanted easy access to the virgin Douglas Fir forest that grew on the clifftops.
It was a classic case of “if you build it, they will come.” By 1893, adventurous Victorian travelers, dubbed “Capilano Tramps,” were making the journey by steamship and trail to cross the bridge suspended high above the river.
“It’s pretty scary if you’re afraid of heights,” park spokesperson Stacy Challa says. “It’s 450 feet across and 230 feet above the river.”
The narrow footbridge has been refurbished - and reinforced - several times in the years since Mackay constructed it from hemp rope and cedar planks. Vancouver’s oldest tourist attraction, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park began charging admission in 1907 and has remained a popular spot ever since, attracting some 1.2 million visitors each year.
Cliff walk & Rockface at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.
During its more than 100 year history, the 28-acre park has remained privately owned with many additional attractions added to the original suspension bridge. Most recently, the Cliff Walk, a cantilevered walkway along the granite cliffs that juts out over the river, opened in 2011 and has been named a Canadian Signature Experience.
“It’s very narrow… and high,” Challa says. “But the views of the British Columbia scenery are unmatched.”
Stacy says her favorite attraction at the park is the Treetops Adventure, located on the far side of the river. Seven suspension bridges connect eight massive, 250-year-old Douglas Firs in an innovative, environmentally friendly design that is the first of its kind and has won numerous engineering awards.
“You really get a squirrel’s eye view up there,” Challa says. “At some points, you’re 100 feet off the ground.”
Capilano Park offers unique perspectives on the region’s history and ecosystem as well. The park itself has a rich background, full of love stories and local lore. The name comes from the First Nation word, Kia’palano, meaning “beautiful river” and was the name of a Squamish chief who lived in the area in the early 1800s.
Treehouse at sunset at Treetops Adventure at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.
The Story Centre near the park’s entrance recounts the history of the park and early tourism in British Columbia. Close by, the Kia’palano Centre preserves the traditions of the First Nation people of the region through exhibits, a dug-out canoe, and a large collection of story poles. Sometimes called totem poles, these were placed in the park by their First Nation owners at the invitation of the park management beginning back in the 1930s.
Complimentary history and nature tours, offered daily, are included in the park admission.The history tour looks at the early days of tourism and stories told by the First Nation poles, while the nature tour takes a deep dive into the ecology of the West Coast rainforest.
All the attractions at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park are open to children of all ages, and are a big favorite. “Kids love it here,” Stacy Challa says. “A lot of times they’re braver than the adults going across the bridge and through the treetops. We offer a special Rainforest Explorers Program for kids of all ages. They go on a scavenger hunt and at the end get a bracelet to take home and plant. It blooms into wildflowers.”
Getting to the park is easy year-round, with free shuttles picking up guests at several locations in downtown Vancouver, including the cruise ship docks.
Challa says that most of the park’s attractions are not accessible to wheelchairs or scooters. “There are a lot of stairs,” she says. “But we do offer complimentary admission to those guests who use wheelchairs or guests on crutches as well as their companion. They can enjoy the history tours, exhibits in the Story Centre and Kia’palano, and scenic views of the canyon, and visit the Trading Post Gift Shop, plus several restaurants here on the grounds.”
The newest addition to the park’s lineup of eateries is the Cliff House Restaurant, on the site of the original 1889 Cliff House built by George Mackay. “The patio overlooks the canyon and the suspension bridge,” Challa says. “It’s really bumping in the summer.” The Cliff House serves local craft beers and B.C. wines, and specializes in seasonal cuisine based on the rich food heritage of the region. “Our West Coast seafood chowder is a big favorite,” she says. “And then there’s my personal favorite, the Crab Salad, made with local Dungeness and rock crab, bacon and avocado.”
The park offers a variety of special events, including entertainment on the patio and visits of birds of prey from the local Raptor’s Ridge rescue center during the summer. The most popular event however, is the annual Canyon Lights Winter Festival, which runs two months from late November to late January. “We put up over one million lights every year,” Challa says. “All the attractions are lighted and we illuminate the river below and the trees up to 200 feet. Our workers start stringing the lights just after Labor Day and it takes them until around Thanksgiving, so it’s a massive undertaking.”
Nancy Stibbard, the current owner of Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, started working in the park back in the 1950s when it was owned by her father. In 1983, she bought him out and in the years since, has changed Capilano from a stop-off to a destination attraction. She’s also built a group of attractions that range from luxury resort hotels in the Canadian Rockies, including Moraine Lake Lodge in Banff National Park and Cathedral Mountain Lodge in Yoho National Park, to renovated properties in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. The Capilano Group’s new Prospect Point Bar and Grill in the park overlooks the iconic Lions Gate Bridge and is a favorite spot for watching cruise ships sail in and out of the harbor.
A native of Vancouver, Stibbard has played an important part in developing tourism in the area, including helping bring the Winter Olympics to the city in 2010, and is a member of the Canadian Tourism Hall of Fame. “British Columbia is truly an amazing place, and I want to show off what we have to the world,” she says. “ My goal is to create experiences people are amazed by.”
Adventure, Canada, Destinations, International, Open Road, Tourism