Article & photos by Lenora A.Hayman.
The Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge is not only a well-kept secret but it is free for us all to enjoy. If driving, there also is no charge for parking!
At the Lonsdale Quay Market take bus #228 or #229 to the Lynn Valley Centre. Change to bus #227 and ask the driver to drop you off at the Lynn Canyon Park’s main entrance. It is a 15min walk to the Lynn Canyon Café (604-984-9311) near the suspension bridge.
The café serves a variety of good food, from eggs benedict, beef dip, prawn and scallop sizzler, roast beef and turkey dinners and tuxedo truffle cheese cake! In the summer, the café is open until 5:00pm on weekdays and 7:00pm on the weekends. In the winter check for the days they are closed.
The Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge, originally built in 1912, is 40 metres (130ft) long and just wide enough for 2 folk to pass each other. From the bridge 50 metres (167ft) above the canyon, there are fabulous views of the waterfalls and clear pools in the river below.
It was a hot day and the trees provided a welcome shade over the wooden board walk where families strolled before going over the rocky riverbed to several swimming holes. Take care jumping off the rocks into the pools.
At the end of the boardwalk is a flight of about 50 wooden stairs going up the hill to Rice Lake at the edge of the Lynn Headwaters Regional Park. This man-made lake was once the reservoir providing drinking water for North Vancouver. Today it is a wildlife refuge. Although I didn’t have time to walk around the lake, I saw herons, ducks and an eagle soaring above. A couple were sitting quietly on the float dock, fly fishing for rainbow trout, stocked by the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery. Of course you need a BC freshwater fishing license.
Getting back to nature made a nice getaway from the noise of the city.