A-Life BC Travel Blog

The best part is a massive half circle of walkway jutting out from the cliff. At the furthest, you are about 20ft away from the rock wall hanging in mid-air. The cables that hold you to the cliff face are seemingly minuscule in size compared to what it seems they should be. (In reality the cables are massive and can easily hold over 70 people on the cliff walk at the same time).

Once my stomach had settled down, we wandered through the old settlement-style building that houses the restaurant, gift shop and washrooms. Peppered between the old-looking wood buildings were totem poles of all shapes and sizes. Some were short and only had a few carvings on them; others were massive and had faces and animals right to the very top.

Rounding the last corner out of the village, the Capilano Suspension Bridge came into view. I had never been on the massive bridge before and I have a healthy respect (er, fear) for being on very high things. It’s much better when I’m tied onto something or there is a fence between me and falling 70m to rocks below.

Luckily the bridge has a tall, sturdy fence on either side. The fence may prevent you from falling over the edge, but it certainly didn’t help stabilize the bridge. The mass of people walking on the bridge put it into a steady swing. You might be picturing the bridge swinging uncontrollably over the ravine with us helpless people hanging on for dear life, but it really wasn’t that terrifying. I could tell some of the people were uncomfortable with the movement but the majority were just happy to take in the incredible view.

Just across the bridge, trails lead into the woods and up into the trees. Before we crossed the bridge, I could see small platforms in the trees across the ravine and I wondered if the Lost Boys had taken up residence nearby, almost expecting Peter Pan to come flying through the trees. We had made it into the Treetops Adventure, a recent addition to the attractions near the bridge.

Treetops Adventure lets you play squirrel for a day and scurry up to 30m above the ground. The entrance is a two storey treehouse big enough for 20 or 30 squirrels, er... people. You start your treetop journey as you exit the large squirrel home and cross bridges to other platforms attached to trees through the area. The platforms give you a great vantage point.

When you come back down, you can get your second animal fix at the Raptor Ridge, which is right around the corner. Staff members were showing off two of their Harris hawks when we walked by. We listened to a bit of their very informative talk on the birds and then headed back over the bridge, making sure those large talons stayed firmly clamped to their branch and nowhere near our heads.

For more info, Capilano Suspension Bridge has a good website with directions, trip planning info, and a great interactive map that you can check out the attractions with.

- Photos & text by Ross Collicutt©