For the first time in a long time, it hasn’t rained this May Long Weekend (even though rain was predicted!), so this called for a hike to the North Shore. Vancouvertrails.com is a great resource for finding hikes in the Greater Vancouver area based on region, level of difficulty, time, etc. My boyfriend and I did the Two Canyon Loop that takes you through Lynn Canyon and the Seymour River Canyon. It took about 3 hours. We parked at the Seymour-Capilano Water Treatment Plant and went clockwise so that we ended with the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge (which is a great and free alternative to the more famous Capilano Suspension Bridge).
The hike was labelled “Intermediate” and for a while we were wondering why because it seemed more like a walk than a hike, especially as the beginning was all downhill along the Homestead Trail that led into the Seymour River Canyon. We took a few detours to enjoy a peek of the rushing river:
The Homestead Trail meets the Baden Powell trail which we then followed to climb out of the Seymour Canyon.
After crossing a bridge over the Seymour River, the hike began to feel more “intermediate” with this steep set of stairs and then a number of switchbacks uphill to get out of the Seymour River Canyon.
Here’s the view once the ascent had plateaued a bit:
After crossing under these power lines, the Baden Powell Trail then takes you across a road through the forest toward Lynn Creek. There’s a section with wooden boardwalks to help prevent erosion of the trail.
Eventually we reached Twin Falls with a beautiful view of the waterfalls and a bridge that crosses over Lynn Canyon (foreshadowing the larger and more popular bridge to come).
After climbing up a littler further and taking pictures of old trees and lettuce leaves, we reached the popular Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge.
This bridge sways 50 metres above the canyon and was built in 1912 when the Lynn Canyon Park opened. You can read more about it here. I didn’t find the bridge particularly scary, but then again, I like heights and happen to love bridges. Many people’s dogs, however, weren’t so keen on crossing a narrow, moving bridge jammed with traffic.
On the other side, The Ecology Centre is a good place to use a washroom that’s not an outhouse, get a snack, and take a break at one of the picnic tables. From there, it’s only about a 10 minute walk back to the water treatment plant where the loop began.
The Two Canyon Loop was a great activity on a sunny Saturday afternoon that lets you take in two rivers, numerous waterfalls, old logging forests, scenic views, and a suspension bridge—not bad if you like to see a lot in a relatively short amount of time!
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