Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

1889

The first bridge of 1889 was hemp rope and cedar planks

George Grant Mackay, a Scottish civil engineer and park commissioner for Vancouver, built the bridge in 1889. It was made of hemp ropes with a deck of cedar planks, and was replaced with a wire cable bridge in 1903.

Totem poles

Totem poles were invited into the park in 1935

"Mac" MacEachran bought the bridge from Edward Mahon in 1935. He invited the local people to place their totem poles in the park, which added a native theme. Henri Aubeneau bought the bridge in 1945.

The span

The present bridge, rebuilt in 1956, is 140 metres long

The current bridge crosses the Capilano River in Upper Capilano, in the District of North Vancouver. It is 70 metres above the river. The bridge was completely rebuilt in 1956.

140 metreslength of the current bridge

Treetops

Seven footbridges run between old-growth Douglas fir trees

Treetops Adventures opened in May 2004. It has seven footbridges suspended between old-growth Douglas fir trees on the west side of the canyon, forming a walkway up to 30 metres above the forest floor. Cliffwalk was added in June 2011.

1974

In 1974 two psychologists ran an experiment on the bridge

Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron approached men on the bridge. They were more likely to call the female researcher later than men approached on a more solid bridge. The pair argued that fear had been mistaken for attraction.