As you cross the Capilano suspension bridge you will hear sounds of nature, see beautiful gardens skirt and colourful totem poles. You will also see First Nations legends chiseled into cedar. The Capilano Suspension Bridge will provide you with a sense of peacefulness from the West Coast rainforest surroudings.

The reason why the Capilano Suspension Bridge is one of Vancouver, British Columbia’s most famous tourist attractions is because there are lots of things to see and do onsite. It is not far from downtown Vancouver, Capilano Suspension Bridge and area provides history, adventure and culture making this Vancouver tourist spot a complete British Columbia experience and should make your short list of things to do in Vancouver, BC.

Bilt over a hundred years ago in 1889, the Capilano Suspension Bridge measures 450 feet (137m) across and 230 feet (70m) high above Capilano River. Since 1889 alot of other attractions has added to the 27 acre park. In addition to the bridge there are also gift shops with lots of quality merchandise from all over Canada and great homemade fudge. But wait there are also lots of other activities and attractions, see below.

Other Activities:

Treetops Adventure:
Treetops Adventure is the first venue of its kind in North America, offering a squirrel’s eye view of a thriving coastal forest. Visitors venture from one magnificent Douglas fir tree to another on a series of elevated suspension bridges, some reaching as high as 100 feet (30m) above the forest floor.

Story Centre:
You’re one of the Capilano Tramps, those early adventurers who made the long “tramp” to Capilano Suspension Bridge. Today visitors to Capilano Suspension Bridge can pose with the Tramps before they begin their walk through the Story Centre. Life-size photomurals, artifacts and antiques together with “voices from the past” and informative flipbooks chronicle the early history of the Bridge and the development of Vancouver.

Totem Park:
Part of Capilano’s captivating story involves the tradition of placing totem (story) poles on the grounds at Capilano Suspension Bridge. In the 1930′s Mac MacEachran invited local First Nations to place their story poles in the park, adding a First Nations theme. Those colourful poles are maintained in the exact condition in which they were received and are on display in the Totem Park.

Kia’ Palano:
Get a glimpse into the lives of BC’s First Nations people at Kia’palano, our First Nations’ Cultural Center, as they share stories of their heritage and the historical connection between their culture and the natural world. Traditional weaving and beadwork is also demonstrated through the day.

The Rain Forest:

The delicate Temperate West Coast Rainforest ecosystem is visually presented on large panels interpreting the Forest Floor, the Rainforest Canopy, Geology at the Edge and the Spirit of the Rainforest. Complimentary guided tours are
offered hourly year round and every half hour in the summer months. Visitors are well informed for their stroll through the rainforest, past tranquil trout ponds and majestic evergreens.

Vancouver’s history is rich despite the fact that it is a young city by historic standards. The Aboriginal peoples of the Vancouver region has been there for around 3,000 years. The native settlements around Vancouver shows that the aboriginals were a food-gathering people with a intricate social system.

Captain George Vancouver sailed into Burrand Inlet and landed there in 1792 and it was the catalyst of a big change in the lives of the First Nations near the Northwest Passage.

Next came the fur traders, gold prospectors than the settlers came. In 1808 the North West Company trader Simon Fraser and his ship crew were the first Europeans descended the Fraser river to set anchor in what we know as Vancouver today. In 1862 at McLeery’s Farm on the Fraser River the European started settling here. Following that a sawmill was built at Moodyville which is now North Vancouver and the lumbering industry was started.

Gassy Jack Deighton in 1867 set up a shanty tavern and the settlement of Gastown rapidly built up around the tavern. Three years after the government surveyed the settlement and decided to build a town site and called it Granville. Vancouver was incorporated as a city In 1886, and shortly after the city was destroyed by fire a few months later. The very resilient community vowed to rebuild and within a year the small city was built. Four year later, Vancouver’s future was solidified when the train transportation from the east and traffic of ships of the Canadian Pacific fleet, arrived. This contributed to the future growth of the Vancouver.

Due to the construction of the railroad system (built on Chinese railway workers back) the population grew quickly from 5,000 in 1887 to 100,000 in 1900. The first ten years of the twentieth century, Vancouver’s population increased 300% and which attributed to a construction boom. Stanley Park ring road was the first road to receive pavement which was made out of the crushed shells of the large midden at the old native village of Lumberman’s Arch; Stanley Park ring road was paved for use by bicycles. Only after World War I were automobile roads built to link up Vancouver to other cities.