Situated in North Vancouver’s magnificent Capilano Canyon, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park is Vancouver, Canada’s oldest visitor attraction. Since 1889, there has been a suspended bridge over Capilano River, attracting visitors from all over the world. At the heart of the operation is a 137-metre (450 feet) long, 70-metre (230 feet) high suspended footbridge. As early as 1907, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park was a paid attraction, employing only a gatekeeper. Over the past twenty years, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park has seen a number of additions and enhancements. In addition to the thrill of crossing the bridge, guests can experience the attractions newest additions, CLIFFWALK and Treetops Adventure. Two interpretive exhibits, the Story Centre (incorporating lessons in local history) and the Living Forest (preparing guests for their walk in the forest), elevated boardwalk trails and naturalist-guided walks throughout out the West Coast rainforest, as well as several food venues and the popular Trading Post gift shop round out the Park’s experience. Recognizing the importance of promoting the rich history of Canada’s West Coast, Nancy Stibbard, the Park’s owner and CEO, developed an opportunity for guests to interact with the province of British Columbia’s First Nations culture at the Park’s Kia’palano Cultural Centre. Capilano Suspension Bridge Park also recently launched Treetops Adventure, a first-of-its-kind forest walkway that offers visitors a squirrel’s eye view of a thriving coastal forest, as they venture from one magnificent Douglas fir tree to another via a series of elevated suspension bridges. In 2011, the park added CLIFFWALK, which is nearly 700 feet (213 metres) in length, 20 inches (50 centimetre) wide with fixed handrails supported by steel beams cantilevered from 16 anchor points in the granite rock face of the canyon. Past owners include original bridge builder, George Grant Mackay, a visionary who, as Park Commissioner for Vancouver, also set aside the land for Stanley Park – North America’s third largest urban park nestled in the heart of Vancouver. The current bridge has actually been a family-run business for the past 50 years. Nancy’s father, Rae Mitchell, bought the bridge in 1953 and 30 years later sold it to his daughter. While numerous owners have left their mark at Capilano and contributed to the growth of Vancouver’s North Shore, it is under present owner, Nancy Stibbard, that Capilano Suspension Bridge Park earned its reputation as a must-see destination attraction. In the last 20 years, under Stibbard’s leadership, the scope of operation has grown enormously. When Nancy Stibbard purchased Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in 1983, admissions to the attraction totalled 175,000 visitors annually. Since then, business increased dramatically with the number of visitors totalling over 1 million guests per year and Vancouver’s oldest attraction also became one of its most popular.
