Lynn Canyon

Today, I went to Lynn Canyon in Vancouver, BC. I am here for three days with eight friends for our 20-year high school reunion (are we really that old?!), and whenever I’m along for a trip, you know I’m going to try to sneak a swimming hole excursion into it. We had tried to plan a Vancouver trip in 2015, and Lynn Canyon came onto my radar when I was looking for outdoorsy things to do in the area. It features a suspension bridge and several swimming holes both upstream and downstream of the bridge (plus a crazy natural water slide below the bridge that ends in a 30-foot drop, and which I have no desire to try). I assumed the water here would be pretty cold given how far north it is, but the park is only about ten minutes from our Airbnb, so I figured it was worth checking out if I could rope anyone into going with me (or dropping me off).

( Click here for the full trip report with pictures and videos )

In summary, Lynn Canyon was a nice swimming hole destination, and the water wasn’t as cold as I was expecting from a Canadian swimming hole, which may be due to the water coming off the top of a lake just upstream. The temperature was similar to mountain streams back in North Carolina. The setting kind of reminded me of Blue Hole near Elizabethton, TN, but with more waterfalls and swimming holes. My only gripe is that it was too crowded, being that it’s in the city, accessible by public transit, and a short hike along mostly boardwalks and stairs. If I’m ever back in the area, I’d like to check out the Twin Falls swimming hole, and maybe see if there are any accessible areas of the canyon between the suspension bridge and Twin Falls (it looked like most areas were fenced off and plastered with warning signs about how cliff jumping is stupid). I probably wouldn’t try to get to the swimming holes under the suspension bridge, because it looks like you’d have to commit to canyoneering through unknown terrain for a significant distance to get in and out of that area.