North Vancouver

The District of North Vancouver wraps around its smaller city namesake on Vancouver's North Shore, an 88,168-person municipality of forest, rivers and mountain neighbourhoods stretching from the Capilano River to Deep Cove. This is the North Shore of postcards: rainforest trails under huge cedars, the Capilano Suspension Bridge swaying over its canyon, skiers riding Grouse Mountain's Skyride above the city lights, and kayakers launching into Indian Arm from Deep Cove. As a place to stay it is more a collection of villages in the woods than a conventional city, and that is exactly its appeal.

The sights stack up quickly. Capilano Suspension Bridge Park pairs the famous bridge with cliff walks and a treetop course. Lynn Canyon Park offers the free alternative: its own suspension bridge, the deep green 30 Foot Pool and trails into Lynn Headwaters. Grouse Mountain runs the Skyride gondola to a summit of lumberjack shows, bears and winter skiing, while Mount Seymour adds a second ski hill and summer alpine trails. At the district's east end, Deep Cove keeps a village main street above a sheltered bay, with the Quarry Rock hike ending in a famous lookout over Indian Arm. The Capilano River Hatchery and Maplewood Flats bird sanctuary round out the quieter stops.

Eating clusters in the villages. Deep Cove has cafes, an ice-cream institution and waterfront patios along Gallant Avenue; Edgemont Village serves the west side with delis, bistros and bakeries; and Lynn Valley and Upper Lonsdale add sushi, Persian and pub options. Nothing here pretends to be a dining destination, but the ingredients are local and the settings are hard to beat: fish and chips above a kayak beach, coffee under the mountains. Evenings are quiet in the district itself; the City of North Vancouver's Lonsdale strip, a few minutes away, carries the breweries and late patios.

Accommodation inside the district is thin: a handful of inns and motels near the highway and Capilano Road, plus vacation rentals scattered through the neighbourhoods, with the fuller hotel strip in the city next door. A car is the honest recommendation: the district is big, hilly and built around its trailheads. TransLink buses thread the main roads and link to the SeaBus terminal in the city (downtown Vancouver in twelve minutes from there), bridges cross Burrard Inlet at the Lions Gate and Ironworkers, and Vancouver International Airport is forty-five minutes to an hour south depending on bridge traffic.

The district works in every season, which is rare for an outdoor suburb. Summer is for the lakes, canyon pools and the Quarry Rock crowds; Lynn Valley Days brings the community festival in June and Deep Cove Daze closes August at Panorama Park. Autumn colours the maples and clears the trails, and winter turns Grouse and Seymour into ski hills above the cloud while the canyon stays green and wet at sea level. The North Shore Writers Festival adds an April bookend. Two to four nights suits travellers building a trip around the trails and slopes.

For a British Columbia itinerary, the District of North Vancouver is the wilderness bookend to a Vancouver stay: sleep in the forest, hike and paddle all day, and drop into the city for dinner. It also pairs naturally with the Sea-to-Sky run to Squamish and Whistler, starting practically at the Lions Gate Bridge.