Lynn Creek

Class: III+-IV
Character: pool/drop canyon and gravel bed
Season: after rain
Time: 2 hrs +
Distance: about 4 km
Gauge: at the Bridgman Park take-out, about 20 meters downstream of Keith Rd bridge on a tree river right. Colour coded gauge: yellow (10-15) low, green (15-20) medium, orange (20-25) high, red (25-30) very high.
Scenery: great canyon, pretty stunning for a 'city-run'.
Special hazards: There is always the possibility of wood. Water levels change rapidly with heavy rains.

Directions: Take-out is at Bridgman Park (on Keith Rd.) in North Vancouver. To get to the put-in from the park, turn left onto Keith Rd., turn right up Arborlynn Dr., follow Hoskins, Wembley Dr., Duval, turn right onto Peters Rd. and enter Lynn Valley Park. Take note of the gate-closing time. There is some hiking involved (15-25 min). Follow trail to Twin-Falls Bridge (towards SSE). Take stairs down to the bridge, cross it and turn right. A small trail leads to the river below the falls.

Description: The run starts with a gravel section (with a strainer across at the start) which gets increasingly steeper and leads soon into the canyon. The canyon has about a dozen class III and three IV-ish drops. The first harder drop has two rather sticky holes on the left, as many swimmers can attest to. House Rock is another drop worth a scout. The third interesting drop starts with a series of ledges followed by a picket fence and Sky-High-Log drop. After Sky-High, the creek swirls through a narrow canyon and then opens up into gravel bed. At low levels some drops can be a bit rocky, but there is ample room in pools to recover. At higher levels things get pushy and it is prudent to 'bank-scout' the narrow sections for wood (especially around Sky-High-Log). There is a trail almost all the way along the left bank, but it is accessible at only a few points once you are in the canyon section.

Watch movie of 'Skyhigh Log' at low water level (RealMedia Player, 3 MB).