New West Vancouver Trestle Bridge: A stunning visit!

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In late December 2021, we got to visit the new West Vancouver trestle bridge, also known as the Cypress Trestle Bridge, and absolutely loved it! The Trestle Bridge West Vancouver was inaugurated in early December 2021 so we thought we would check it out as, from our experience, anything in West Vancouver is just beautiful. Well, we weren’t disappointed. The new West Vancouver Trestle Bridge has definitely made it to our guide on the best bridges in Vancouver! From the beauty of the bridge surrounded by tall pine trees and the peaceful atmosphere to the sweeping views, there are many reasons why you should add the new trestle bridge in West Vancouver to your Vancouver itinerary. In this post, we go over everything you need to know to make the most of your visit to the new Cypress Trestle Bridge.

Last updated in February 2022

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Why the new West Vancouver Trestle Bridge is a good visit for couples on a budget

As a couple, Eric and I love to discover new destinations and new places. Although our bucket list grows by the hour, our budget doesn’t magically increase along with it. So we are always looking for fun, romantic and free or low-budget activities to do at the destinations we visit. 

Eric being from Vancouver and us having visited quite a few times in recent years, we were both looking for a low budget and refreshing activity that we had never done before. When we were searching for such an activity online, we came across an article about the inauguration of the trestle bridge and thought we would check it out!

Visiting the new Trestle Bridge in West Vancouver is one of those budget activities you’ll want to do while in Vancouver. It is one of the free activities to do on the Vancouver to Whistler drive, which makes it a perfect budget activity. But don’t worry, just because it’s free, doesn’t mean it is a “filler” activity. Visiting the trestle bridge in West Vancouver was one of our favourite activities we did during our recent visit! 

The Cypress Trestle Bridge site was very peaceful and quiet and offered amazing views on Vancouver. It was really nice walking there and enjoying the romantic view together. It was actually our first time seeing a trestle bridge so that made the experience a bit more unique. It was an interesting activity to break our travel routine in Vancouver. This is also one of the peaceful places to have a date in Vancouver.

With our blog, we aim at inspiring you to travel where you want, the way you want. We also love sharing our travel guides to make traveling and research easier for you! In recent years, we have come up with a budget that works for us and that allows us to visit places we love and dreamt of seeing and we hope to inspire you to do the same.

Are you struggling to save money to travel? Do you always feel like you have to travel for cheap or you won’t travel at all? That’s totally understandable! Money shouldn’t be stopping you from discovering places you dream of. Traveling cheap isn’t exactly our dream but traveling on a budget that works for us is! You can check out our tips for budget travel and our money saving and budgeting tips to be able to travel more and the way you want! 

If you have any questions, DM us on instagram and we’ll be happy to help you and answer your questions!

Trestle Bridge West Vancouver hours

On weekdays, the West Vancouver Trestle Bridge hours are 5pm to 10pm. On Saturdays & Sundays the Trestle Bridge West Vancouver hours are all day until 10PM. Mind you, we visited early in the morning on a Monday in December and everything was open and we were able to access the bridge, no questions asked. Now, as the site is still under construction at this time, it seems logical to avoid the hours of the day where builders are working.

Ideally, you’ll want to visit the Cypress trestle bridge on a clear day so you can have an unobstucted view on the city. That said, Vancouver’s weather can get quite wet especially during the rainy season. If it’s just a thin mist, I would suggest still visiting the trestle bridge. However, there are at least 47 other things to do in Vancouver when it’s raining.

Now, whether you visit during the day or at night is up to you. You can, of course, either do both or either. If you visit early in the morning (before 10am), you will pretty much have the place to yourself. This is what we chose to do. When we arrived at the new Vancouver trestle bridge, there was lots of free spots on the parking lot and only one other person passing on the bridge while we were taking photos and admiring the views. It was very peaceful and not crowded at all. The only other person we saw was a man in his truck salting the path to ensure that people don’t slip on the bridge.

If you visit during the day, it’s to be expected that there will be a bit more people. Since this is a new trestle bridge in West Vancouver, locals and tourists will want to come and visit to see what the craic is about. However, the neighbourhood is still being developed so you can expect it to be manageable!

Of course, visiting the new Cypress trestle bridge at night is also a great idea. During winter, there are lights on the bridge that turn on when the night falls. It creates a magical atmosphere which is perfect around Christmas time. There are also light poles on the bridge the rest of the year so you won’t be walking in the dark no matter what month you come visit the trestle bridge. At night, you will be able to see the lights of the city which is definitely a great experience. Note however that the path coming from Cypress Pop-Up Village to the west side of the West Vancouver Trestle Bridge is not lit so you may want to bring your own flashlight if that is the way you are coming from.

Trestle Bridge West Vancouver directions

The Trestle Bridge West Vancouver directions are really easy to follow although they require a car. To be fully honest, there isn’t a whole lot of public transportation in the area and a car is definitely a must to access the site. 

From Stanley Park, the drive takes about 12 minutes. You’ll want to hop on Upper Levels Highway and take Exit 8 towards Cypress Bowl Road and to Cypress Mountain Resort. If you are able to use Google Maps, you can enter “Trestle Bridge West Vancouver” and it will lead you right to it. 

We weren’t really able to see the bridge from the road, especially while driving, so we weren’t sure we were at the right spot when Google Maps said to turn. The turn looked like a construction site so we were a bit confused. Google Maps was right though. The whole site around the bridge is actually under construction so don’t be surprised if that happens to you too!

There is a carpark (the Uplands parking lot) at the beginning of the path to the bridge located at 3182 Chippendale Road. It can hold about 10 cars so it is a bit small. We would recommend coming early in the morning to avoid crowds and have room for parking. That’s what we did and we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves! There is another parking at Cypress Pop-Up Village located at 3757 Cypress Bowl Road.

The exact Trestle Bridge West Vancouver address is 9Q2Q+63, West Vancouver.

Cypress Trestle Bridge Trail

The trail to the bridge starts at the parking lot. There is a map there that will show you where you are and where you are going. The new West Vancouver Trestle Bridge is part of a system of trails which connect Westmount Creek to the Rodgers Creek neighbourhood. The goal is to build a village around the bridge which will be similar to Whistler Village.

From the beginning of the trail, it takes about 10 minutes (if that!) to get to the bridge. The walk is very short but nice. The path is easily accessible and can be wheelchair and strollers accessible as well as it is flat and made of concrete. It is also clean and does not get muddy. Overall, this is a free activity in Vancouver that is very easily accessible and can be fun for everyone.

In the winter, the path is salted as it could easily become slippery. If you are going on a cold winter day, just be mindful of that. 

While walking towards the bridge, don’t forget to look up so you can have a look at the tall pine trees and the clear blue skies!

The New Trestle Bridge in West Vancouver

The new West Vancouver Trestle Bridge was inaugurated in early December 2021. It is accessible by the public and is free to enter.

The first part of the path cuts into the mountain and creates a sort of canyon. You can actually see the two big rock formations on each side of the path on your way to the bridge which we thought was really cool! The second part of the path is the new trestle bridge.

The first part with the big rock formations was actually quite impressive and definitely made us feel like we had transported to a different place. If you look on your left, you’ll also have beautiful views on Vancouver!

The new Cypress trestle bridge was of course, our favourite part! It is a wooden bridge made of local cedar and fir timbers, which makes it fit perfectly into the landscape. The bridge is about 200 metre long. During December, it was temporarily lit up at night for the holidays. The path also has yearly lights that come on and off automatically at night. 

During the first bit of the bridge, you are walking among the high pine trees. The second part of the bridge is completely open and leads into what will become the new Cypress village.

The bridge is a trestle bridge. The word “trestle” designates the horizontal wooden structure that supports the bridge. The support is in a sort of braided style and pretty cool to look at! The structure was actually inspired by wooden train bridges in the British Columbia province and in particular the historic Kettle Valley trestles in the Okanagan.If you look closely, you will be bale to see the cross braces and the ledgers.

The best place to see the trestle is either by going to the very end of the bridge and looking back towards the trees or by going up into the under construction village and looking down. The trestle style was beautiful and really looked good in photos. Check out our best BC and Vancouver quotes here or our short nature captions for Instagram here to inspire your audience on social media when sharing photos of the trestle bridge.

Obviously, in addition to looking at the beautiful bridge that it is, going to the new trestle bridge also gives you the opportunity to observe one of the best views of Vancouver! From the path and the bridge, you’ll be able to see downtown Vancouver and the skyline, Stanley Park, Lions Gate bridge, Burnaby, and the Burrard Inlet. You can see on the below photo that although we visited on a clear day, the mix of sun and haze makes the photo slightly blurry. So if you want to have a nice view of Vancouver, let me reiterate the importance of coming on a clear day!

Insider Tip: While walking on the West Vancouver Trestle Bridge, make sure to hold on to your small belongings so they don’t fall into the gaps of the bridge. Technically, it is possible to access the area below the trestle bridge to catch something that might have fallen through, however it might not be the easiest so just beware of that.

What to wear to visit the new Trestle Bridge in West Vancouver

The new West Vancouver Trestle Bridge is located in the mountains in altitude and therefore, it can be quite colder there in the winter, than on lower grounds. In the winter, bring a coat, a scarf and a hat with gloves and boots with decent grip. When we visited, the bridge rails were actually covered in snow which you can see on the photos above. The beginning of the trail, although made of concrete was also a bit slippery. Remember that although the bridge gets salted, it can get slippery especially if you visit early in the morning before it gets salted. 

In the summer, we would recommend wearing your everyday outfit and sandals as Vancouver gets really nice and hot during summer! You might also want to bring sunglasses as the sun can shine quite bright and some sunscreen to protect your skin.

West Vancouver Trestle Bridge Practical tips

There are no amenities on site (yet). With the construction of the village, some shops, grocery stores and restaurants will also be built in the next few years but they are not there quite. There are also no washrooms available on site. 

Other things to do in the area of the Cypress Trestle Bridge

West Vancouver and the North Shore in general is a rich part of Vancouver with lots of beautiful sceneries and outdoor activities! Some highlights include the following:

• Lighthouse Park and its breathtaking views on Vancouver, 
• Caulfield Village to grab a bite, 
• the secret Horseshoe Bay Lookout also called, the sunset platform!
• Whytecliff park, one of the best beaches in the Vancouver area,
• Cypress Mountain Resort

Want to explore more of the Vancouver area? Read our Canada travel guides to make the most out of your trip!

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Any questions on the new Trestle Bridge in West Vancouver? Drop them in the comments or on insta @twolostexplorers and I will get back to you asap.

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