North Vancouver
North Vancouver Real Estate
April 3, 2009 by BuyerTours Team · Leave a Comment
The City of North Vancouver has an urban feel. Surrounded to the west, north, and east by the District, the City is home to the majority of the North Shore’s high rise buildings, rental properties, and commercial operations. As with the District, there are industrial sites along the shore of Burrard Inlet, although in recent years several of these have begun to convert to residential and commercial areas. The City also has the Lonsdale Quay public market and the northern terminal for Vancouver’s Seabus transit ferry. Regional planners have identified the City, and specifically its Central Lonsdale and Lower Lonsdale neighbourhoods, as the “downtown” of the North Shore.
Activities
The very rugged nature of the North Shore Mountains, including, predominantly, Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour, have contributed to this area’s reputation for hiking, skiing, and perhaps most famously, mountain biking. Many trails are featured in popular mountain biking videos. The Baden-Powell Trail runs from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove. This trail is host to the annual Knee-Knacker, which is a half day long run along the trail’s entire length of 50 kilometres. (The race is so named for the cuts and bruises frequently covering the runners knees when they cross the finish line.) The District is also home to the renowned Grouse Grind hiking trail, a steep vertical climb.
The North Shore is also the birth place of “Shore Riding”; a specific style of riding that involves hand made ladders, bridges and logs. The structures range from the simple to the elaborate, the best being made of cedar. They are used to navigate difficult terrain, rivers, swamps and muddy areas. The Shore is also known for its steep, slippery, wet, technical, rooty and generally nasty terrain.
The Capilano River is the site of the Capilano Suspension Bridge, one of the biggest tourist attractions on the North Shore. Indian Arm, an offshoot of Burrard Inlet, is well known for its sea kayaking and is the setting for Deep Cove. Other prominent tourist attractions include Lynn Canyon Park, the Capilano Fish Hatchery at Capilano River Regional Park, and the Maplewood Flats conservation area.
