Lynn Canyon is good with preschoolers because there is an Ecology Centre there that is a good place to go with kids. They may be unnerved by the suspension bridge and refuse to cross it, and most of your trails are on the other side.

Capilano River Regional Park has beautiful scenery and trails and the salmon hatchery is also good with kids. The canyon is quite spectacular, but just use caution with kids and make sure no one goes for a walk over the edge! Stick to the forest trails and you'll be fine.

I haven't been out to Lighthouse Park in years, but it has a great reputation. Not sure how kid friendly it is though.

Check out the Metro Vancouver Regional Parks webpages for maps and info of their sites.

www.metrovancouver.org

Thanks Vancouverite67, I'm afraid Lynn would be a problem if most of the trails are past the bridge, because wife is specially afraid of heights.

With preschoolers the trails in Lynn Canyon and Lighthouse Park can be a little dangerous - my suggestion is the loop trail hike to Rice Lake in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve (aka Seymour River Demonstration Forest). Here's a link: http://www.britishcolumbia.com/parks/?id=490

On the same day you can visit Deep Cove, which is just a short drive (10-15 minutes) east of the Seymour River Forest. More easy walking, even swimming at the beach if the weather permits. The scenery in the Cove is lovely, and you can buy ice cream, lunch or a treat at Honey's.

Another suggestion for an easy walk, albeit not really a forest hike: the Seawall in West Van, starting at Ambleside Beach to Dundarave. Beautiful views of downtown Vancouver and the kids would enjoy the playgrounds at Ambleside and John Lawson Park.

Hope these suggestions are helpful!

There is a secondary bridge at Lynn Canyon that's just your regular wooden bridge.

I wouldn't be so concerned about the suspension bridge, but the stairs. There are a lot of stairs at Lynn Canyon so you'll likely be holding the hands of the preschoolers.

Lighthouse Park would be much easier in terms of trails. However, I would also venture a bit further to Horseshoe Bay's Whytecliff Park for some beautiful views and a great picnic area. :)

1. Lighthouse is nice, but it's in West Vancouver and is not 'easy walking', not difficult... but not easy.

2. Lynn Canyon is great - they'll love the ecology center as mentioned by another poster - and there is no need to actually cross the bridge. Talk the Baden Powell trail on the left hand side right before the suspention bridge, despite the inital stairs, it's flat and goes along beside the river, before the second set of large stairs going up, take the foot bridge/path to the right to get to 30 ft pool. There is also the Centennial trail which is on the right hand side of the suspention bridge, which leads to twin falls, but there are a lot of stairs to deal with.

3. Grouse is expensive, and I don't think many of the activities will be appreciated by the pre-schoolers.

4. As for other parks.... I second Rice Lake from the demonstration forest... but check out the maps and distances first, I have no clue how far a preschooler could walk, so you might want to look at a map first or google the area to find out distances....

Lynn Headwaters might be nice, it's in Lynn Valley at the top of Lynn Valley Road and is attached by trails to Lynn Canyon.... most of the hikes are a bit long, but you can always just walk along the river and then double back.

Walking a long the seawall in West Vancouver at Ambleside is also really nice, it has a playground/beach/lots of grass and a concession, but is not foresty.

Deep Cove & Cates Park (2 seperate parks close to each other) are great too... I don't think there are many trails at either of them (other than the baden powell/quarry rock) in DC, but they both have grass/areas to play/beach and a bit of strolling.... the bonus of Deep Cove is the ice cream to be found afterwards.

My favorite park in North Van is Harbourview park, not many people seem to know about it, as it's not obvious to find, but not difficult. If any of your preschoolers are boys (or girls who like ships/boats/machinery) the trail takes you along a river bank, as well as next to Lynnterm, which is a Bulk Cargo Terminal (mainly pulp) - depending on when you go, you can see ships being loaded. There is also an observation tower at the end with a great view over Burrard Inlet. It's not a long walk and would probably take 1/2 hr round trip - it's super flat... but not touristy at all since it's in an industrial area. It won't let me add a link for a map of Harbourview, but just google map search 'Harbourview Park, North Vancouver' and it comes up.

Am I the only person who thinks Capilano River Regional Park is absolutely spectacular?? The view up to the Cleveland Dam is impressive, the giant fir trees are pretty impressive, especially to someone one from somewhere other than the west coast, and the fish hatchery is informative and free to boot.

I like the trails there. There are lots of loops and cross trails, so you can pick a long hike or a short stroll, the trails are interesting and scenic. It's all good!

Rice Lake is nice. You would also enjoy that. You can find info about the LSCR at the Metro Vancouver website address I provided above.

Vancouverite67, looked some photos of Capilano River Regional Park and the Capilano lake and they look beautiful!

Maybe I was (or I am?) confused with the Capilano suspension bridge. Are them diferent trails/parks? Because we're not into suspension bridges things.

If Capilano River Park has not the suspension bridge, then I'd have narrowed my choice for a North Vancouver park to one of these: Capilano River Park or Rice Lake at Lower Seymour.

Could you explain me some advantages/disadvantages?

A common confusion. The Capilano Suspension Bridge attraction is a privately run tourist facility. It's relatively small (by comparison to the public park that surrounds it). You pay to go in ($20 each last time I went), and it consists of the suspension bridge and the main feature, with a coffee shop and a souvenir shop on one side, and then interpretive signage, a short trail and the tree top walk on the other side.

Capilano River Regional Park is operated by the regional governing body now known as Metro Vancouver (formerly the Greater Vancouver Regional District). It's 183 Ha (450 acres) and has about 12 km of trails, as well as provides a home to a federally run salmon hatchery. It surrounds the lower canyon of the Capilano River and there are two or three bridges across the canyon at various points in the park (but not swaying suspension bridges), It is home to some of the largest fir trees in the area and provides some spectacular views. One of my favorite parks in the area.

Have you looked at the Find Family Fun website yet? They're a local family who have written reviews on every single family-friendly activity in the Vancouver area. It's probably the best resource when trying to figure out what parks are more preschooler friendlier than others...

Here's what they say on Capilano Regional Park.

www.findfamilyfun.com/capregionalpk.htm

BTW - yes, Capilano Suspension Bridge is a small fenced in tourist attraction located on Capilano Canyon... and Capilano Regional Park is the free park located outside of the fence.

Whoops - missed Vancouverite67's differentiation between the two parks.