One Trail Walk Takes You Across the 2 Highest New Suspension Bridges

The Golden Skybridge features not one, but two expansive suspension bridges connected by forested trails – right at the edge of two legendary mountain ranges.

Visitors embark on a 3k (nearly 2 mile) nature walk weaving throughout parkland and across two new, spectacular suspension bridges – the two highest pedestrian suspension bridges in Canada, and believed to be in all of North America.

You might call this new experience ‘Golden’. The mountain town of Golden in southeast British Columbia sits amidst six Canadian national mountain parks. Known to outdoor adventurers as the ideal basecamp to explore some of the country’s greatest outdoor landscapes in the Columbia and Rocky mountains, Golden is on the Trans-Canada highway. 

And now, with the Golden Skybridge experience opening in time for summer travel in May, 2021, visitors traveling between Calgary or Banff in Alberta, and BC’s Okanagan wine country or Vancouver on the west coast, have a new reason to stop for a while in Golden.

One of the bridges sits a dramatic 130 meters (427 feet) from the ground, and the other is 80 meters (262 feet) above the ravine underneath. Measured from the ground below (rather than height above sea level as some other suspension bridges do), that puts these Golden Skybridge pedestrian suspension bridges in 1^st and 2^nd places for the whole continent.

That’s a whole lot of air under your feet – not once, but twice in a day.

To put it in perspective, world-famous Niagara Falls is 176 feet high. So you’ll be walking well above the height of Niagara Falls across the lowest suspension bridge – and more than double Niagara Fall’s height when you cross the highest suspension bridge!

The bridges are no slouches for length, either, with the tallest spanning a 154 metre (over 500 foot) chasm, and the shorter bridge slightly shorter, but still coming in at 139 metres (or 455 feet) long –surpassing in length as well as height other famous BC suspension bridges: Capilano in North Vancouver, and the Cloudraker Skybridge at Whistler.

Just imagine the dramatic, 360 degree views of expansive alpine vistas the Golden Skybridge experience offers up. The scenery even showcases a roaring waterfall that itself is a higher drop than Niagara: 61 metres (200 feet) down to a mountain river in the deep canyon below. Viewing platforms on the trail provide guests with many other opportunities to take in the picturesque landscapes surrounding you. 

The scenic trail across the country’s – and likely the continent’s - two highest suspension bridges isn’t the only adventure at the new destination. For the more daring, the Golden Skybridge will also feature a tandem bungee swing and a 1200 metre (nearly 4000 foot) zipline spanning the canyon, both opening later this summer. The attraction’s owners say a canyon swing and axe-throwing venue (a nod to the lumberjack heritage of the mountains, no doubt!) are also planned.

It seems like an ideal scenario for outdoor travel lovers as well as multi-generational family travel. All members of the family can enjoy the scenic trail with its vistas and suspension bridges, then less active family members can relax at the outdoor courtyard and café at the attraction’s base for some well-deserved pre-and post-trail walk rest, relaxation, and refreshment - as others tap into their inner adrenaline-junkies ziplining and bungee jumping. And who doesn’t want to burn off some pent-up frustration with a little axe-throwing?

 

What a way to bond together while breathing in pristine mountain air and absorbing brand-new mountain vistas. Even frequent explorers of Canada’s western mountain parks and the region will gain new perspective and a new appreciation of the incredible, alpine beauty in Golden, BC.