Cleveland Dam and Capilano River Hatchery Trail

Our little family went on a little trek today! We headed to the Cleveland Dam and made the loop around to the Capilano River Hatchery, which is a place where you can see how salmon grow and even swim upwards! We followed the trail here, and as the reviews say, it can be a bit challenging to follow the instructions. But thankfully Google Maps is also available, so you can kinda see where you need to go.

So we started off at the Cleveland Dam parking lot. We got to see the dam and explain to our kids what it was for. Then we headed up towards the Shinglebolt trail. We got to see so many tall trees. The trail itself at this part was quite easy, some flat and some downhill. Then, we headed down the stairs towards the canyon and then towards the Coho Loop.

There were quite a bit of dogs in the area, and some are on leash and some aren’t. Unfortunately, one of the dogs licked Chase and he’s allergic to some dogs saliva, and he started itching around his necks and arms. Because of his discomfort, he wasn’t able to enjoy the next leg around the water and wanted to head back to the car. I put on some creams, but I also knew it would also just take some time for it to calm down.

Before long, we were at the Salmon Hatchery area. It was really beautiful and I am thinking of coming back when it’s the season for it! It was so cool to see the salmon jump up! We were able to see a few, but I can only imagine when it’s the season for it. Then, we made the trek back up. Clement and Chase took the harder Palisades trail back, and so poor Clement had to carry Chase up about 100 steps and he was super sweaty haha. We took the Palisades trail as well and then the service road, which was a slower incline. I didn’t bother getting Jasiel to walk and just carried her, and of course she fell asleep on the way back to the car :) It was 29 degrees hot so we were super sweaty and sticky together, but I love cuddles and would take her napping on me anytime.

I think it’s a lovely trail/hike worth visiting another time! :)