Lynn Headwaters Regional Park

Lynn Headwaters Regional Park
Lynn Headwaters entrance from Lynn Valley Road
Location	North Vancouver, British Columbia
Coordinates	49°24′47″N 123°02′17″W / 49.413°N 123.038°W / 49.413; -123.038Coordinates: 49°24′47″N 123°02′17″W / 49.413°N 123.038°W / 49.413; -123.038
Area	617 acres (250 ha)

Lynn Headwaters Regional Park is an area of North Vancouver, British Columbia, and is the largest of twenty-two regional parks in Metro Vancouver. At 9,216.5 acres (3,729.8 ha), the park boasts a variety of trails for hikers, including easy, intermediate, and challenging. The trails are colour-coded and range from 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to 21.4 kilometres (13.3 mi). No bikes are allowed on the trails, however, select trails allow dogs.

Lynn Headwaters is also home to the BC Mills House, which is a small building near the entrance of the park. The BC Mills House offers information and visual depictions of the natural history and industrial history of the area, including kinds of animals that inhabit the forest and locations of previous mines and logging camps.

The park is covered in dense temperate rainforest that houses a wide array of organisms. Like the neighbouring Lynn Canyon Park, Lynn Headwaters is a second growth forest. Cedar stumps can be seen throughout the park, reminding visitors of old logging practices.

Lynn Headwaters is situated in Lynn Valley Park on the North Shore of Vancouver. Lynn Headwaters sits between two peaks; on one side, the park area is closer to Mount Fromme, and on the other side is Mount Seymour. The temperate rainforest experiences moderate temperatures, plenty of rainfall, and a mild climate that is suitable for growth of large coniferous trees and shade-loving shrubs and ferns. On average per year, the park receives around 200 cm (79 in) of rain, which contributes to the forest's cool and moist quality. The most common coniferous trees in the forests are western red cedar, western hemlock, Douglas fir and sitka spruce. Red alder, black cottonwood, vine maple and broadleaf maple are deciduous trees that also inhabit the forest. Additionally, ground hugging flora are present, including some mosses and ferns, salmonberry, Oregon grape and salal.

Lynn Headwaters is the habitat for a diversity of fauna. Some mammals include squirrels, raccoons, mice, and deer. Amphibians and insects include the salamander, mayfly, caddisfly and stonefly. Also, some birds that are present are red-breasted sapsuckers, winter wrens, owls, crows, chickadees and northern flickers.