The Cleveland Dam, completed in 1954, dams the Capilano River to create the Capilano Reservoir — one of the three drinking-water reservoirs that supply metropolitan Vancouver. The concrete arch dam is 91 metres high; the spillway lip is open to the public on a paved walkway across the top, and on the south side a small lookout gives the best photograph of the dam, the reservoir, and (on a clear day) the Lions peaks behind.
Below the dam, the Capilano River Hatchery is a working salmon hatchery with public viewing windows showing fish at every life stage. In late summer and autumn, returning chinook and coho salmon can be seen climbing the fish ladder against the current — one of the more interesting urban-wildlife shows in BC.
The dam, the hatchery, and the river trails together make a good half-day round-trip walk from the parking lot above the dam down through old-growth Douglas fir and Western red cedar to the salmon viewing pools and back. Admission to both the dam viewpoint and the hatchery is free.