Carburn Park and other Calgary exploring
I normally limit my visits with family to 3 days, but this time I went for 5, and it worked out very well. I spent a lot of time exploring the nearby Carburn Park and Bow River Trail, and walked almost 20 km there. I was amazed by how large and natural the trail system is, and that is mostly what this lengthy post is about (there are 48 photos).
This map will give you a basic idea of the layout.
The approach to the trails is intriguing from the residential area above – nature and the city.
For about four blocks, the access from the north end runs along the back of homes…
…and then it drops down to join the Bow River Trail.
Although I saw mostly people (and dogs) walking, there were a few bikes. This is also part of the Trans-Canada Trail, which runs through Whitehorse, though most of the useable sections in the Yukon are just highways.
I also enjoy seeing decorated trash bins, and the ones here are particularly nice.
Sponsored benches are quite numerous.
There are many interpretive signs. The main part of this one describes the riparian forest ecosystem, with a corner noting that the tree in the distance, a balsam poplar, has been dated to 1907. A photo of Calgary as it looked in 1907 is included.
At the point where the sign above stands, a dirt trail leads off into an extensive network of casual trails through the forest closer to the river. The bases of all the trees in the next photo have been wrapped with wire mesh to foil beavers.
A small group of male and female Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula). This was shot at the full zoom (960mm equivalent), then cropped very slightly to centre the birds. I’m finding the viewing screen to be quite challenging to use in many instances, but other than that, I love the camera and it was a good investment.
On these back trails I had the park pretty much to myself.
This photographer was shooting a group of gulls.
I believe they’re California gulls (Larus californicus). This too was shot at 960mm.
There is lots of variety in the casual trails. This will be lovely when the leaves come out.
In 2013, the Bow River flooded, with flow rates 7 times normal. This area was under several feet of water. Erosion will always be a problem, and measures are still being taken to address it along important parts of the trail system.
This Canada goose wasn’t worried about my presence, and only a moderate zoom (230mm equivalent) was required to get this shot.
This wonderful “bee hotel” is one of several in parks around Calgary. It’s a gigantic version of the one I have in my pollinator garden at home.
I returned to the paved trails for the walk back home. The focal point of Carburn Park is an old gravel quarry.
A couple of swans on a side channel of the river.
Climbing back up to the upper trail.
Five or six people are living in a camp on one of the islands.
My son’s dog, Marshall, always knows where the best sunbeams are. At night, we would join me in bed about 03:00, coming under the covers to snuggle and completely removing any incentive to get up 🙂
On Friday night we went downtown to go to a very special micro-brewery. I was surprised by how quiet 1st Street SW was.
To say that Four Dogs Brewing is dog-friendly is an understatement – there were probably as many dogs as people. It’s just a tiny place, but great fun and they brew some excellent beers.
The aurora forecast was fairly good so we went way out east of Calgary, away from the lights, and got a bit of aurora. And any aurora is a good aurora, especially that far south. We saw a few other vehicles obviously doing the same thing.
On Saturday morning there were a few people fishing the Bow River, from shore and with boats. Rainbow trout and Brown trout are the most sought after, but there are a few other species as well.
There was also a bird club outing on Saturday morning.
There are a few whitetail deer in the park. On one walk we saw three, then nine on another.
If I lived nearby I would adopt this park in some form!
Extending one of the walks, I could see what I thought was a vehicle bridge.
Spring arrived while I was there, and with temperatures going into the high teens the ice on the lagoon was melting rapidly.
On the next walk we kept going south along the river, and there were a few fisherfolk.
I hadn’t realized that you can walk on the river trail right to down Calgary (31 km).
What I thought was a vehicle bridge is a footbridge, the Eric Harvie Bridge, which provides access to the Sue Higgins Off-Leash Dog Park – one of the biggest off-leash parks in the country.
Dogs who enjoy water were having a ball on the gently-sloping beach and shallow part of the river.
On Saturday afternoon, the whole family headed into the Rockies for a hike to an abandoned Cold War bunker and then for dinner at Canmore, but I’ll tell you about that in the next post.
A woman who has been a friend for almost my entire life lives in Calgary, and I finally managed to catch her home, so we went for a nice lunch at Earl’s and then back to Carburn Park for a long walk on Sunday. She was 3 years old and I was 5 when our parents bought homes two lots apart in Surrey, BC (1955). Even when it’s been many years since we’d seen each other, it feels like we see each other regularly. It was such a wonderful afternoon.
On Monday, my son and I went for a road wander. We headed north on Highway 2 as far as Red Deer.
There aren’t many of the grains elevators left. This one is near Innisfail.
We came back south to Bowden meet a friend for lunch at a cool little replica ’50s diner, the Starlite Diner Car.
My Google review was 5 stars: “Great food and service in a cool atmosphere, all at fair prices.” It was the perfect place to catch up with a fellow I hadn’t seen except briefly since I rented a Triumph Tiger motorcycle in Calgary and the three of us rode to Radium Hot Springs 7 years ago
On the way home we went over to the west side of Airdrie to see the vast areas of homes of every type being built on what had been prime farmland the last time I saw it. It’s hard to imagine how many people will live there – tens of thousands, I’m sure. And then boom, you’re on quiet dirt roads again.
Tuesday afternoon, my son and daughter and I walked in a new direction, to the north on the Bow River trail. When the paved trail headed away from the river, the kids kept straight on the dirt path. Yes, they both have good Explorer genes 🙂
It was an excellent trail – rough at times, but scenic and with lots of variety.
At this point, the Sappers Bridge, I had to quit. I had pushed a little too hard and I was right at my limit when we got home. It was a great hike, though, and Marshall got to be off-leash for quite a while so he had a lot of fun.
And that’s the end of Calgary. I’ll tell you about the Rockies hike next, then it’ll be time to get back to the Yukon.
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So happy to see current posts, and your doing well!