Best walks: Nos. 19-21 take you on a ramble through two parks and botanical gardens
Lori Beattie knows a thing or two about walking. She's travelled every path and trail listed in her new updated book, Calgary's Best Walks.
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She explained why she loves to explore this city on foot in a Weekend Life column on March 29, and now we're encouraging you to follow in her footsteps. Over the next few months, we'll highlight one of the 95 walks in Beattie's book, complete with necessary details and tasty stops along the way. Today we share Nos. 19, 20, 21: Dale Hodges Park, Bowmont Park, and the Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs.
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Offering a complete nature break, these interconnected walks lead to Rockies and Bow River views, waterfalls and an explosion of colour in Silver Springs. Begin on the paved Bow River Pathway and connect to Dale Hodges Park, a birders' paradise that is tucked between Silver Springs and the Bow River.
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Once a gravel pit, the area was transformed into wetlands through a unique collaboration between parks, water resources and public art departments. Walk the trails and boardwalks past marshes, wet meadows and Nautilus Pond and learn about the stormwater treatment process as it flows to the Bow River. This process is estimated to reduce sediment in stormwater by 50 per cent, helping to protect our river system.
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Calgary is home to over 200 bird species, some migrating and some residents, and many can be seen along the river and in the wetlands. Slow the pace in Dale Hodges Park to see mallards, cedar waxwings, yellow and red-winged blackbirds and maybe the tiny migratory northern saw-whet owl. One of the smallest owls in North America, the adults are the size of a robin.
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Continue past Nautilus Pond and onto the rollercoaster grassland pathways in Bowmont Park, one of my dog's favourite parks to explore with its mix of on- and off-leash. The hilly topography is perfect for hikers in training. Practice the 'mountaineer' or 'rest' step when climbing the hills. Take a step uphill, straighten the stepping leg by letting your heel come back to the ground and then take your next uphill step. If the hill is steep, you may want to count one second in between steps. This endurance technique lets you relax your calf muscles and breathe easy, so you have lots of energy for the long haul.
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You'll enjoy multitudes of wildflowers that cover the slopes and a bird's eye view of some of the impressive properties along the river in Bowness, as well as the mountains on the horizon. Walk 19 continues west into Waterfall Valley and descends to the river, while Walk 20 heads north to connect to Walk 21 in the Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs. This garden oasis hosts picnic areas amongst the fruit trees and gardens featuring over 100 species of roses, peonies, edible plants, herbs, a wall garden and a rock and crevice alpine garden. Be sure to walk there in August when the cheery sunflowers are in their towering golden glory.
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Calgary Herald
23-05-2025
- Calgary Herald
Best walks: Nos. 19-21 take you on a ramble through two parks and botanical gardens
Lori Beattie knows a thing or two about walking. She's travelled every path and trail listed in her new updated book, Calgary's Best Walks. Article content She explained why she loves to explore this city on foot in a Weekend Life column on March 29, and now we're encouraging you to follow in her footsteps. Over the next few months, we'll highlight one of the 95 walks in Beattie's book, complete with necessary details and tasty stops along the way. Today we share Nos. 19, 20, 21: Dale Hodges Park, Bowmont Park, and the Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs. Article content Article content Article content Offering a complete nature break, these interconnected walks lead to Rockies and Bow River views, waterfalls and an explosion of colour in Silver Springs. Begin on the paved Bow River Pathway and connect to Dale Hodges Park, a birders' paradise that is tucked between Silver Springs and the Bow River. Article content Once a gravel pit, the area was transformed into wetlands through a unique collaboration between parks, water resources and public art departments. Walk the trails and boardwalks past marshes, wet meadows and Nautilus Pond and learn about the stormwater treatment process as it flows to the Bow River. This process is estimated to reduce sediment in stormwater by 50 per cent, helping to protect our river system. Article content Calgary is home to over 200 bird species, some migrating and some residents, and many can be seen along the river and in the wetlands. Slow the pace in Dale Hodges Park to see mallards, cedar waxwings, yellow and red-winged blackbirds and maybe the tiny migratory northern saw-whet owl. One of the smallest owls in North America, the adults are the size of a robin. Article content Article content Continue past Nautilus Pond and onto the rollercoaster grassland pathways in Bowmont Park, one of my dog's favourite parks to explore with its mix of on- and off-leash. The hilly topography is perfect for hikers in training. Practice the 'mountaineer' or 'rest' step when climbing the hills. Take a step uphill, straighten the stepping leg by letting your heel come back to the ground and then take your next uphill step. If the hill is steep, you may want to count one second in between steps. This endurance technique lets you relax your calf muscles and breathe easy, so you have lots of energy for the long haul. Article content You'll enjoy multitudes of wildflowers that cover the slopes and a bird's eye view of some of the impressive properties along the river in Bowness, as well as the mountains on the horizon. Walk 19 continues west into Waterfall Valley and descends to the river, while Walk 20 heads north to connect to Walk 21 in the Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs. This garden oasis hosts picnic areas amongst the fruit trees and gardens featuring over 100 species of roses, peonies, edible plants, herbs, a wall garden and a rock and crevice alpine garden. Be sure to walk there in August when the cheery sunflowers are in their towering golden glory.
Edmonton Journal
26-04-2025
- Edmonton Journal
Best Walks: No. 58 takes you on a ramble high above the city
Article content Lori Beattie knows a thing or two about walking. She's travelled every path and trail listed in her new updated book, Calgary's Best Walks. She explained why she loves to explore this city on foot in a Weekend Life column on March 29, and now we're encouraging you to follow in her footsteps. Over the next few months, we'll highlight one of the 95 walks in Beattie's book, complete with necessary details and tasty stops along the way. We start with walk No. 58: Roxboro Natural Park- Erlton – Ramsay.
Vancouver Sun
26-04-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Best Walks: No. 58 takes you on a ramble high above the city
Article content Lori Beattie knows a thing or two about walking. She's travelled every path and trail listed in her new updated book, Calgary's Best Walks. Article content Article content She explained why she loves to explore this city on foot in a Weekend Life column on March 29, and now we're encouraging you to follow in her footsteps. Over the next few months, we'll highlight one of the 95 walks in Beattie's book, complete with necessary details and tasty stops along the way. We start with walk No. 58: Roxboro Natural Park- Erlton – Ramsay. Article content Article content Connecting five communities, this route sheds light on the kind of diversity Calgary can pack into a five-km radius. I suggest that you walk every street in Ramsay and Mission as there is character and colour throughout these neighbourhoods. This walk begins in Roxboro's off-leash dog park and then climbs a dirt path with a few stairs into Roxboro Natural Park, an escarpment green space. The views from the top of the bluff are expansive, taking in the tree-canopied streets of Roxboro and backdropped by the towers of Calgary's downtown core. Article content Connect through St. Mary's cemetery in Erlton and continue up and over Macleod Trail. You'll get a glimpse of the treadmill of life, the cars whizzing below, before you descend into the calm of Union Cemetery. Reader Rock Garden is the next detour, a wonderful, inner-city, perennial garden that sits below the cemetery, on the south side of the Stampede grounds. It is the perfect Stampede escape for those of you who crave a little nature with your corn dogs and mini doughnuts. The garden is named after creator William Roland Reader, the City of Calgary parks superintendent from 1913 to 1942. In the early 1900s, Reader collected alpine plants while hiking in the mountains. He introduced them to this formerly bare hillside. Over 30 years, he continued to develop his garden, testing the abilities of over 4,000 plants in the prairie climate. The now-reconstructed garden blooms from mid-March through October. It is a mini oasis, a nice spot for a picnic or just a wander. Article content Article content Walk east and set your sights on Ramsay and Inglewood, Calgary's first communities. Variety is the spice of life, and not knowing what you might find around the next corner is what makes for a fun urban walkabout. Ramsay is a neighbourhood wherein residents' interests and their characters are visible to all who pass by. An art installation, a colourful house, the little free library on a front lawn; I always have my camera at the ready for the unexpected. Article content Climb to Scotsman's Hill and snap a photo of the iconic view over Stampede Park: city towers reach skyward, and the Rocky Mountains stretch out across the horizon. Find the escarpment staircase and drop down to the RiverWalk pathway and Stampede extension. Follow the Elbow River Pathway south along the Stampede grounds to Lindsay Park. Walk through the side streets of Mission and along popular Fourth Street for a coffee, lunch or some shopping or continue along the Elbow River Pathway to the hidden pathway that leads you back to Roxboro Park.
