Mark your calendars for Dec. 13, 2017 at 6:30 pm! I am celebrating the end of the successful Walk 150 initiative with a 6+ km Christmas Lights Walk through Mount Royal and Elbow Park, followed by a party at the Alexander Calhoun Library! Come one, come all!
I took CTV Morning Calgary viewers on some spectacular Fall Kananaskis Rockies hikes that are perfect for families, visiting relatives and more adventurous avid hikers! And we talked about bear awareness- check it out. And for more regular updates on all this walking and hiking, follow me on Facebook @calgarysbestwalks
Trailhead for both hikes: Highwood Pass Parking Lot, Hwy. 40, Kananaskis
Check out the visuals from Ptarmigan Cirque (4.5 km round trip + 250 meters elevation, interpretive hike). Perfect for kids, visiting family, or new hikers) and
Pocaterra Ridge (12+ km and 700 meters elevation with an option to do a linear ridge walk, two cars needed or a good hitch hiking thumb, or an out and back hike) no signage, need the Gemtrek maps). These two Kananaskis hikes are larch filled and get your above treeline for phenomenal views.
Learn about the FREE BEAR AWARENESS SESSIONS at MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op)
It is berry season so bear awareness is important! Make noise, yell YOOOOO BEARRRRR! as loud as you can, often when no other people noise is being made. Bear bells ARE NOT loud enough to warn bears, give a false sense of security and just annoy all your fellow hiking pals. FREE bear awareness sessions happen MEC all September so check their calendar of events. The more you know the better!
All walks are great for kids of course, but there are some urban walkabouts that are clear favourites. Bring on the ice cream stops, watermarks, massive hills to roll down, single track trails along escarpments, waterfalls and for the teenagers in the group, a burger stop in Kensington!
Watch my Kid Favorite CTV segment!
I took CTV viewers snowshoeing on my latest segment. Watch the segment here!
If you want to know more about where to snowshoe, maps and trails, check out my post on where to snowshoe in and around Calgary. And for more info on snowshoeing, where to rent, what to bring, take a read of my snowshoe page on this website.
Snowshoeing is great exercise, just like walking but slower, in spectacular terrain. It is a wonderful family activity (bring the crazy carpets and the shovels for snow caves). It is a wonderful, FREE, outing that refreshes the mind and the body.
Y
es, it is true. I have walked Canadian cities from coast to coast and this I know is true, Calgary is the best city for walking, by a long shot. What makes Calgary such a walking paradise is the way nature is integrated into all parts of the city. When you add canopies of trees to a street, it makes for a nicer walk. Our urban forests blanket communities thanks to early parks superintendents William Reader and William Pearce.
A walk in Calgary, from most neighbourhoods, can lead to a complete immersion in the wilderness followed by an exit onto a neighbourhood street with varied terrain and a great little coffee shop. Cross one of the many pedestrian bridges that criss cross the Bow and Elbow Rivers and the pedestrian is connected to a new community and interacting with new neighbours.
The variety in Calgary, the rolling topography, the escarpment viewpoints with panoramic views of the Rocky Mountains and the compact downtown core reaching prominently out of the concrete are breathtaking. The two rivers, the Bow and the Elbow, host paved pathways that connect the city. Over 700 km of these paved pathways snake through and around Calgary. Along these river pathways is nature. Full on nature, along with all the conveniences that come with a city, like access to great restaurants and shops, and of course, cafes. A personal favourite.
No need to stop in the winter since the paved pathways are even cleared of snow in the winter so walkers and cyclists can keep on trekking and rolling. And oh, the winter is so spectacular in Calgary. Big blue skies and snowcapped peaks in the distance.
Single track trails and hidden stairways climb into pockets of wilderness. These hidden pathways connect the urban walker to communities that are not easily connectable by car. The pockets of nature host Saskatoon berries and Wolf-willow shrubs; prairie staples. Grazing opportunities exist everywhere is Calgary.
Calgary’s variety means that you can choose between art and architecture, wildflowers and mountain views, people-populated commercial streets or a hidden oasis of calm. And you have all of these features on one single walkabout. Mix and match based on how you feel.
Or, you could find decadent picnic treats to bring along on the trails, like these macarons from Yann Patisserie on 4 Street, SW.
So, after walking Fredericton and Halifax, Montreal and Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto and also Vancouver and Victoria, I can say, without a doubt, that Calgary is a walking mecca. A pedestrian paradise. An outdoor lovers dream city. Got the point? It is the way that nature is integrated into the city that makes it stand out. That is what makes Calgary unique. I am so privileged to call Calgary my home. What a beautiful city!
Lori is featuring a walk a week on her segment “Walking Wednesdays” on Calgary’s CTV Morning. Tune in or check on-line each Wednesday at 7:55 am to learn about a new walk in Calgary!
All walk segments will be posted on her blogs, Facebook and Twitter.
I am so HAPPY to be sharing a walk from my book every Wednesday, June through September on CTV Morning at 7:56 am. Today I featured Ramsay and Inglewood, route 35 in Calgary’s Best Walks. It is quirky and varied, with views of the Rockies, and lots of nature and artwork along the River Walk pathway. Oh yes, and some great coffee, restaurant and shopping stops along 9 Avenue. Check it out here!
Next week, Nose Hill!
It was an excellent start to a Saturday morning when I opened the Calgary Herald newspaper, wait, I didn’t have to open it since I WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE! Sorry to yell, but it was a great start indeed.
Click on the photos below to read the stories on the Calgary Herald website. See you out there, walking the city!
BLOG NOTE: I post more often on the www.calgarysbestwalks.ca blog
My book, Calgary’s Best Walks, is released on March 9, 2015! Here’s a teaser video to get your pumped up about walking in Calgary. Check the books website for more information on the book, and a full list of book launch events!
Best-selling author of Calgary’s Best Hikes and Walks and Calgary’s Best Bike Rides and Trails, Lori Beattie is back with a brand-new guidebook. Full colour maps, informative walk descriptions and sidebars, lead and inform you as you walk throughout Calgary.
Calgary’s“Queen of the Urban Hike” is back with a new guidebook that leads locals and visitors throughout the best parks, neighbourhoods, people-watching streets and pathways of Calgary. Stroll the River Walk past the East Village, climb out of the downtown core up McHugh Bluffs for Rocky Mountain views, meander the Weaslehead nature trails or mingle with the mule deer in Nose Hill Park’s ravines. Bring your kids, your dog and your sense of adventure. Detailed maps lead you through neighbourhoods and natural parks, to hidden staircases, along paved river pathways and onto people-populated walking streets. Take a step off the beaten path in your own backyard!
To be published by Fit Frog Books, March 2015
Check www.calgarysbestwalks.ca for book launch events and free sample walks.
Give the gift of the Rocky Mountains this Christmas! I snowshoed Chester Lake in The Kananaskis Rockies, yesterday and it was absolute perfection. And abundance of glittering powdery snow, and mountain peaks all around. MERRY CHRISTMAS I say!
For details on snowshoe trails in the Kananaskis, check the Alberta Parks website. You can also join us, on our many snowshoe outings in December through March.
1. AVALANCHE AWARENESS- Be aware that the snowshoe trails in the park are created to keep you away from avalanche terrain. If you do not know what an avalanche slope looks like, DO NOT go into the mountains on snowshoes. You can easily walk into avalanche terrain without knowing it. Check the Avalanche Canada website.
2. Have the Gemtrek, Kananaskis map and the Snowshoe trail map. There are many, many, many alternative snowshoe trails created by people enjoying the powder. This can be confusing if you are not paying attention and navigating. There is signage for snowshoe trails created by the parks, so keep watching for those signs.
3. Take lots of clothing and lots of food. Read through our checklist on what to bring on snowshoe and ski days. And here is a list of where to rent snowshoes.
