‘Tis the season to burn off some cookies and wine with a festive urban Christmas Lights Walks. Check out my segment on CTV for some ideas of where to walk, and then grab my book, Calgary’s Best Walks, for the maps and routes!
Watch my CTV Christmas Lights Walks Segment!
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!
Check out the many wonderful Club Fit Frog city walks, Rockies Hikes and snowshoe Days and FREE Walk 150 city walks with Calgary Library on the calendar page.
Check out our latest newsletter here!
The Fall Session starts on August 27 and runs until December 16. Come on out and learn about all the fantastic areas in to walk and hike in Calgary the the neighbouring Kananaskis, Banff and Kootenay Rockies.
Want to have a day of wilderness calm to balance out your Canada Day celebrations? How about some spectacular wildflowers hikes in the Kananaskis? Or an urban walk through the Beltline, Mount Royal and into Roxboro/ Erlton natural park, followed by an Elbow River stroll through Lindsay park. Check out my CTV segment from June 28, 2017 for some ideas!
Watch my CTV SEGMENT: Long Weekend Hikes and Walks
And here are the Gemtrek maps you’ll need to find Cox Hill and Grass Pass (The mountain hikes in my segment). Find them at MEC or Maptown in Calgary. For the city walk, you’ll need my book Calgary’s Best Walks. Try the Roxboro- Ramsay route or the Stanley Park- Mount Royal route (or mix them up and make a new route!)
Here’s some of the shots I have taken in the past three weeks while hiking in Calgary, The Elbow Valley, Sibbald, Jumpingpound and the Highwood (all covered in the maps and my book above)
June 3, 2017: About 100 people joined me on a phenomenal, 7-8 km Walk 150 walkabout today from the central Calgary Public Library. The goal of Walk 150 is the welcome everyone to join in and connect communities, and with a special emphasis on welcoming newcomers. Today our feature language was Mandarin and there were SO MANY newcomers who came along with the staff and interpreter from Centre for Newcomers – must have been 35 people! So great!
We walked from the Central library past the Bow Building, up Centre Street to Mount Pleasant. Checked out public art en route, and then dropped into Bridgland, along the Bow River to Saint Patrick’s Island and then along the wonderful East Village, Riverwalk. A mix of three routes from my book, Calgary’s Best Walks– The Bridgeland route, The INglewood Route and the McHugh Bluffs route.
Join me on Wednesday for the next Walk 150 walk- 6:30 at Nicholls Family Library. Feature language is Amharic from Ethiopia. Inside scoop… the walk is fully booked, so just show up!
Thanks to Calgary Foundation for supporting Walk 150 through the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th Anniversary of Confederation and for Calgary Public Library Foundation for their partnership!
Yup, it’s working, we are building communities through walking!
READ ABOUT THE WALK 150 WALKS!
For all the updates, be sure to follow @calgarybestwalks on Facebook! Free Walk 150 Walks continue all of 2017- check the Calgary Library for Walk 150 walks!
May 13: Check out my Facebook post on the May 13, Walk 150 walk. Feature language was Arabic!
May 22: And my Facebook post on May 22, the walk in the Weaslhead. Feature language was Tagalog!
May 31 Walk 150 Walk from Louise Riley Library. Feature language was Mandarin!
June 3 Walk 150 walk from Central Library. 100 people! Feature language was Mandarin!
(Check out and overview of the Walk 150 initiative)
It was a wonderful Walk 150 walk starting from the Bowness Library on May 13, 2017. Check it out on our Facebook page. This walk was part of my partnership with Calgary Public Library and The Centre for Newcomers and the walks feature language was Arabic. We welcomed people from all over, from the SW of Calgary to Syria, to explore the backstreets of Bowness and the wetlands, single track trails, viewpoints and the boardwalk trail to waterfall valley in Bowmont Park. You can find 2 Bowmont Park route maps in my book Calgary’s Best Walks!
And when you go, be sure to add on a visit to the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens to see their Canada 150 tulip display. It is an easy walk from Waterfall Valley. (https://www.facebook.com/Silverspringsbotanicalgardens/)
The feature language is Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines. Details on the calendar page– no registration necessary for this Walk 150 walk.
AS a partner with the Calgary Library Foundation, I am happy to have received a Canada 150 Community Fund grant to offer many free walks with my partners organizations throughout 2017. I will also be giving “Leading and Creating great Walks” workshops for the Calgary Public Library and the Centre for Newcomers so that the library and the Centre can continue to offer walk programs in house and for the public.
Walk 150 FREE Walks for the public (dates below)
The public walks begin on May 4th and will run all year. All walks are listed in the Library Connect program guides that can be found in the libraries or online. Registration is FREE as long as you have a library card (also free) and is done through the Calgary Public Library program page.
In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, Lori Beattie, author of Calgary’s Best Walks and owner or Fit Frog Adventures, is partnering with the Calgary Public Library and Centre for Newcomers to build communities through walking. She is donating 1500 copies of her book, Calgary’s Best Walks, to give to Calgarians. The best way to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday is to introduce Calgarians to their wonderful city, to help them connect communities on foot, to meet their neighbours in all quadrants, to stay active and fit and most importantly, to make Calgary feel like home.
The simple walk, left, right, left, right, is the perfect way to get to know Calgary. At a walkers pace you’ll learn how the city connects geographically, where to go for a great cup of coffee and also, you’ll interact with the people who live in each quadrant as we stroll past.
Fresh, crisp air, big blue skies, nature tucked into all neighbourhoods, hidden stairways, over 500 km of paved pathways and wonderful independent cafe’s where you can stop and recharge.
May and June Walks
Each walk will be approximately 2 hours in length and about 7-9 km. All ages are welcome. Translation into various languages will be part of every walk. Check the walk description to see the languages spoken on each walk.
*Walks may travel through neighbourhoods, into parks and climb stairs or hills to viewpoints. Uneven terrain is common. Please note that most walks are NOT stroller or wheelchair friendly due to travel through natural area parks with narrow dirt pathways and/or stairs. Please read each walk description for specific walk details.
The focus of the walks is to connect the city on foot. Although these are not interpretive walks, there will be breaks and time for questions en route. Lori Beattie, author of Calgary’s Best Walks, will be leading the walks along with another guide so that the group can break into two if necessary.
What to bring: Good footwear for uneven terrain, clothing to suit the weather (walks go rain or shine), money in case you want to stop for a coffee or food (optional)
Tuesday, May 2: 6:30 pm: Alexander Calhoun Library, SW
Explore Sandy Beach Park, River Park, Elbow River Pathway and the communities of Elbow Park, Mount Royal and Altadore.
Language of guides: English, French and Punjabi
Saturday, May 13: 10 am: Bowness Library, NW
Walk through the community of Bowness to the trails of Bowmont Natural Environment Park
Language of guides: English, French and Arabic
Victoria Day Monday, May 22 at 10 am: Weaslehead Park and Glenmore Reservoir, SW- Walk and picnic (optional picnic after the walk- bring food if interested)
Meet at Weaslehead Parking lot, 66 Avenue and 37 Street, SW
This is a wilderness park with a mix of paved and gravel pathways. Families are welcome and encouraged on this walk. Young children may like to stop with their parent and enjoy the wetlands, or play in the playground nearby. Details for these options will be provided. There is one hill climb at the end of this walk.
Language of guides: English, French and Tagalog
Wednesday: May 31 at 6:30 pm: Louise Riley Library, NW (Lions Park LRT)
Explore the nighbourhoods of Hounsfield Heights, Hillhurst and Bow River Pathway and Briar Hill
Language of guides: English, French and Spanish
Saturday: June 3 at 1 pm: Central Library, SE (City Hall LRT), SE-NE
Walks from the library to the East Village, along the Bow River Pathway Riverwalk, cross to the north sie of Bow River and soak up expansive views of the Rocky Mountains from Tom Campbell’s Hill Park. Continue through the neighborhood of Bridgeland along side-streets and green space escarpment trails.
Language of guides: English, French and Mandarin
Wednesday, June 7 at 6:30 pm: Nicholls Family Library, SW (Westbrook LRT)
Explore the community of Wildwood, Edworthy Park and the Douglas Fir Trail, Mother Natures Stairmaster.
Language of guides: English, French and Amharic
Sunday, June 18 at 1 pm: Nose Hill Park, NW
Meet at the official Parking Lot of Berkley Gate and 14 Street, NW
Nose Hill Park is the highest point in Calgary. We’ll climb to spectacular views followed by dips into aspen filled coulees. This is a wilderness park walk with a mix of paved and gravel pathways. Families are welcome and encouraged on this walk.
Language of guides: English, French and Urdu
Tuesday, June 27 at 6:30 pm: Memorial Park Library, SW
Walk from the Beltline, Elbow River Pathway, Erlton, Roxboro Natural Park escarpment, Parkhill, Stanley Park, East Elbow, Mission.
Language of guides: English, French and Tigrinya
One of my Walk 150 programs is with Fish Creek Park, Alberta Parks and Mount Royal University. Good Grief! Nature Walking Through Grief and Loss is an 8 week program beginning on May 8, 2017.
Good Grief! Nature Walking Through Grief and Loss
May 8 – June 26, 2017 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Parks and nature connect us to the cycles of life and death; reminding us of endurance, beauty, and the only constant – change. In the changes and challenges of grief and loss, walking in parks and nature can provide a variety of benefits for different people. For some it will just be moving and getting some exercise, for others it will be the fresh air and natural light, for others it will be the quiet companionship of trees and wildlife, and of people who have no expectations except that they are here together – walking together. Research conducted with Alberta Parks and Mount Royal University has revealed how nature teaches us to grieve. Those who may be experiencing grief and loss can enjoy a gentle, accessible, guided walk through nature, to observe and connect with others who are also grieving.
I shared my winter walking tips on CTV Morning. The big message for Calgary, a city that has many snow melts due to chinooks, is get cleats! Check out the segment for some visuals.
For regular updates on all this walking, snowshoeing and hiking be sure to follow me on Facebook!
