Edworthy Park

Edworthy Park — ancient firs above a bend in the Bow

Few city parks let you step from a picnic table into a forest older than the province. Edworthy Park covers 169 hectares of the Bow River valley in southwest Calgary: a broad floor of meadow, cottonwood and gravel bar backed by a densely wooded escarpment that climbs roughly 200 feet in a single uncompromising push. Freight trains rumble across the flats on the mainline, rafters drift down the current, and above it all stands a relict grove of Douglas-fir that has been gripping the slope since long before Alberta had a name.

Highlights

• Douglas Fir Trail — roughly 2.5 km of dirt, gravel, stairs and boardwalk traversing the escarpment, with lookouts that open onto the whole sweep of the valley.
• Old-growth Douglas-fir — an isolated population far east of the species’ main range, individual trees estimated at 400 to 500 years old, the thickest trunks measuring over two metres across.
• The “drunken forest” — springs and water draining from the communities above keep the slope slowly creeping downhill, tilting mature trunks at improbable angles and giving the escarpment its nickname.
• Lawrey Gardens — the riverside flat where John Lawrey’s market gardens once grew, now a quiet natural area of willow, balsam poplar and side channels that migrating songbirds work through each spring.
• Harry Boothman Bridge — a 1976 pedestrian span whose huge circular cut-outs frame the river and the sky, tying the park into the pathway network on the north bank.
• Two off-leash areas — one on the upper bench near the main parking area, a second down among the poplars at Lawrey Gardens with direct river frontage.

What you’ll find

The valley floor is the sociable half of the park, groomed and easy; the escarpment above it is left deliberately wild. Between them the park holds more than five kilometres of trail feeding into the paved Bow River regional pathway.

• Numbered picnic sites with tables, benches, fire pits, BBQ stands, shelters and a gazebo, free to use on a first-come basis or bookable in advance.
• An inclusive playground, open lawns and gravel beaches where the river runs shallow.
• Riparian woodland of aspen, willow and balsam poplar giving way to grassland, mixed shrubland and a white-spruce escarpment.
• Fishing spots and take-outs for paddlers coming down from Bowness on the current.
• Public washrooms, drinking water in season, and two free parking lots at the north and south ends.
• The Canadian Pacific mainline, which cuts straight through the park and is best treated as scenery, never as a shortcut.

Things to do — and who it’s for

• Hikers — a genuinely steep, root-laced climb on stairs and switchbacks, rewarded with the only old-growth forest inside the city.
• Families — flat, stroller-friendly riverside paths, a playground and shaded tables within sight of the water and close to parking.
• Cyclists and commuters — an unbroken paved pathway running toward downtown in one direction and Bowness in the other, roughly half an hour either way.
• Dog owners — two designated off-leash zones, one of them with a shallow river edge for swimmers.
• Birders — Lawrey Gardens is a long-established local patch for warblers, waxwings and waterfowl during spring and autumn migration.
• Photographers — the bridge circles at dawn, leaning trunks in valley fog, and escarpment lookouts at golden hour.

Getting there & practical

The park lies in southwest Calgary below the neighbourhoods of Spruce Cliff and Wildwood, directly across the water from Parkdale. The Blue Line CTrain drops you within walking distance of the upper approach, the Route 1 bus serves the north bank a short stroll from the Harry Boothman Bridge, and cyclists can ride the riverside pathway west from downtown in about half an hour. Entry is free, there is no gate, and the grounds are open daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.; both lots are free and fill quickly on summer weekends. Picnic sites cost nothing and can be taken first-come or reserved ahead. Washroom provision is in transition, with new accessible, gender-neutral facilities replacing older blocks. Allow about ninety minutes for a riverside walk and picnic, or closer to three hours if you intend to climb the escarpment and follow the Douglas Fir Trail end to end. Check the City’s park page before setting out: sections of the escarpment trail and stretches of the regional pathway close during slope-repair work.

When to visit

Spring belongs to the river, running high and brown with mountain melt while the escarpment stays shut and slick; crocuses appear on the dry benches and the first migrants arrive at Lawrey Gardens. Summer is the park at full volume — smoke drifting from the fire pits, rafters floating past, deep shade under the poplars and daylight until nearly ten at night. Autumn is the connoisseur’s season: aspen and balsam poplar turn gold against the dark firs, the ground firms up underfoot, and the lookouts are at their clearest before the leaves drop. Winter empties the valley beautifully, with the riverside pathway kept passable for walkers and fat bikes, hoarfrost silvering the whole floodplain on cold mornings, and the steep trail off-limits until the slope dries out and the ice lets go.

Good to know

The land was once part of the Cochrane Ranch before Thomas Edworthy, who arrived from Devon, England in 1883, took it over. With his neighbour John Lawrey he built a thriving market garden here, selling fruit and vegetables to railway crews and homesteaders, and after sandstone was found on the property he opened quarries whose stone went into Calgary buildings during the era that earned the city its “Sandstone City” nickname. The City began acquiring the land for a park in 1962. Informal paths had been worn into the escarpment through the 1960s, but the Douglas Fir Trail was formally built and opened in 1992 under a provincial community facility enhancement program with more than a thousand hours of volunteer labour. The Harry Boothman Bridge, completed in 1976, carries the name of one of the City’s most influential parks superintendents — the same Harry Boothman whose ideas about unstructured, naturalized parkland shaped Confederation Park across town. Most remarkable of all, the park almost ceased to exist: into the mid-1990s the City intended to replace it with a freeway extension, and only sustained public opposition during the 1995 transportation plan killed the scheme. Today the Edworthy Park Heritage Society and a vocal community of trail users press the City on access while slope-stabilization work continues.

Visitor tips

• Check for closures before you set out and stay outside the fencing — the escarpment is genuinely unstable, and repair work has been running in phases with further design still ahead.
• Wear shoes with grip. Wet clay on that slope is treacherous, and the upper trail is no place for strollers, flip-flops or a rushed schedule.
• Use the south end for playground and picnic days, the north end for the bridge, the off-leash flats and the long river loop; both lots empty out sharply after supper.

Questions & answers

Does it cost anything to visit? No. The park, its trails and its picnic sites are free; sites are first-come unless you reserve one in advance, and parking is free at both ends.

How old are the Douglas firs? The oldest are estimated at 400 to 500 years. They form an isolated grove far east of the species’ main range, surviving on a cool, damp, north-facing slope among white spruce.

Why is it called the drunken forest? Springs and groundwater draining from the neighbourhoods above keep the escarpment slowly slumping, so trunks that grew straight are gradually tipped sideways — a whole hillside leaning at odd angles.

Is the Douglas Fir Trail always open? No. It closes in winter and early spring when the slope is icy, and sections have been fenced off for stabilization work, so confirm the current status before you go.

Can dogs run off leash? Yes, in two designated areas — the upper bench and Lawrey Gardens. Everywhere else in the park, including the regional pathway, dogs must be leashed.

Is it suitable for young children? Very much so on the valley floor, where the paths are flat and the playground and picnic sites sit close to parking. Leave the escarpment climb for older kids.