Carburn Park

Carburn Park — ponds, herons and quiet trails on the Bow

Few Calgary parks hide their origins so gracefully. What reads as mature riverside woodland around two calm ponds is a reclaimed gravel operation, landscaped and handed back to the city in the 1980s. Today 135 hectares of poplar forest, meadow, gravel bank and still water line the east side of the Bow, shared by anglers, paddlers, birders and dog walkers.

Highlights

• Two man-made ponds — the larger wraps around a wooded island, the smaller becomes the winter skating surface.
• The Bow River Pathway, paved and level, running through and on north toward Beaver Dam Flats.
• Eric Harvie Bridge, the footbridge carrying walkers and cyclists over to Sue Higgins Park.
• Over 200 recorded bird species, from Great Blue Herons and Belted Kingfishers to Bald Eagles.
• The 2.4 km pond loop, a flat paved circuit for strollers, wheelchairs and first-time runners.
• A resident perch population, making this an easy place to teach a child to fish.

What you’ll find

Carburn is three landscapes stitched together: the sheltered water of the old pits, a deciduous forest with four decades of growth on it, and the fast main channel of the Bow.

• Balsam poplar and trembling aspen groves over a chokecherry understorey.
• Picnic tables, benches and barbecue pits spaced around both ponds.
• Washrooms open year-round and a firepit kept going through winter.
• Unpaved side trails braiding off the main paved loop into the trees.
• A gravel bank and low escarpment where Porcupine Hills bedrock shows through.
• White-tailed deer, coyotes and muskrats, regular at first light.

Things to do — and who it’s for

• Families with young anglers — perch bite from the bank, no boat needed.
• Paddlers — canoes, kayaks, dinghies and boards on flat water; motors are banned.
• Birdwatchers — kingfishers, goldeneyes, Buffleheads and herons in a single morning.
• Runners and cyclists — the pond loop as a warm-up, the river pathway for distance.
• Dog walkers — leashed here, with a large off-leash area across the bridge.
• Winter skaters — natural ice on the smaller pond instead of an arena booking.

Getting there & practical

The park lies below the community of Riverbend in southeast Calgary and is reached through it. No CTrain line runs nearby, so transit riders take a Calgary Transit bus; most locals drive, and many weekend visitors ride in along the Bow River Pathway from the inner city. Entry and parking are free. Gates open 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., washrooms 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the skating pond usually runs December through February. Allow one to two hours.

When to visit

Spring is the loudest season: migrating waterfowl drop onto the ponds and the poplars leaf out over a chorus of songbirds. Summer belongs to paddlers and picnickers, early mornings quietest. Autumn may be the best of all — poplars turning gold, crowds thinning to nothing, low light leaving the water mirror-flat. Winter brings skating on the smaller pond, packed trails, and Bald Eagles working the river stretches that never freeze.

Good to know

The land was once part of the vast holdings of Senator Patrick Burns, the rancher and Stampede co-founder. Carburn Aggregates bought it in 1959 and mined gravel here from 1973 into the mid-1980s. Under a 1982 agreement the company earned its extraction rights by committing to reclaim the workings as public recreation land; final approval came that November and the park opened in 1986, still carrying the company’s name. The ponds you paddle are the flooded pits.

Visitor tips

• Swimming is prohibited and motorized boats are banned on both ponds.
• Bring binoculars: the island shoreline gives the steadiest heron and kingfisher viewing.
• Adult anglers need an Alberta sportfishing licence; ice fishing is discouraged on river-fed water.

Questions & answers

Is Carburn Park free? Yes, no admission charge and parking costs nothing.

What can you catch here? Perch are the mainstay; adults need a provincial sportfishing licence.

Can you swim in the ponds? No, swimming is not permitted anywhere in the park; paddling is.

Are dogs allowed? Yes, on leash. The nearest off-leash area is Sue Higgins Park, across the footbridge.

Is it stroller and wheelchair friendly? The main pond loop is paved and close to flat throughout.

How long is the walk around the ponds? Roughly 2.4 km, about 40 minutes at an unhurried pace.