Park #11: Carburn Park [2022]

Date visited: October 7, 2021

Location: SE Calgary

Best Time of Year To Visit: It depends on what kind of activities you want to do (see the Features section). I don’t recommend going in the winter unless you are planning to take advantage of their outdoor ice rink. Snow can make this park tricky to navigate. Autumn is a beautiful time as you’re about to find out.

Bow River Pathway:

Mum and I decided to go to Carburn Park right after we saw Sue Higgins Park. We crossed the Bow River and saw on the sign for the Bow River Pathway that Carburn Park was not far away.

I looked up the Bow River Pathway after I got home. It’s a cycling and walking trail that connects a number of green spaces and recreation areas along the Bow River. I was impressed with how many parks are connected to this trail! IThe Calgary Zoo and Fort Calgary are connected to the Bow River Pathway too. It would be impressive if I could go along the trail and knock some parks off my list. I like to savour the parks, though. When I’m done with this challenge, I will do the trail possibly by bike. You can find a list of the recreation areas along the Bow River Pathway here.

Park History:

I admit I had never looked up the history of the Calgary Stampede at all before I came here. When I saw Senator Patrick Burns’ bio, I thought, “Oh that’s how it started!”. I researched the history more thoroughly later on.

The part about the gravel industry made me think of Schitt’s Creek, “Yeah, it’s gravel.”

Apparently, there used to be a railway line there that ran from Calgary to Montana. No wonder there were parts on the Bow River Pathway that looked like, what my Dad calls a Good Montana Road and a Bad Montana Road. My Dad usually refers to those roads while driving, but it’s fun to make fun of it on walking paths as well. Okay, I’m being funny, but see below for more about that.

Features:

Carburn Park has both a lagoon and a lake with a variety of trails around both. There are activities to be enjoyed in this park year-round! In the winter, there’s an outdoor ice rink. In the summer, you can go canoeing or fishing. If none of those activities are appealing, you can simply walk or sit on the benches and take in what’s around you. It’s a great place for a picnic in warmer weather!

Carburn Park is a prime location for bird-watching and finding unique native shrubs and plants. It’s another wildlife haven in the city! I’m glad that dogs are allowed, but it’s an on-leash area. It was a little disturbing though to see warning signs for a natural gas pipeline in this little slice of nature heaven. It’s one of those things I wish I could tune out, but it’s can’t be helped.

I found a certain peace and magical feeling going there in the autumn. It was about 3 pm, and the sun got this pre-sunset golden colour. That is a prime time to visit Carburn Park! Note: it was right before the clocks went back as well. If you want to experience some autumnal brilliance at Carburn Park, follow these tips!

Challenges:

Even though the park was on flat ground, getting to and from the park is more challenging if you have mobility issues. Parts of the Bow River Pathway are unpaved. Those sections can be a Good Montana Road or a Bad Montana Road as I said above. It’s funny to say it, but in real life, it’s not good to be flippant about it.

Additionally, some pathways away from the park were rather steep, and those are the ones that lead to a residential area, which may or may not be your way out of the park. We learned that the hard way!

I want to note something important. Public transport options in this area are limited. When I tried finding public transport options on Google Maps, it just told me gibberish. Another important lesson with going to these parks is to be sure of the public transport options before going, especially if we want to change plans and see another park in the same area that day.

Final Notes:

This is the point where I took a break from my Parks Challenge. If you followed me last October, you know why.

Now that I have explored eleven parks, I have encountered a few funny signs. I’m going to do a post compiling the funny signs I have seen in the parks.

If you miss any of my future posts on my challenge or want to reread my past posts, you can go to my page Calgary Parks Challenge. You can also find more photos from the parks on my Instagram page here.

See you at the next park in my challenge!

Eleven parks down! 62 to go!