Park #13: Confederation Park

Date visited: May 15, 2021

Location: NW Calgary

Best Time of Year To Visit: Depends on the activities, but this a prime location for winter sports!

The greenery was bursting forth on this beautiful spring day! Plus, Mum was doing well recovering from her medical ordeal six months before. She was also doing well on crutches and wanted a challenge, so we decided to resume going to parks!

This Confederation Park is not to be confused with the other Confederation Parks around Canada. There’s on in Ottawa, and one in Burnaby. This is the one for Calgary.

History:

Confederation Park in Calgary was created to celebrate Canada’s Centennial in 1967. The park was approved for construction in 1965.

This park was created on the basis of environmental preservation and unstructured activities. Parks used to prioritize being ornamental, or be strictly for sports, so this was different.

Confederation Park was built around a stream. The hills were shaped so they were smooth as well. The stream becomes more of a pond after you walk under the road.

A Note For American Readers:

Confederation does not mean the same thing in Canada as it does in the US! Confederation was when Canada became recognized as a country. You can read all about it here.

In the US, Confederation means the Articles of Confederation and we all know what confederate means. Make of that what you will. I had to consciously tell myself the word means something different in Canada.

It’s not the first time I have had to deal with that though. You should have seen the code-switching I had to do living between the US and UK, especially if the words could be dirty in one but not the other! You should have seen me figuring out “bent”.

Features:

The walking paths are the best part! Mum sure loved them and she’s on crutches! We also saw a wheelchair user in the park, so that’s a score for accessibility.

The hills were better than anything I had seen before, and I used to love sledding in Colorado! I could only imagine the shrieks of joy while doing tobogganing and cross-country skiing! Although, I tried walking up and down the steepest point, and I was glad I was wearing good shoes!

When we first entered the park, we heard kids playing baseball nearby. It’s nice to see that there are baseball and tennis courts as well as a natural playground, but they aren’t the main features. You can learn more about the different activities at Confederation Park here.

Rock Garden:

I recommend sitting in the Rock Garden while eating lunch. You get a great view of the park, and you can walk around and read about Confederation. The air is nice and cool as it blows through too.

You can also test yourself on your knowledge of the Provincial flags. I managed to guess a lot of them. It’s just the ones that look similar that I find confusing.

I couldn’t get a good photo of all the flags at the Rock Garden. I had to wait until I was in the other side of the park, and the wind picked up. Got there in the end though!

Murals:

The walkway goes under the road, and the tunnel has all these murals! I went crazy with the camera again. The light can be problematic when taking pics though.

The Other Side of the Road:

The path along the stream continues for a while. No more amazing hills at this point. Just flats, a stream (which turns into a pond) and a walking and cycling path.

I thought West Confederation Park would be just beyond Confederation Park. That’s what it looked like on Google Maps. I don’t recommend going to West Confederation Park after visiting Confederation Park, unless you are up for a long walk.

Google Maps was rather confusing going in the general direction of West Confederation Park. I guess if the Google Car can’t go somewhere, it doesn’t get good data.

Easy to Get To?:

There are a few different bus routes that go near the park, but it depends on how you want to enter the park, and whether you want to go to West Confederation Park.

There is a bus route that goes on the road over the park. It’s convenient, but it’s weird trying to get to the bus stop.

I noticed drivers having a weird time trying to find parking on that road too. Sometimes a road can be just as weird for drivers as it is for pedestrians and this is one of them.

Challenges:

I would say the challenges lie in commuting to the park. This is a great park for people with disabilities, as my Mum can attest! Also, we saw someone in a wheelchair at that park, so thumbs up for accessibility!

Seniors. You take their appendix out and give them crutches and they feel like they can run a marathon!

Wear good shoes if you plan to walk up and down the hills. And take those hills carefully! They are steeper than they look!

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!

Life Updates:

I will be sending my first email newsletter soon! I’m sending the first email tomorrow!

I have now changed my email address because of rebranding to TCK Digital Nomad. My domain is going to switch, so I want preparing before that happens. I’m hustling at this point, which is why I am glad I’m keeping my posts short and sweet.

My Contact Page has new information, which includes my new email policy. Please read it first before contacting me, since I want to be respectful of everyone’s time.

Up Next: Find out which is Park #14!