Parks #10: Sue Higgins Park [2022]

Date visited: October 7, 2021

Location: SE Calgary

Best Time of Year To Visit: Any time, especially for dogs!

Arriving at the Park:

I particularly wanted to mention how we got to Sue Higgins Park. We were walking along Blackfoot Trail. The intersection between Blackfoot Trail and Deerfoot Trail is near the park, and it was a trip down memory lane. When we arrived in Calgary, we took Uber from the airport and drove through this intersection. I mean, rolling prairie with a city view? What’s not to like?

A Note About the Trails:

If you see any street feature that ends in “trail” in Calgary, you can pretty much guarantee it’s going to be either a main road or a freeway. The freeway trails are the intersection between the suburbs and the city and you can use them to connect to freeways that lead to other parts of Canada.

Deerfoot Trail is the butt of everyone’s jokes!

I have found many more jokes like that on Reddit and social media!

Although, there are common warnings about safety on Deerfoot. Revisiting this intersection between Blackfoot and Deerfoot affirmed to me that it’s challenging to drive in this area. I still haven’t driven in Calgary yet, but I’m going to get my bearings in the city first before I attempt the trails!

Another thing I wanted to mention is the trails are an indicator that Calgary is an oil and gas town. Oil and gas industries deliberately put transportation infrastructure in areas where do most of their work. It’s good quality infrastructure, but with population growth, it doesn’t seem to have kept up with the times. I have heard so much about accidents on the trails and complaints of traffic that reminded me a lot of California. The same thought pops into my head about both places, which is, “Isn’t it time for an update here?” I am wondering with the shift to working from home more often if changes will happen.

Anyway, back to Sue Higgins Park!

THE Park to Take Your Dog!:

Dogs react to their living areas in a certain way. You cannot get Calgary dogs out of the water! They LOVE the rivers! Plus, they have a certain spring in their step if they have been in the water. If it weren’t for the wet coat, you would know a Calgary dog has just been in the river. In general, Calgary is a dog-friendly city. Cities are just as stressful for dogs as they are for people and it’s nice to see dogs more relaxed in the city.

There are on-leash and off-leash areas in this park. I couldn’t believe how the off-leash areas had more than enough space for large dogs to run.

River Fun!:

The Bow River is right next to the park. Nothing indicates that better than a dog that just came out of the river with that look on its face.

It’s nice to have a bridge over the river, but there are these trails in the park where it’s easy to take your dog down to the river.

Challenges:

Keep an eye out for wild animals, especially if you have a dog! There are signs up reminding you to exercise caution. After all, we are guests on wild animals’ territory.

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!