Inspiration for this fine inner-city hike comes from the book Calgary’s Best Walks by Lori Beattie. Here we’ll be following Route #12, roughly, taking in a series of parks and hitting the pavement in number of older established neighbourhoods. The going is super easy. You don’t have to follow our route to the letter either, mix it up, we insist upon it. I think the author of the book would agree – make it yours. This one has a lot of zigs and zags.
Our start was at the Confederation Park parking lot, off 30th Ave NW. Enter this long green space some eight to ten blocks long. It’s located in a shallow coulee set below the surrounding neighbourhoods. There’s lots of trees and lots of nice open grassy areas. It was established in 1967 and named after Canada’s union which took place exactly one hundred years prior. That stylized maple leaf was the symbol of our country’s 100th.
Calgary’s Best Walks #12: a fun and interesting urban trek through parks and older neighbourhoods. A Chris & Connie Adventure!
Head west on a paved path, ambling along next to a stream. What, in the big city? Lots of people out enjoying the nice weather this day. Dog walkers, joggers, picnickers, and daredevil kids hitting up the many toboggan runs in the park. Fun was had by all.
Scroll down for photos and to comment
Dip under 10th Street using a tunnel. Take in the park, soak up the sun, a gentle breeze blows, large trees tower overhead. Bliss. Another underpass. Just beyond 14th Street take the path heading behind Confederation Golf Course, which in winter is used for X-County Skiing. Lots of people out doing it this day.
To the left…Boler! Wait…it’s just a look-alike, a near carbon copy called a Lil’ Bigfoot. I don’t know the story of the Bigfoot firm, but we think they made Bolers under contract in the 1980s and perhaps “borrowed” the design for their own trailer. It’s easy to confuse one with the other, especially from a distance. One sure fire way – that hitch shroud tells us it’s an impostor.
Enter Canmore Park, head up to street level and enter the Banff Trail Neighbourhood on Canmore Road. Lots of Brady style houses here dating from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. Rather in love with the kitschy designs of that era.
Turn left on 28th Avenue and left again on Cochrane Road. Right on 27th Avenue then left on Morley Trail. Hitting 19th Street – Boler! And our first of the year. Turn right, cross over at the lights and head east on 24th Avenue. You’re now in the community of Capitol Hill which dates form the 1940s (mostly)
We’ve been passing all kinds of cool old vehicles along the way and would see more later. Most looked road-worthy, even if they were a bit beat up and worn out looking. We call junker pickups “Mike’s Trucks” after the old man who had a thing old beaters to use in his construction business. Got many of his from “Farmer Jones”.
Right on 18th Street, left on 22nd Avenue, right on 16th Street, then right again on 20th Avenue. There’s a corner store along here – not a chain 7-11 or Mac’s but an independent Mom & Pop type place. And when we pass an old-school “confectionery” such as this we always buy a couple lotto tickets. If one is to win, we feel it’ll be here. Truth be told, they were duds and we walked away with jack. Had we won, we would have shared it with all you readers. Of course we would.
On hitting 19th Street again, turn left and on arriving at busy 16th Avenue, turn right and enter Tipperary’s Pub. This stop is mandatory! A Guinness, dark as night, and some bacon and eggs await. A beer with breakie? It works! Technically it was breakfast for lunch.
A couple pints later, all happy and rocking a low grade buzz, we hit the road again. Head in behind the Home Depot on 17th Avenue, after crossing 19th Street. On 17th Street head left, on 19th Avenue head right – and old Olds and Jurassic Jeep in quick succession – then left on 16th Street and finally right on 20th Avenue. We’ll stay on this one for a time after bouncing around like a pinball earlier.
Wander past many tiny homes, mostly, along with the occasional business (that post tells us one was a former Loaf & Jug). Come to King George School, a large imposing structure made of sandstone. It’s not the only one like it in Calgary. We’re now in the neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant. It dates from the 1910s. Lots of small bungalows here interspersed with giant McMansion infills of more recent vintage. Quite a contrast in size! And style.
Head north on 10th Street then right on 23rd Avenue. More old houses. Left on 7th Street, right on 24th Avenue, and one last left on 6th Street. Another old truck – the old man would love it. Come to Confederation Park and drop down to your car. You’re done!
Full expect we’ll being doing more of Lori Beattie’s Walks. There’s times where wilderness hiking in winter is not possible for us – long story – and these help fill a void. She did a great job making these city-treks interesting and fun and we recommend them. Stay tuned.
If you wish more information about this trail, by all means contact us!
Date of adventure: January, 2018. Location: Calgary, AB. Distance: 10km loop. Height gain maximum: 80m-ish. Height gain cumulative: 120m-ish. NOTE: all distances and heights are approximate.
We used to do something called the "pointless challenge" 🤪 and miss those days. It was so much silly fun and often frustrating as heck. In these we'd invite people to send in random photos of obscure locations, but not give any information, and then we'd track where it was and shoot something similar.
Most of these came from old family collections, as was the case here. Anyone up to resurrecting the series?
In hindsight, why didn't we pose someone in our shot?
Pointless: “Devoid of meaning (or) senseless” Merriam-Webster.
If you like what we do and want to support this ongoing project (12 years now), go here: https://www.BIGDoer.com/help-the-society/ Thanks to Connie for making this post possible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: ca1970 and 2014. Posted by Connie.
Captured on a cold, cold day many years ago. We've been passing this old house for decades and it's little changed in that time. At some point we expect to drive by and it'll be gone.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
When retired old railway cars usually get cut up for scrap. Sometimes, however, they find their way into the hands of the general public or whomever. Flat cars make good bridges, and boxcars can be transformed into storage buildings and the like. Case in point here. We see them used like this often enough and in this case, it's part of a corral.
Incidentally, this boxcar dates from 1950 and this was found by tracing the old road number, which is still visible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
This central Alberta racetrack was never a commercial operation but instead just a fun place for car enthusiasts in the area to get together. Early '70s or thereabouts and it only lasted a few years. Even thought it's been abandoned for that long, there is no doubt what was here.
You know we like the the obscure stuff and this one fits the bill perfectly. Found by accident while backroad cruising and the history comes thanks to local car guy Mike.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
On top of little Myrtle Mountain in the Kimberley (BC) Nature Park.
There's some good wilderness fun to be had here and nice views as you can see, but the real reason we came is mining history. The whole area near the ski hill was extensively worked over a century ago and we were looking for evidence of this. We didn't find much in the area searched, but it's a big chunk of property and we hope to return to cover more ground again soon. Of all the subjects we cover, mining related is a favourite.
Still, it was a good hike and that can't be bad. Look to the comments for more info 👇.
Exploring nature and history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
It's a strange curiosity in south Kananaskis, there on a hillside and we have no idea who created it. We asked around and no one's completely sure about its history. In the past it showed the Canada 100 logo from 1967 but in 2017 someone changed it to reflect the country's 150th.
That's our friend Emily from DanOCan.com having a look.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
Great day with my best friend! A little hard on the knees with that ice, but still fun.
You make me all warm and fuzzy. Yes, it’s always fun.
Yes, that was a Loaf and Jug. We lived just around the corner and used buy candy there as a kid.
There was a fair number of them at one time. I looked in old phone books and they covered much of the city.
Mount Pleasant boy here!! You just missed going past our place.
That close! There’s sure lots of quaint homes in your neighbourhood.