Outdoor Report: Hiking west from Edworthy Park
Historically used by mountain bikers, this trail doesn't even have a name
Most people have heard of or hiked the Douglas Fir Trail, which takes you from Edworthy Park toward downtown, but it's become quite busy over the years.
So this week, we're talking about a stretch of trail just west of Edworthy Park that gets much less action. In fact, so far as I can tell, this trail doesn't actually have a name.
But for Jason Scratch, who took me out running on this trail, he's been exploring it since he was a kid.
"You're generally on your own, that kind of makes it nice so you can run your own pace and do your own thing," said Scratch.
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"And there's a lot of scenic viewpoints along there where you like to stop and just take a breather and look. It's quite pretty and the fact not many people know about it makes it more enchanting."
Where is the trail?
It's on the south side of the Bow River and there are a number of places to access it.
You can come down from the upper slopes of Edworthy Park, up by the off-leash dog park, or you could also start from the lower parking lot at Edworthy.
And then you'll head west towards Sarcee Trail.
It's about a three-kilometre trail each way, and returning the same way it makes for a six-kilometre return trip. The whole time we were out there we only saw one other group of two hikers.
Jason says it's mountain bikers who have historically been the heavy users because the trail connects with Canada Olympic Park, which also has some great riding, so you could start east and head west.
But now, with the major construction at Sarcee and 16th Avenue, he's seeing fewer users.
Who built the trail?
This is the confusing part because I called parks to see if it's an official city of Calgary-maintained trail and they say it's not.
But in a couple of spots there are memorial benches and at one point an official looking historical sign with the city's seal. And, Jason recalls a section of the trail being rebuilt a number of years ago to a pretty professional grade that would have required some heavy-duty trail-building equipment. So, basically it's a bit of a mystery.
What's with the historical signs?
This might've been my favourite part of the trail — to see the signs of a bygone era in Calgary.
Of course, this whole area, all the way through the neighbourhood of Wildwood was part of the Edworthy family's ranch dating back to the 1880s.
Most of that land was slowly sold off for residential development or to the city for parkland over the years, but a small section of that land and the homes on it, are still privately owned and tucked down in the woods west of Edworthy. That means you have to be respectful of that private property along the way.
West of that, lies the old community of Brickburn — where a brick-making factory was operational through the early 1900s — complete with a post office, a general store and a church, which is pretty amazing because there's really not much sign of it anymore.
Final words of advice
Be aware that there's a bit of a confusing network of trails that's formed over the years, and unless you have a long-time user like Jason showing you the way, you may take a wrong turn here or there.
As I mentioned, there still are some privately-owned homes around the old Edworthy homestead so respect the private property signs you see and stay on what looks like the most used trail on a westward trajectory and you should be fine.
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