About

Nature in the City

Edworthy Park is one of Calgary’s most ecologically and historically layered landscapes. Located on the south banks and Shaganappi slopes escarpment above the Bow River, about five kilometres west of downtown, the park contains varied natural environments.

These include rough fescue meadows and coulee slopes along the upper plateau, aspen parkland and Douglas fir-white spruce mixed forests on the slopes, and riparian cottonwood balsam poplar forest and wetlands near the riverbank. They provide over 400 of acres of natural habitat and green space for dozens of species of fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, including humans, to enjoy.

🦉You can check out some of the species recorded in the park on the iNaturalist app and website.

The park is also home to one of the easternmost natural stands of Douglas Fir in North America, a notable outlier of a species more commonly associated with the Rocky Mountains and coastal regions. These trees persist here due to a unique microclimate, where shaded north-facing slopes and Chinook-influenced conditions create a relatively wet, mild, and sheltered environment.

Historic Cultural Landscapes

The lands that make up Edworthy Park are within the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), the Tsuut’ina Nation, and the Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda Nations, and are also part of the homeland of the Métis. For thousands of years, the Bow River valley functioned as a vital travel corridor and source of water, food, and shelter for Indigenous peoples, with its seasonal rhythms shaping patterns of movement and use. 

In 1881, Senator Matthew Henry Cochrane leased approximately 144,000 hectares of land west of Fort Calgary from the Government of Canada for the Cochrane Ranche. Then, in the summer of 1883, an Englishman named Thomas Edworthy arrived in the area and “squatted” on some of the land leased to the Cochrane Ranche in what is now Edworthy Park.

Because of the very harsh winters of the early 1880s, the operations of the cattle ranch were moved southward and eventually the Government of Canada opened up some of the previously-leased land for homestead applications. After applying for permission to enter on specific lands, and paying a small sum, homesteaders had to fulfil certain occupancy or residence requirements for a specified period of time and establish that they had made improvements to the land. Having started off as a squatter — without a legal right to be on the land —  Thomas Edworthy eventually acquired title to the land by homesteading it. There he established the Shaganappi Ranch.

Over the following decades, sandstone quarries along the escarpment supplied material for many of Calgary’s early buildings, including many of those still found today on Stephen Avenue. The flatter Lawrey Gardens, on the eastern side of the park, were cultivated as a market garden and family farm. A Canadian Pacific rail line, constructed through the valley in the late 19th century, remains an active presence along the river, linking the country from sea to sea and traveling right through our own beloved park.

As Calgary expanded, portions of this land were gradually set aside as an environmental reserve and for public use. The City bought the Shaganappi Ranch in September of 1962. Very soon afterwards, City Council passed a resolution naming the area as "Edworthy Park" and signs were posted about the park. One of the early signs declared the land "Edworthy Park: Yours to Enjoy and Preserve Forever."

Nevertheless, at various points the city has considered using corridors within the park for automobile transportation, including the proposed building of a massive interchange and expressway through the upper plateau of Edworthy Park to cross the river and link up with Shaganappi Trail NW. However, local communities and the Heritage Society have always succeeded in persuading the city to preserve the park's natural environment instead. The park still functions as a transportation corridor -- but just for wildlife, plus freight rail, plus canoeists, paddleboaders, and kayakers on the river, and cyclists, runners, and walkers on its many trails.

Today, Edworthy remains part of Calgary’s broader river valley park system, combining a rich natural and cultural history with a key wildlife habitat corridor and recreational space for residents and visitors to our city.

🐂 In 2014, the Edworthy Residence, Homestead Lands and Quarries in Edworthy Park were officially designated as a Municipal Historic Resource, demonstrating their continued importance for telling the story of our city.

About the Society

Founded in 1991, the Edworthy Park Heritage Society has advocated to preserve the park's natural environment, shared its natural and cultural history, and supported ongoing respectful public access, including by leading the effort to reconstruct the renowned Douglas Fir Trail in the 1990s.

The Society's most recent large project involved publishing Shaganappi Point and Edworthy Park: A New History, subtitled Inniiwaa’itainnikiissta’poohpi: Where the Buffalo Run Down the Hill, a groundbreaking natural and cultural history published in 2022. 

In 2024, we also published From Trails to Trains to Towns via Edworthy Park & Shaganappi Point, a short book about the historic quarries  in Edworthy Park, Brickburn, Lawrey Gardens and along Quarry Road Trail. It also contains information and map of the historic sandstone quarries along the Bow and Elbow Rivers.

While now out of print, copies of these books can be borrowed from the Calgary Public Library.

Society Governance

The Society is made up of volunteer members and a board of directors. An annual membership costs $10 and we are actively recruiting new board members to join us. 

Do you love Edworthy Park? 

We are actively recruiting for new members of the Society and our board. Please email our secretary, Kelden Formosa, at eparkhs@gmail.com to sign up to be a member.