We go for walks every weekend, sometimes far, sometimes a little closer to home. Calgary has thousands of kilometers of walking paths through the suburbs, in green spaces and along the river. We don't always have to drive to the mountains to find some recreational space and clean air.
For a city of under two million people Calgary is very big in terms of land area, 825 sq km. The majority of people live in single family homes, or low rises. One or two story homes dot the landscape.
Country hills is a suburb in the North of Calgary, closer to the airport. Middle class, large suburban homes surround a golf course. A small stream runs through the area and because of the hills they decided to make a park here. There is a rule where at least ten percent of the city has to be open, public green space.
This is a city on the edge of the prairies, or great plains south of here in the United States. Many of my posts are about the mountains but sometimes we decide to go the other way, where there's not much for a few thousand kilometers except rolling hills, towns and fields. Some people complain about Suburban Sprawl but the lifestyle here is very desirable.
One can play a round of golf for under a hundred dollars, there is nearly no traffic, plenty of empty space to spread out and most people own a house with a private yard. If you are reliant on public transportation and enjoying drinking a latte at a different cafe every day, this lifestyle is not for you.
Being able to walk around with your family and see 70 kilometers to the mountains far off in the distance (the camera has issues capturing them) is a pleasure. It is very relaxing, quiet and leaves one with a good feeling to be so close to nature. The city is connected with bicycle paths that would be more popular if half the year was not below zero.
The hills also present a challenge to people who commute by bicycle. Downtown Calgary is a hundred or so meters downhill from here in the Bow River Valley. Walking around the suburbs is more challenging that one things with all these big country hills.
A tunnel takes one under the golf course path. They don't want people walking around the golf course. We did find a dozen or so golf balls along the walk, so one should keep their head up. Spring should come to Calgary in the next month or two (you can never tell here) and we will be venturing out in the country hills once again.
Thank you for reading, have a nice weekend.
All photos were taken with an s22 and are unfiltered.