The major parks and who backs onto them
- Fish Creek Provincial Park — one of the largest urban parks in Canada, running across the south. Bordering communities include Sundance, Lake Bonavista, Deer Run, Douglasdale, Evergreen, Shawnessy, Bridlewood and Chaparral.
- Nose Hill Park — a vast open grassland hill in the northwest. Edgemont, Brentwood, Charleswood, Cambrian Heights, Huntington Hills and Thorncliffe sit around it.
- Glenmore Reservoir and Weaselhead — sailing, pathways and forest in the southwest, bordered by Lakeview, North Glenmore Park, Bayview and Pump Hill.
- Confederation Park — a long green corridor in the north-central, with Capitol Hill, Mount Pleasant and Rosemont around it.
- The Bow and Elbow river valleys — the spine of the pathway system, running past Bowness, Montgomery, Sunnyside, Inglewood, Riverbend, Douglasdale and many more.
Backing onto green space
Homes that directly back a park or pathway carry a durable premium, because the outlook cannot be built on and no neighbour appears behind you. Two things to verify: that the land really is protected rather than a future phase, and what the green space is actually used for — a quiet ravine and a floodlit sports field with a car park are both "green space". More on lot position →
Pathways are not the same as walkable
Worth separating when you search. Backing onto Fish Creek gives you extraordinary running and cycling from your door and does not put a coffee shop within walking distance. The inner-city communities along the Bow — Inglewood, Sunnyside, Hillhurst — are among the few that deliver both. Walkability →