Fun things to do in Calgary: Battalion Park. Crystal Tost, Award winning Calgary REALTOR® for over 18 years, shares a fun thing to do in Calgary near Altadore.
Drive west on 17th Avenue toward the edge of the city and look up at the hillside: four giant numbers, laid out in white stones, watching over Calgary for more than a century. That's Battalion Park in Signal Hill — one of the city's most moving landmarks, and one that plenty of lifelong Calgarians have driven past without knowing the story behind it.
The Numbers on the Hill
The four geoglyphs — 137, 113, 151, and 51 — are battalion numbers. During the First World War, thousands of soldiers trained at Camp Sarcee below this hillside before shipping out to Europe. The men of those battalions laid out their unit numbers in stone on the slope above the camp, a signature left on the landscape before they went to war.
The scale is hard to appreciate until you're standing next to them. Roughly 16,000 whitewashed stones make up the numerals, and the figures stretch about 36.5 metres. Soldiers carried the stones themselves from the Elbow River valley up the hill — a two-kilometre haul, done after their regular training duties were finished.
Why It Matters
Many of the men who placed those stones never came home. In the decades after the war, the numerals gradually disappeared under weeds and prairie grass, and it took later generations — including local cadets — to restore the stones and push for the site's historical recognition. Today the number 113 still sits in its original location, while the others were carefully repositioned as the area around them developed. A memorial plaque and pathways now frame the site, and standing among the stones with the Elbow River valley and the Rockies on the horizon is genuinely affecting. It's a war memorial you walk through rather than past.
The Stairs: Calgary's Outdoor Gym
Battalion Park leads a double life. The long staircase climbing the hillside beside the geoglyphs has become one of Calgary's favourite outdoor workouts — on any decent evening you'll find runners and fitness groups grinding out repeats while the sun drops behind the mountains. The reward at the top is one of the best free views in the city: downtown's skyline to the east, the foothills and front ranges to the west. Sunset here is worth planning an evening around.
Living in Signal Hill
The park anchors Signal Hill, one of west Calgary's most established communities — and one where the landmark is woven into daily life. Locals use the stairs as their gym, walk the pathways with their dogs, and turn out for community events like the annual carnival that local school families organize in the park. It's the kind of neighbourhood landmark that gives a community its identity.
Practically speaking, Signal Hill offers a strong mix of family homes, quick access to Westhills shopping, and a straightforward run west to the mountains on weekends. For buyers comparing the west side against other parts of the city, our community guides are a good place to see how Signal Hill stacks up.
Worth the Climb
Some city landmarks are attractions; Battalion Park is closer to an inheritance. The stones on the hill were placed by hand, by soldiers, most of whom didn't return — and keeping their numbers visible on the skyline is something this city has quietly committed to for over a hundred years. Bring decent shoes, take the stairs slowly, read the plaque at the top, and give yourself a few minutes with the view. Few places in Calgary connect the city's history and its everyday life quite so directly.
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