A Favourite Destination: Bowness Park

Bowness Park is an all year round favourite for many residents in Calgary. This park offers many activities, beautiful scenery and much more. Whether you're looking for a place to walk or bike along paths or you prefer to enjoy the many picnic areas, this is a good choice for a day with the family.

Some of the activities offered at Bowness Park include:

• Bike/Walk Paths
• Water Fountains
• Spay Park
• Outdoor Ice Skating
• Playground
• Cross-country skiing
• Paddle boating

The park is located between 85 Street N.W. and Stoney Trail, along the Bow River with a lagoon running along the southern edge. Residents can access the river from the park and spend time paddle boating or just enjoy a quiet picnic in the park.

Current Redevelopment

Over the past year, Bowness Park has undergone a redevelopment with the goal of enhancing the visitor experience. The city realized the park was seeing a larger amount of visitors than years past and decided to allocate funds for the redevelopment. Here are a few of the highlights of the redevelopment:

• River edge restoration
• Addition of a wading pool
• Moving the parking to a central location
• New parking lots added to the west end
• New entrance bridge to replace the old bridge
• A new central area with new concessions and cafe buildings

This is a large undertaking, but once complete, residents can enjoy easier access to the lagoon, new buildings for both the cafe and concessions, better parking and better signage throughout the park. The full redevelopment is scheduled to be complete at the beginning of 2015, with many areas scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2013. Make sure to check the park website before planning your trip, just to be sure you can get to the attractions you want to enjoy without issue.