Confederation Park is an
urban park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...
in northwest
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
.
It is developed over an area of
between the neighbourhoods of
Mount Pleasant,
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
,
Collingwood and
Highland Park. 10th Street West bisects the park from north to south. The City o
Calgary's Confederation Park Pageprovides maps of th
North Areaand th
South Areaof the park.
The park has
picnic table
A picnic table (or picnic bench) is a Table (furniture), table with benches (often attached), designed for working with and for picnic, outdoor dining. The term is often specifically associated with rectangular tables having an A-frame structure. ...
s,
toboggan
A toboggan is a simple sled used in snowy winter recreation. It is also a traditional form of cargo transport used by the Innu, Cree and Ojibwe of North America, sometimes part of a dog train.
It is used on snow to carry one or more people (o ...
hills,
cycle path
A bike path or a cycle path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "C ...
s,
tennis court
A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...
s and
baseball diamond
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
s. The park is also a popular destination for couples having wedding pictures taken. The park adjoins the Queens Park Cemetery on the east side by the baseball diamond and tennis courts near Highland Park. There is cross-country skiing both in the park and at the golf course during the winter. Any time of the year the park can be used for
geocache searches.
Adjacent to the park is the Confederation
Golf Course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
.
In winter the golf course is open for cross-country skiing and the park hosts the Lions Club Christmas Light Display in December and January.
The park, anchored by the Centennial Golf Course to the west and Queen Park Cemetery to the east, along with other nearby open areas, affords neighborhoods such as Rosemont and Cambrian Heights large amounts of open space.
History
In the mid-1960s, efforts to conserve the North Hill Coulee, a brook which remained undeveloped because of uneven terrain, were organized in the form of the Centennial Ravine Park Society. In 1967, the park opened to celebrate the centennial of the Canadian Confederation. The society was very active in the neighborhoods of Northwest Calgary, and raised funds to create the park space.
Environment
Because the park follows the course of the North Hill Coulee, there is a
riparian habitat, which supports an assortment of plants such as Douglas fir, dogwood and willows, despite the urbanized surrounding area. It is also an important migratory spot for several species of waterfowl.
References
Parks in Calgary
{{Calgary-stub