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The Bow River pathway is a pathway system developed along the banks of the Bow River in the city of Calgary. It contains a network of pedestrian and bicycle paths connecting parks on both sides of the river.
A trail is usually a path, track or unpaved lane or road. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland path or footpath is the preferred term for a walking trail. The term is also applied, in North America, to routes along rivers, and sometimes to highways. In the US, the term was historically used for a route into or through wild territory used by emigrants. In the USA "trace" is a synonym for trail, as in Natchez Trace. Some trails are single use and can only be used for walking, cycling, horse riding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing; others, as in the case of a bridleway in the UK, are multi-use, and can be used by walkers, cyclists and equestrians. There are also unpaved trails used by dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles and in some places, like the Alps, trails are used for moving cattle and other livestock.
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It begins in the Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These waters ultimately flow through the Nelson River into Hudson Bay. The Bow River runs through the city of Calgary, taking in the Elbow River at the historic site of Fort Calgary near downtown. The Bow River pathway, developed along the river's banks, is considered a part of Calgary's self-image.
The pathway is used for cycling, hiking, jogging, as well as rollerblading and skateboarding. The paths are connected with a system that extends along the Elbow River and other areas of the city.
Cycling, also called biking or bicycling, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bikers", or less commonly, as "bicyclists". Apart from two-wheeled bicycles, "cycling" also includes the riding of unicycles, tricycles, quadracycles, recumbent and similar human-powered vehicles (HPVs).
Hiking is the preferred term, in Canada and the United States, for a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails (footpaths), in the countryside, while the word walking is used for shorter, particularly urban walks. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, the word "walking" is acceptable to describe all forms of walking, whether it is a walk in the park or backpacking in the Alps. The word hiking is also often used in the UK, along with rambling, hillwalking, and fell walking. The term bushwalking is endemic to Australia, having been adopted by the Sydney Bush Walkers club in 1927. In New Zealand a long, vigorous walk or hike is called tramping. It is a popular activity with numerous hiking organizations worldwide, and studies suggest that all forms of walking have health benefits.
Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods of time. Performed over long distances, it is a form of aerobic endurance training.
The network spans 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Bearspaw Dam to Fish Creek Provincial Park, connecting major parks and green areas in Calgary.
Fish Creek Park is a provincial park located in the southern part of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is the second largest urban park in Canada after Rouge National Urban Park in the Greater Toronto Area, and followed by Pippy Park in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is also one of the largest urban parks in North America, stretching 19 km (12 mi) from east to west. At 13.48 km2 (5.20 sq mi), it is over three times the size of Vancouver's Stanley Park.
Construction of the Bow River Pathways started in 1975 to mark the city's centenary. The project was funded by the City of Calgary, the Province of Alberta and the Devonian Group of Charitable Foundations. It was dedicated on June 25, 1977.
Recreation areas connected by the pathway include:
Bowness is a neighbourhood and former town in west Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The former town was amalgamated into the City of Calgary in 1964.
The neighbourhood of Eau Claire in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is located immediately north of Downtown, and south of the Bow River and north of 4th Avenue. A mix of riverside condominiums, shopping, restaurants, hotels, a large public plaza and urban parkland make Eau Claire one of Calgary's most popular areas. Contained within Eau Claire is the city's Festival District.
Downtown Calgary is a region of central Calgary, Alberta, it contains the second largest concentration of head offices in Canada. The region is divided into several neighbourhoods, the Central Business District, Eau Claire, Chinatown, East Village, and the West End. There are a number of districts within Downtown Calgary as well, most of them being within the Central Business District.
A greenway is "a strip of undeveloped land near an urban area, set aside for recreational use or environmental protection". However, the term can in fact include "a scenic road" and though many are in urban areas, there are some rural greenways, as for example the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, a hiking trail in southern New Hampshire.
Parkdale is a mature, inner city neighbourhood in the city of Calgary, Alberta along the north bank of the Bow River between the communities of West Hillhurst and Point McKay. It is bounded on the south by the Bow River, 28 St NW to the east, Shaganappi Trail NW to the west and on the north by 16th Avenue. Parkdale is in close proximity to both the Foothills Medical Centre and the Alberta Children's Hospital constructed in 2006, as well as the University of Calgary. Memorial Drive provides access to downtown Calgary and to Highway 1 which leads to the Rocky Mountains. Parkdale was annexed to the City of Calgary in 1910 when Calgary began to experience a "major economic and building boom." The boom ended in 1913 and further development of the Parkdale Addition as it was called, was halted because of World War I. Following World War II in the 1950s the dominant housing type that characterized Parkdale, was the bungalow. By 2014 Parkdale, like other inner city communities in Calgary, was experiencing gradual gentrification with small cottage-style bungalows being replaced by spacious flat roofed, Prairie School Frank Lloyd Wright inspired infills attracting young families with children away from the long commute suburbs to inner city ease of access to downtown, transit and work.
Edworthy Park is a city park located in the Northwest section of Calgary along the south shore of the Bow River. The Canadian Pacific Railway crosses the length of the park. It was named after Thomas Edworthy, who emigrated to the Calgary area in 1883 from Devon, England.
The city of Calgary, Alberta, has a large transportation network that encompasses a variety of road, rail, air, public transit, and pedestrian infrastructure. Calgary is also a major Canadian transportation centre and a central cargo hub for freight in and out of north-western North America. The city sits at the junction between the "Canamex" highway system and the Trans-Canada Highway.
Lower Kananaskis Lake is a natural lake that was turned into a reservoir in Kananaskis Country in Alberta, Canada.
Memorial Drive is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. Besides having an important role in city infrastructure, the tree lined sides of Memorial Drive serve as a living testament to the many soldiers who died during World War I and give it a parkway look on the western section. An active path system also runs along the south side of Memorial Drive, beside the banks of the Bow River. The Calgary Soldiers' Memorial will form part of an extensive renovation to Memorial Drive, which will heighten the function of the road as a monument to the city's military. The Landscape of Memory Project began in 2004, in order to revitalize a nine kilometre stretch of the road.
Varsity is an established neighbourhood in the Northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It was developed in the 1960s and early 1970s on a plateau to the north of the Bow River valley, and is primarily composed of Single-detached dwellings on wide lots. The neighbourhood comprises three major areas: Varsity Acres, Varsity Village, and Varsity Estates. Varsity is bounded on the north and east by Crowchild Trail, on the west by the Bow River, and on the south by 32nd Avenue NW. It borders the neighbourhoods of Silver Springs and Bowness on the west side, and both Montgomery and the University of Calgary campus on the south side. The easternmost portion of Varsity contains the University of Calgary Research Park.
Bridgeland-Riverside, formerly known as Bridgeland and Germantown, is a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is located northeast of Downtown Calgary. It is bounded to the south by the Bow River, to the east by Deerfoot Trail, to the west by Edmonton Trail and to the north by the community of Renfrew.
The Downtown West End is a neighbourhood within the western portions of downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is bounded to the north by the Bow River, to the east by 9th Street W, to the south by the CPR Tracks and to the west by 14th Street W.
Prince's Island Park is an urban park in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is developed on an island on the Bow River, immediately north of downtown Calgary.
Calgary is a city in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, about 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The city anchors the south end of what Statistics Canada defines as the "Calgary–Edmonton Corridor".
The Rivergreenway is the backbone of burgeoning Fort Wayne Trails network in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the surrounding area. The Rivergreenway consists of nearly 25-miles of connected trails through a linear park following alongside or near the City's three rivers: St. Joseph River, St. Marys River, and Maumee River. In 2009, the Rivergreenway was designated as a National Recreation Trail. The trail network also connects to the Wabash & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. In 2011, the Wabash & Erie Canal Towpath Trail was completed, the Greater Fort Wayne has 50 miles of connected trails.
Quarry Park is a mixed-use community in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. For 50 years it was a gravel extraction site in the south-east quadrant of the city, surrounded by residential communities but used solely for industrial gravel production. In 2005, the land was purchased by a local development corporation and evolved into the community that it is today. With over 400 acres of community land, Quarry Park is now home to a market, a variety of residential developments, riverside green space and corporate office buildings including Imperial Oil and Remington Development Corporation.
Baker Park is a 12-hectare (30-acre) urban park on the bank of the Bow River in the west edge of the city of Calgary. It is part of the pedestrian and bicycle Bow River pathway that links a vast network of urban parks on both sides of the river. Baker Park is situated across the river from Bowness Park east of the Bearspaw Water Intake Pump Station. With its river observation point overlooking the Bow River and Bowness Park and its archways and arbours, it is the "most popular" park in Calgary for outdoor weddings.
Bowmont Park is a 164 hectares urban park on the norther bank of the Bow River in the northwest of the city of Calgary in the communities of Bowness and Montgomery. 'Bowmont' is a combination of their names. The Park was created in the 1980s. In 2010 The Calgary Herald described Bowmont Park as "one of Calgary’s biggest, prettiest and possibly least-known parks—a destination currently undergoing big changes itself. Bordering the northern banks of the Bow River where it flows by the neighbourhoods of Silver Springs and Varsity, Bowmont is comprised of 164 acres of grasslands, valleys, a limestone waterfall, off-leash dog-walking areas, hiking trails and oodles of tree-lined pathways".