Edmonton’s Vast Park System Draws Millions of Visitors
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It could be called Canada’s own Emerald City.
Instead of a yellow brick road, however, the city of Edmonton features a ribbon of green: the vast system of parks, walking trails and ravines along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River.
“We have a very large, deep river valley, with large terraces, and then coming back from the river system is a ravine system, which feeds our parks,” says Rob Marchak, director of parks planning with the city’s Department of Asset Management and Public Works.
Edmonton’s park system is described by Marchak as “quite massive,” and the numbers back that up: 22 major parks along the 48-kilometre river stretch that runs through the city; 896 city district and neighborhood parks; 150 kilometres of paved walking trails; 338 playgrounds; three municipal and numerous private golf courses, plus 92 tennis courts; and more than 309,000 ornamental trees in the parks and along the city’s boulevards.
Fort Edmonton Park, Valley Zoo and Muttart Conservatory are top attractions located just minutes from the River Valley.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” says Marchak, who notes that despite a very healthy oil-based economy and city growth, “the river valley has not had a huge amount of industrial development, so it is very intact. We have an amazing jewel here.”
All that green, with 17 hours of summer daylight to enjoy it, makes Edmonton a promised land for the 10 million sports enthusiasts who visit each year. Just ask Tiffany Jackson, a personal trainer who has run boot camps in the river valley.
“We have runs through the river valley that go along these amazing ‘stairs’ that are naturally built into the river banks,” says Jackson, a seven-year city resident. “It’s nature’s gem, that’s for sure.”
Maintaining this expanse of parkland doesn’t come cheaply. “We have 431 fulltime employees, augmented by 470 summer workers who are responsible only for the maintenance of the parks and boulevards,” says Marchak. “The overall annual budget for the parks system is $45 million for operations and $60 million for capital improvements.”
As opportunities arise, the city is using that money to acquire river valley terraces, including a recent acquisition of 70 hectares of property, and work is under way on a new pedestrian bridge over the river, as well as better access to the river.
Edmonton’s parks system is complemented by the River Valley Alliance, which is using $50 million in donations to link the city’s trails with others in the region. “When we fully expand the whole region, it will become a major destination park,” says Marchak.
The City of Edmonton has named five parks within its system in honor of each of the Famous 5, a group of women who fought in the early part of the 20th century for women to have the same rights and privileges afforded to men. They also were responsible for the original planting of elm trees, says Marchak. That set the stage for today’s requirements, where a developer must give 10 percent of any new development to the city for a park. “This gives us an incredible resource,” says Marchak.
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Story by Betsy Williams
Photo by Jeff Adkins
