Haskayne Legacy Park development

Haskayne Legacy Park is a new 126-hectare city regional park located at the northwestern edge of Calgary. The park is set to open to the public in summer/fall 2023. 

The park is adjacent to the Bearspaw Reservoir with the Bow River to the west and south. The Calgary Municipal boundary and Rocky View County are to the north and east. At the Haskayne Legacy Park, traditional western ranchlands come alive with spectacular mountain and prairie views for everyone to enjoy.

It will be significant in preserving and protecting the valuable ecological and human heritage in the area. The northwest boundary of the park borders Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. This ranch includes approximately 1,300 hectares of wetlands, native grasslands, rolling hills, wooded areas, and trails, as well as 14 km of the Bow River and Bearspaw Reservoir’s banks.

Together, Haskayne Legacy Park and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park will create a continuous and integrated greenway along the Bearspaw Reservoir. The park will provide a key connection to the regional pathway system and the Trans-Canada Trail that will eventually connect Calgary to Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and the town of Cochrane.

The majority of the 360-acre property was purchased under the ENMAX Parks Program. The final purchase was made possible by the kind generosity of the Haskayne family who personally donated over $5 million in land toward the new park, as well as matching funds towards the new pavilion building located in the park. This structure is the first net-zero energy building in The City's building portfolio.

Park construction is almost complete, including:

• Planting thousands of trees and shrubs in the park.
• Completing hard plaza and sidewalk construction.
• Building a parking lot and pathways including a regional pathway with boardwalk viewpoints along the north bank of the Bearspaw Reservoir.
• Developing a new park pavilion building and outdoor gathering space, including an overhead pergola, seating, a large communal harvest table, bike racks, and a fire pit.

Next steps

• Planning and design to build a road to access the park is underway.
• Construction to build a public access road to the park is anticipated to be constructed in spring/summer 2023. Once the road is complete, the park will be connected by road and a regional pathway to new communities to the east and by pathway to Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park to the west.
• An official park opening event will take place in summer/fall 2023, once the road is finished. More information updates will be shared prior to the park opening.

Figure 1: Haskyane Legacy Park, Arrival Plaza and Pavilion

Figure 2: Haskayne Legacy Park Pavilion, Pergola space