Fish Creek Park - Snowshoe

You don't have to go far to be able to use your snowshoes!

Difficulty: easy
Round trip: up to you!
Hiking Time: 30min+
Elevation Gain: negligible
Location: Calgary Fish Creek Park Glenfield-Area A

Click map to open up Google Maps

TRAIL HEAD
Marked: No
Facilities: yes, to the north of the parking lot
How to get there: Coming off of Macleod Trail from either direction, exit onto Banister Road SE. Follow the signs to exit off to Fish Creek Provincial Park. (Driving N on Macleod, exit right onto Banister Rd, and take your first left. Turn right at the sign for Fish Creek, turn left into the parking lot. // Driving S on Macleod exit right onto Banister Rd and keep right around the loop. At the lights turn right and after going under the bridge take your first left into the park and take another left into the parking lot.

SNOWSHOE DETAILS
There isn't really much instruction to provide here really. It's that easy! Once you are parked in the lot you can head either south onto the road that you will see is barricaded for the winter or north onto the pathway system.

As you can see from the map above you can follow the road in short loop back to the parking lot with a few little blips, or when you come to them you can take a turn onto the narrower pathways through the trees and towards the river.

If you have a good sense of direction you should have no problem getting back to your car, but if your not sure, take a compass just in case. You will also find that at some of the major junctions on the pathways there are signed maps to guide your way. Realistically you can likely see or hear where Macleod trail is and be able to find the parking lot that way. Although, in hindsight I must say it was easy for me to block out the city bustle for that short amount of time!
Ultimately this route is entirely up to you! You can snowshoe for as little time or as long a time that you have stamina for! The paths in this section are flat so no elevation gain for you here. The scenery includes lots of snow covered trees and the frozen river. We were fortunate enough to spy a young buck in the distance as well as some sparrows who congregated in the trees when we stopped to take some pictures. That's the great thing about this city is that wildlife is never too far off!

Took this picture for Dressember to prove #youcandoanythinginadress like snowshoe! :)

Happy Snowshoeing!