Griffith Woods Park is a primarily natural environment park that lies along the banks of the Elbow River in the southwest part of Calgary. The park is a great food source and habitat for animals of all kinds. While visiting the park, please be aware of your surroundings and take BearSmart precautions.
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Location: Discovery Ridge Blvd. S.W.
There are multiple entrances into the park from south side of Discovery Ridge Blvd.
Area: 93 hectares
Park hours: 5 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Park features
- Paved pathways
- Gravel and dirt trails
- Pond
- Wetland
- Benches
- Soccer fields (located at 160 Discovery Ridge Blvd. S.W.)
- Basketball (located at 160 Discovery Ridge Blvd. S.W.)
- Playground (located at 160 Discovery Ridge Blvd. S.W.)
About the park
Griffith Woods Park lies along the banks of the Elbow River in the southwest part of the city. The park was created in 2000 and named after Wilbur Griffith who, with his wife Betty, donated a portion of their estate to The City of Calgary to be set aside as a nature preserve. Griffith Woods is classified as a Special Protection Natural Environment Park because of its overall environmental sensitivity and significance.
Experience nature in the city
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Walk quietly through a dense White Spruce forest. Watch aquatic wildlife in crystal clear, spring-fed wetlands. Or, just sit and enjoy the Elbow River as it runs between you and the Tsuu T’ina reserve on the other bank.
Plant life
Because the Elbow River is a wild river and still experiences frequent flooding, there is a thick growth of Balsam Poplar which require flooding for regeneration.
Wildlife
History
The Elbow River, with its headwaters in Elbow Lake high up in Kananaskis Country, flows unimpeded down and through Griffith Woods. Seldom can one experience a “wild river” within a major city. Within this park, the river is relatively straight but it has abandoned ancient curves leaving “oxbow” wetlands.
These oxbows combined with the wetlands associated with spring-fed streams that flow into the park, result in a rich variety of aquatic ecosystems. The land has been ranched since the late 1800s and most recently was part of the Griffith Estate.