Best Calgary Parks – Riley Park
- May 25, 2015
- By Cody Battershill
Riley Park - Open Space, Children's Playground, Wading Pool
Calgary’s numerous outdoor parks, green spaces and interconnecting pathways between are a definite highlight of living in the “Heart of the New West”.
Riley Park, situated down the hill from SAIT Polytechnic and a half a block northwest of the Sunnyside LRT Station, is a prime example of just how much Calgary’s park spaces have to offer us all.
Here are the goods on Riley Park, one of my favourites in the northwest inner city region!
Quick Facts
- Name: Riley Park
- Location: NW inner city, 800 12th Street NW
- Amenities: wading pool, cricket pitch, new playground, picnic tables, washrooms (seasonal), water fountains (seasonal)
- Home to Senator Patrick Burns Memorial Rock Garden
Location
[mappress mapid="173"]
Riley Park’s wide open green space is a great place to enjoy whichever recreational game you’d like and has more than enough space to go around for everyone.
Enjoy a game of Frisbee with a friend, catch with your dog, a full-blown gourmet picnic, or perhaps a game of tag football with the family and any other thinkable activities at Riley Park this summer!
Don’t let the kids miss the brand new playground found in the southwest corner of the park featuring soft ground and low-height slides, monkey bars and much more. They will love it!
A Bit of History
If you are feeling in the mood to discover some Calgary history while visiting, you should definitely check out the Senator Patrick Burns Memorial Rock Garden located on the furthest east side along 10th Street NW.
Here you’ll see detailed landscaping with groves of beautiful flowers surrounded by more than 20,000 pieces of rock used from the senator’s mansion once it was demolished.
Senator Patrick Burns was one of the “Big Four” businessmen who helped finance and essentially founded the Calgary Stampede many years ago.
If we go back even a bit further than that, Riley Park used to be part of a 146,000 hectare Cochrane Ranch. A couple named Thomas and Georgina Riley and their 10 children lived on and worked the land in the late 1880’s and in 1909, after Thomas passed away, the ranch was left in the hands of the City of Calgary.
Today we have Riley Park, one awesome family-oriented green space with tons of amenities, beautiful scenery and a walkable location close to the Kensington BRZ, river pathways, LRT station and downtown. Check it out this summer if you get the chance!
More Recreation & Leisure
I Love Calgary
Do you love Calgary as much as I do and are interested in hearing about wide range of local activities and events via your live social media feed? If so, we invite you to join us and tens of thousands of others at Calgaryism on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram today! We hope to see you there!
