In September 2019 I traveled with my 1.5 year old puppy Joe all the way from Europe to Calgary, Canada. It was my third visit to this amazing city, however, the first time with my new travel buddy. It was thanks to him that I could explore my favorite city at totally new levels. Everyday 2-hour-long walks made me explore all the parks in neighbourhood. We visited many of them, but these are my favorite where to walk puppy in Calgary 😉

This is one of the most popular parks in Calgary, you can read about it in every article on what to see in Calgary. Prince’s Island Park is home to many activities and festivals during the year, however, I prefer to visit during quieter days. You can walk around and explore many beautiful nooks and corners with your puppy. Or, you can just sit and relax a bit 😉 You can continue to Peace Bridge, another Calgary’s architectural landmark. There you can decide which way to take next, which side of the Bow river to walk. You can pick Memorial Drive and continue on the northern river bank. Or, you stay close to downtown and walk Bow River Pathway. You can look forward to a long and nice walk with your pup.

St. Patrick’s Island Park is another park situated on the island. It lies between Bridgeland and East Village, close to the Calgary Zoo. If you’re coming by car, then arrive from the Memorial Drive across the Baines Bridge. As pedestrians, you can enter the park from the other side, from George C. King Bridge. St Patrick’s park is perfect place for spending your time with family and your puppy, of course 🙂 There is playground, BBQ, chairs and beach chairs to rest and enjoy sunshine during warm days. Walking along the river, you can enjoy beautiful views of downtown. St. Patrick’s Island Park is a great place for a walk if you live in the Bridgeland or East Village neighbourhoods.

If you have a car or don’t mind renting one, you should take your puppy for a walk to Nose Hill Park. It is the biggest park I’ve ever seen! So enormous! I visited it four times in two months and whatever the weather was, it was always cold and windy there. You can walk around for more than one hour and there will be still places you haven’t seen 🙂 Except that your puppy can run freely around in the off leash area, you can enjoy the views of the city and downtown in the distance. When you look the other direction, you will see the Rocky Mountain range. So, make sure you pick nice weather for your visit 😉

Once you have a car, consider also visiting Tom Campbell’s Hill Park. It is smaller than Nose Hill Park, but also closer to the city center, in Bridgeland. There is off leash area for your puppy to play with other dogs and there are views of the downtown from yet another angle 😉 If you are traveler like me or just like planes, you might enjoy the view of planes landing and taking off literally above your head. I personally like this area. Not only the park, but wandering around the neighbourhood.

On nice sunny days we usually went for a walk to Lindsey park. It is situated approximately 15 minutes from where we lived. There were more possibilities how to get there, so it didn’t get boring after time. The best thing about this park are bunnies! And, by bunnies I don’t mean feral rabbits that you would expect. They live in the park as wild animals, but it is said that they were house pets once. I don’t know the exact number of how many bunnies there are in Lindsey park, but it’s a lot. For this reason you will not find there dog off leash area 🙂 Probably you wouldn’t see your dog anymore. Joe was pretty interested in those small animals and it was difficult to explain him, that he can’t play with them. So at least he could watch them and he enjoyed it. I enjoyed it maybe even more 😀

If you’re looking for a longer walk, you can continue along the river. There is Elbow river pathway going all the way around the Stampede grounds, across Enmax park and leading further to Bow river. In case you decide to take this trail, your walk will take more than two hours 😉 My only recommendation is to watch out for cyclists. 

There are many reasons why I like all those places I mentioned. However, Scotsman’s Hill became my most favourite place for walking Joe. Most probably because we lived nearby. I could see the park from the window as well as I saw our apartment building from the park. And not only the building, but the skyline of whole Calgary downtown! I believe there can’t be more magical walks with your puppy than early morning walks at Scotsman’s Hill with view of downtown bathing in pink sunrise colors. Or, watching sun setting down behind the town. 

Except for those magnificent views, Scotsman’s Hill has many advantages. It is off leash dog park, so your puppy can enjoy running around freely and playing with other dogs in the neighbourhood. Stairs leading from the Stampede Park to Scotsman’s Hill offer some exercise for both, you and your puppy. That is where Joe learned to love stairs, what made me to stay behind every time 😀 There is also a possibility for longer walk. Below the hill, there is Enmax park lying on the bank of the Elbow river. At it’s end, there is another park – Ramsey off leash dog park with beautiful views of the city.

When leaving downtown on Centre Street North, you can pick one of two parks to walk your puppy. After crossing the Bow River, you can either turn right and continue to Rotary park. You will have to run couple flights of stairs to get there. The view of downtown is totally worth the exercise. Joe fell in love with stairs, mostly wooden ones as they are not so slippery. I believe your puppy will learn to enjoy them too, especially when staying in Calgary. Park itself is not too big. However, you can go back to the Centre Street Bridge and continue in the opposite direction, up the Crescent Road. You can continue to Crescent Heights Park, enjoy the view from the Crescent Heights Lookout Point or descent the stairs and go to McHugh Bluff Off Leash Dog Park. In this neighborhood you might end up walking half a day 🙂

If you live nearby Riverfront Walk, you can consider yourself lucky. It is great starting point for many wonderful walks around the city. You can get to downtown, Prince’s Island Park, continue to East Village and St. Patrick’s Park. It is up to you in which direction you will set off and start exploring the city with your pup 😉

When you start looking for a slightly different environment for walking your puppy, you can even go to downtown. I prefer walking around the Stephen Avenue Walk. It is quite broad street and it is not that crowded, so you and your puppy can walk comfortably. In case you like sightseeing, lots of major attractions are nearby. You can see Calgary Tower, the Bow and Wonderland Sculpture. You can reach Prince’s Island Park, Rotary Park or Crescent Heights in approximately 10 minutes.

On your walks around the downtown, try to avoid rush hours and busy streets, mostly during the weekdays. Also keep in mind, that dogs are not allowed in restaurants, shopping malls and administration buildings. 

When tired, you can jump on the C-train which operates for free in the downtown. It is dog friendly too. The only requirement is that your puppy is leashed and well-behaved. The same applies for buses. Your pet travels for free within Calgary 🙂 You can check it at the official website of Calgary Transit.

Read also: All You Need to Know about Flying with Dog In-Cabin

These are only a couple of parks and places where to walk puppy in Calgary. It mostly depends on the part of the city where you live and wether you have a car. However, when you check the map of Calgary or open Google maps, you will see countless green areas! Let me know if you visited different parks and what was your experience. And I hope I will have a chance to discover new amazing places that both Joe and I will enjoy 🙂

Love & happy travels,
RLT