by The City of Calgary
Griffith Woods is one of the premiere nature locations in the Calgary Parks system. Settled between Discovery Ridge and the Elbow River, Griffith Woods is 93 hectares of wilderness waiting to be explored. The Elbow River flows along the park unimpeded by development, a rare “wild river” within a major city. The park also borders the Tsuut’ina Nation, and we do ask all our park users to respect our park boundaries and not trespass on the lands of Tsuut’ina Nation.
Spring is an exciting time in Griffith Woods as it is renowned for orchids that create a beautiful understory. While amazing, these flowers and the surrounding mosses are very fragile and can be easily damaged. We ask guests to the park to always stay on designated pathways and keep your pets on leash and on pathways as well.
While we’re on the topic of pets, few things take away from the beauty of a park more than stepping on the poop left behind by someone’s dog, so please be sure to clean up after your dog and leave their waste in the appropriate container. Help parks by being a responsible pet owner and keep our parks great.
Spring in Calgary also means the return of many birds and other wildlife to our parks who, like many residents here in Calgary, took the snowbird route to warmer climates for winter. Merlin’s, Trumpeter Swans, Blue Jays, and the American Robin, among many others, have all been seen in the last few weeks throughout the park.
It’s not just birds returning to our city. Our more grounded wildlife makes appearances. Young deer (fawns) may be seen, ground squirrels wake up from their hibernation, and with the warming weather a black bear wandering into the park looking for an early year snack becomes a possibility. So, remember that we all need to make sure we are not accidently leaving out food for bears or other wildlife. Garbage should be properly stored and outdoor cooking areas like BBQs are cleaned.
Speaking of cooking, this is a good time to mention that we are not allowed to have cooking or campfires in our parks. In fact, there are fines for starting a campfire in any of our parks outside of designated firepits. Calgary Bylaw works with our partners in Tsuut’ina Nation to respond to calls about illegal fire pits in this area and follow up on reports of their use. When you are having fires in your own yard, be sure they are controlled in a proper fire pit. We must be careful about the wood we use as well, as firewood can bring unwanted pests with it, so be sure to only use locally harvested firewood.
Griffith Woods occupies an interesting balance for wildfire risk mitigation and ecological resilience within Calgary parks. On the one hand, we want to avoid the devastating fires that we have seen in and around Canadian communities in the last several years, so fuel loads, such as a build-up of dead wood do need to be managed. That fuel load can also be a valuable housing resource for many animals, think of a standing dead tree housing woodpeckers, which in turn creates homes for wood ducks, tree squirrels, and all other sorts of animals. Finding that balance is an important part of the work our ecologist team does within our parks system.
For more information on Griffith Woods go to https://www.calgary.ca/parks/griffith-woods-park.html.
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