Bowness Lagoon, Calgary

In late June, I was in Calgary and spent a couple of hours on the water in the Bowness Lagoon with a friend. Access is in front of the restaurant, on the right as you enter the park. We carried from the parking lot (maybe 40m) but you can drop your boats about 15m away and go park.

The cement launch is pretty handy. Other folks, especially using SUPs, just launched from shore. The water was murky (usually is clear in the summer but the river was quite silty) and there are no swimming/wading signs.

The lagoon is pretty small. We did a quick lap, noting that the water was very high (likely because the nearby Bow River was also high).

There are boat rentals here and a nice little canal to paddle through. There were lots of ducks and geese.

The more interesting part of the paddle is up the creek that brings water in from the river. To access it, go under the car bridge that brought you into the park and head west.

The creek isn't always super passable and the rental folks ask you not to take their boats up the creek. We had no problems with the high water, Last year, we did have to carry over one low section.

There were a few downed trees to duck under or otherwise navigate around.

It is just over a kilometre to the far end, just underneath Stoney Trail. While the water does flow in here, there is no access to the river (although you could likely portage to it).

We then had a nice float back. It was a Tuesday night and there were a small number of SUPs on the water (mostly people just floating and talking).

Overall, a reasonable beginner paddle that is doable even on a windy day when the reservoir is rolling.

Bowness Lagoon

In late May, I had a chance to paddle the Bowness Lagoon in Calgary. The lagoon is pretty small, but pleasant and sheltered. You can also rent canoes, kayaks and paddle boats. 

The best access is from a concrete ramp by the restaurant and washrooms and the carry is only a couple of hundred feet (depending on how busy the parking lot is).

After waiting out some rain, we did a quick lap of the lagoon (dodging the high school gym class that was learning to paddle). The vibe is very much cool urban park, with walkways and channels and ducks and whatnot.

We then headed west up the channel that brings water into the lagoon from the river (accessed by going under the car bridge by the restaurant).

There was a current but it was negligible. The channel winds maybe 1.5km west through the trees, getting narrower and shallower as it goes.

Other than ducking under a tree that had fallen, the only impediment was this shallow bit where we had to get out and lift over a slight shelf. We tried to shoot it on the way back but ended up bum scooting.

Eventually, we hit the end of the road by the pillar of the Stoney Trail bridge.

We then turned around and paddled back and toured the lagoon again.

This is a great first paddle or family paddle with the kids and we had a nice afternoon. There is also a playground, a miniature train, picnic sites, and what looks like a spray park at the east end of the lagoon.

Bowness Park, Calgary

We took road trip to Calgary a few weeks back to visit with some family. I didn't bother bring the kayaks because I didn't think we had time to paddle. We ended up at Bowness Park one afternoon and the U of C's campus Rec Program is renting canoes, kayaks, and (for the brave) paddle boats.

There isn't much to the Bowness pond--you can do several laps in an hour--but it is a good place for kids to get some experience paddling. The launch is from docks, which can be a touch tricky in  kayak (versus a beach launch). My brother managed to botch getting into the boat and jack-knifed into the lagoon (which is about four feet deep). Sadly, I did not get this on video.

There are a couple of small channels around the back of the dock area to paddle in and then the larger east-west lagoon. The creek leading to the river at the west end of the lagoon was off limits. There were lots of ducks to float along with.

Below is a shot looking west down the length of the lagoon. In addition to the rental boats, there were private kayaks and floaties on the pond.

It looks to me like you could launch from the patio of the restaurant at the west end of the lagoon (the closest spot to the parking lot).

There is also a miniature train, picnic sites, a snack shop and a restaurant, and playground equipment. Not an interesting enough paddle to do more than once but a good place for kids to build their confidence in a pretty safe environment.