After seeing a photo of a tree fort on a hiking trail on someone’s Instagram, I knew I had to go! She mentioned the “Douglas Fir Sanctuary” in her caption, and a little bit of Googling led me to the Douglas Fir Trail, starting at Edworthy Park right here in Calgary. Easy!, I thought, and added this to my list of hikes to do this summer.
Well, spoiler alert, but the Douglas Fir Trail did not feature this tree fort. Obviously this trail and the Douglas Fir Sanctuary are two very different things, and I should’ve known. So, I’m still on the hunt for the tree fort, because the 7-year-old in me neeeeeds to climb it, and the 27-year-old in me neeeeeds to take photos of it. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I’d be much obliged. The best I’ve found is the Wood’s Douglas Fir Tree Sanctuary, but I see no mention of a fort there and I’m not certain that it’s the right place…
All of that aside, this hike was still absolutely worth it! My boyfriend Holden and I took his sister’s dog, a black pug named Quincy, out one sunny Sunday afternoon in July to try out this new-to-us trail.
We parked in one of the south lots at Edworthy Park (I didn’t really think through the fact that it was mid-day on a weekend, so we were verrrry lucky to find a spot), and set out on foot along the paved pathway from the parking lot, heading north-east. After a few minutes, we came to a side trail with a sign for the west entrance of Douglas Fir Trail, so we stepped off the main path and made our way into the forest. { You can also begin this trail at the east entrance, accessed from the residential neighbourhood of Spruce Cliff }
This out-and-back hike was just over 6 kilometres (3.73 miles), including the walk back to the parking lot, and it took us about an hour and 45 minutes. It was actually a lot more difficult than I’d anticipated, for a city hike, with many ups and downs (an elevation gain of 220 metres/722 feet), but we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the downtown skyline once we arrived at the other entrance to the trail, which also marked the start of Quarry Road Trail.
While there was no tree fort, the Douglas Fir Trail did have lots of boardwalks, wooden steps, rope hand-rails, and small climbs. This hike was fun, moderately-easy, and rewarding. Combine that with a few gorgeous city and river views and impressive tree coverage the rest of the time, so that it barely felt like you were in an urban area at all, and we have a winner! This is one of my new “go-to” city hikes. Can’t complain about the fact that it was only a 25-minute drive from my house instead of the 2 hours it would take to get to the mountains.
Okay, now, help a girl out – where is this Douglas Fir sanctuary with the tree fort? Drop it in the comments below if you know, or send me an email at elle@thesebootsweremadefortraveling.com
