Nature Adventure – Heritage Trails Park
Looking for a fun nature adventures in the Edmonton area? Check out the newly-renamed Heritage Trails Park in Fort Saskatchewan! The park sits in the lowlands below the Fort Heritage Precinct. The trail system extends to the west and south from the old Fort.
We parked in public parking in Legacy Park. After a quick stop at Miller’s for ice cream, we followed the trailed west and south until we came to a gravel trail that allowed us to drop down to to Heritage Trails Park. Following the gravel trail brought us to the first of three animal statues in the park – Bog the Frog!
Following the gravel trails will loop you around storm water ponds and take you to a location that offers stairs (for the fitness buffs!) and an outdoor classroom. Instead, we followed the gravel trail until we came to a place where it connected to the paved river valley trail. That link is located near the Fort Saskatchewan Highway 15 bridge.
More critters!
When we hit the paved trail we turned north and started working our way back up the trail, back toward Fort Precinct. We soon came across an adorable beaver statue! We understand there will be two beavers, named Willow and Birch, in this part of the park!
We continued to follow the paved trail north until we arrived at our favourite of the animal statues, Northy the garter snake! Northy is located near a viewing platform and there is even a large sign with information about Alberta’s garter snakes.
A naming contest was held and the winning animal names were all submitted by kids in the community!
Visitors will find park site maps in a few spots along the trails. These can help ou find the animal statues and information about other spots you may wish to explore in the park!
Know before you go:
-Our walk from our parking spot in Legacy Park to find all 3 statues and back was about 2.5km. We encountered both gravel and paved trails. Paths would be suitable for bikes and strollers with larger wheels, but the gravel paths wouldn’t be good for scooters, rollerblades or strollers with smaller wheels.
-Bring bug spray! We encountered some hungry mosquitos!
-Add to your visit: Plan to stop at the Legacy Park Nature Playground or the 3 playgrounds located around Fort Saskatchewan Christian and Elementary Schools (Across the street to the east from Miller’s Ice Cream!) In the summer, check the schedule for the Legacy Park sheep and visit when they are on site! In the winter, bring your sleds, as the hill below Fort Heritage Precinct is an excellent sledding hill!
Heritage Trails Park
- Where: We parked in Legacy Park, 10005 102 Street, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
- What: A beautiful walk along river valley and wetlands trails and a scavenger hunt to search for animal statues!
- Pair it with a playground: Legacy Park Nature Playground sits above the wetlands at the Fort Heritage Precinct
- More info: HERE
Fort Saskatchewan has some super cool playgrounds! We think you’ll like these 3 – Legacy Park Playground, Fort Saskatchewan Christian and Elementary Schools playgrounds, and Andy’s Playground.