I like to explore nature. Can I do that in Edmonton?

Yes. Edmonton has the largest stretch of urban parkland in North America. Our river valley is 22 times the size of New York’s Central Park, and has more than 160 kilometres of maintained multi-use trails. Edmonton also has several ravines with parks and trails in and around them (Mill Creek Ravine, White Mud Creek, Black Mud Creek to name a few). In this city, nature is always close to and often right on your doorstep.

Related Stories

  • 100-Mile Diet
    One-hundred-mile diet-wise, I grew up doing that in Nova Scotia. That’s the way we lived. When I started doing it in Edmonton, it created a greater sense of community with the surrounding area.
  • A Big Giant Hippie Sport
    It’s a good way to meet people. You don’t socialize just with your team. You talk to the person who’s marking you. That’s completely not normal in other sports.
  • Beautiful Way to Move User submitted story
    One of the coaches described speed skating as “a beautiful way to move”. It truly is. And it is extremely exhilarating – someone recently told me it’s the fastest human-propelled sport in existence today!
  • Canada Day Criterium Story has video
    Host of the Canada Day Criterium, the Edmonton Juventus Cycling Club offers great riding and racing opportunities to all age groups. Members are beginner to national team level cyclists who enjoy track cycling, mountain biking, and cycle cross and road racing.
  • City Canvas: A Wonderful Surprise Story has video
    What does the Garneau Tree, art, and getting your start in radio have in common? Watch Mark's videos to find out.
  • Coming Back Home Story has video User submitted story
    This video is a personal narrative of my experience in Edmonton's natural parks. Upon going for a walk down Whitemud Creek, I truly realized how lucky I am to be from Edmonton.
  • Eclipsing Shinny
    As I played hockey with other rookie women of all ages and backgrounds one February several years ago, we watched a lunar eclipse unfold over the outdoor rink.
  • Fun on Ice Story has video
    On, February 15, 2010, the Edmontonstories team went to the Edmonton Speed Skating Association’s Fun on Ice event at Victoria Oval. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day for this event. Families, couples, and speed skating fanatics skated around the oval enjoying the warm sunshine.
  • Here to Stay
    Luda takes full advantage of all Edmonton has to offer, which means she's here to stay.
  • Home User submitted story
    My grandfather had been sent to a concentration camp for 6 months during the Second World War after helping the British army hide weapons on his farm. My father was only 4½ years old at the time of grandfather’s arrest.
  • Homesick For Edmonton! Story has video User submitted story
    When I arrived to Edmonton for the first time, I was 19 years old. I had come with both my parents, and my three sisters and three brothers, all of us single.
  • It's all in the Details
    Edmonton's beauty can shine through in some surprising places.
  • Keeping Busy in Edmonton
    I have known Edmonton my whole life. I was born here, I attended university here, I got married here. During this time, I have lived both in Edmonton and in its surrounding communities, and I love it.
  • Making Good News
    I’d always been in the river valley. I’d been in it every day, canoed it, gone up and down it in a Zodiac.
  • Moose on the Loose User submitted story
    What happens when a moose gets lost in Edmonton? Read Lisa's story to find out.
  • On Life and Sushi
    When Ron Elmeleh makes sushi he maintains a balance that is both appealing to the eyes and the mouth.
  • Our Park User submitted story
    Of all the things there is to love about Edmonton my favourite would have to be the parks. Having lived here all my life, several of my fondest memories were held there.
  • Our Picturesque Valley User submitted story
    Every morning I pinch myself with the beautiful view of our river valley and Victoria golf course. It is like going on a holiday every day.
  • Outdoor Culture
    I wanted to get back out West, where people like to do outdoor things. That’s how I ended up here.
  • Peaceful City of Nations Story has video User submitted story
    Edmonton’s Heritage Festival is a long midsummer weekend of cascading sounds, smells and colourful sights as nationalities from around the world display their foods, dances, traditions and histories.
  • Queen of Trees User submitted story
    At 8 years old I had declared myself Queen of the Trees, and here I was about to go start a life in the city. I took one last look at my little town before it disappeared into its valley. Buildings and skyscrapers would become my new forest.
  • Rediscovering Edmonton User submitted story
    I decided to approach living in Edmonton like I was in a new and exciting city I had never lived in before. I soon discovered I had more things to do than I had the time or money for.
  • Ribbon of Green Story has video User submitted story
    For me, Edmonton has always been a wonderful, marvelous place to call home.
  • Running Through the River Valley User submitted story
    The sun is a crimson promise on the horizon as we set off on our jog through the River Valley. I hate running, but I love cheesecake. I need to do one to have the other.
  • Scooting Around Town Story has video
    I’m a visually inspired person, obviously, being an artist. The views in Edmonton really grab me. Standing on top of the river valley, you can see the whole city. Sunsets. The moon. Clouds sweeping through.
  • Secretly Terrified User submitted story
    I was secretly terrified to move! I am 20 years old and from a small city in British Columbia, and when my boyfriend told me we needed to move to Edmonton for his work, I was not even sure what to say or think.
  • Snow-Oh-Oh-Oh Story has video User submitted story
    Many of us see winter in Edmonton as a nuisance. I highly recommend taking a moment to recognize the beauty around us - we all see it a different way. I took a stroll around my neighbourhood and soaked it all in.
  • Stories From The Bench
    The guys took care of my car and took me to the hospital and took care of that stretch of things. They’d been debating which hospital was the best to go to while I was still on the ice. There was a familiarity to it.
  • Taking in Our River Valley User submitted story
    Flowing glacially in a traffic jam of metallic snails, I am a mesmerized sightseer in the comfort of my vehicle, just letting the sweeping river valley panorama impress me for a prolonged IMAX sensation.
  • The Future's Wide Open
    My plane touched down at the Edmonton International Airport on a chilly evening in December 2005. It was a world away from the gentle dusting of snow we’d get in Brighton, England, where I’m from.
  • The Girl in the Hat User submitted story
    My first thought (and one shared by many Calgarians if and when they have to move to Edmonton) was, Okay, I'll move to Edmonton, but I'll only stay here a couple years at the most.
  • The Years at TELUS Field User submitted story
    Got my Sprite. Got my soft pretzel. And one of my favorite players, Valentino Pascucchi, is up to bat. This...this is the life.
  • Two-Wheeled Adventures Story has video User submitted story
    My bicycle has given me a new lease on life in Edmonton now that I leave the car key at home when I go out to visit my favourite haunts.
  • Why I Love Edmonton: A Poem User submitted story
    But if I had to choose a single spot to call my own, Then I'd have to say it's Edmonton, my river city home.
  • A Chance to Build a Technicolour Guitar User submitted story
    At Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, Derek had the inclination and opportunity to build a guitar...
  • A New Beginning
    Gerry thought he was going to retire in Edmonton, but retirement didn’t stick. With so many phenomenal opportunities here, he found it impossible to go cold turkey:
  • A Peregrine Mission Story has video
    On August 26, 2010, Edmonton Fire Rescue’s Technical Rescue Team rappelled down the High Level Bridge to install housing nests for a pair of nesting peregrine falcons.
  • Circus City
    It’s a lot of work, but I can’t stop doing it. I love it too much. We’re the only company that offers the classes and then works with our students to create theatre together.
  • Dinosaurs! Story has video
    Wait...is that a dinosaur tooth?!
  • I Ceased To Be Who I Was
    I loved dinosaurs from the time I was 6 years old. Then at 10, I read this book about the science of it. What it’s like to be a palaeontologist. I decided then and there that’s what I was going to be when I grew up.
  • Metal Detecting & Bagpiping User submitted story
    Last summer I was a green shack leader, a job aptly named after the wobbly, green-coloured sheds that house craft and sports supplies in certain playgrounds throughout Edmonton.
  • The Choice Was Clear User submitted story
    My first impression came from the people in Edmonton. There are people here from every country in the world who’ve come to better themselves and you don’t feel like an outsider because the city is made up of such a diverse population.
  • Why I Started the Running Room
    I was this portly 238-pounder, a smoker. Like so many people I threw my energy into my family, work, and community endeavours, and I neglected my own wellness.
  • A Resident of Edmonton As A Plant User submitted story
    I grew out of one of Edmonton’s lush ravines, a quiet place. A place that cultivated my roots at my most absorbent phase of life. A place, much like the rest of Edmonton, that is sensitive to the changing seasons.
  • Beauty in the Heart of Edmonton Story has video User submitted story
    Any amateur photographer should agree that Edmonton has so much to offer for scenery and superb images. The natural beauty Edmonton offers makes learning photography an enjoyable hobby.
  • Blessings and gratitude User submitted story
    There is magic here where the aurora dances and cultures mix with abandon...
  • Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival Story has video
    Edmontonians love their blues music. Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival is Western Canada’s premier blues event. The festival takes place for 3 days every August in Hawrelak Park’s Heritage Amphitheatre.
  • Edmonton: An Awesome Place for Kids Story has video User submitted story
    Katie thinks Edmonton is the greatest city. From the Valley Zoo to the WEM waterpark, Edmonton has tons of things for kids. In the attached video Katie shares some of her favourites!
  • Impact Edmonton User submitted story
    Little did I know that 27 years later, I was going to marry one of the girls who rode at that stable. (I know - I am a fast mover for sure).
  • Skipping Stone Story has video
    Dean McKenzie is a poet and retired English teacher. He has made 2 CDs, Prairie Hejira and The Silver Apples of the Moon, and is working on a 3rd CD entitled The Jazz Poet.

Brought to you by the City of Edmonton & Edmonton Economic Development Corporation