The 12 Mile Coulee Natural Environment Park Management Plan highlights the importance of maintaining a designated trail network in parks in general, and in 12-mile Coulee, in particular. Among many goals, a well-managed trail network:

• Provides safe access to the park
• Provides for an engaging route through the park or to areas of interest
• Provides access for a variety of users, such as bike riders, walkers and others
• Provides for accessibility, where possible
• Protects sensitive plants and areas for wildlife by designating specific areas for use
• Minimizes braiding, where users cut through other areas or start new trails, which significantly impact the park’s ecological health
• Minimizes impacts to drainage and water quality

Trails degrade over time, through use and other impacts, such as large storms. To restore their best function, Parks uses a variety of best management practices to restore them. In general, some of these actions may include: reshaping the trail, realigning the trail out of a sensitive or eroding area, resurfacing trails, adding timber stairs or switchbacks in erosion-prone areas or steep slopes, improving trail drainage, improving lines of sight, and closing braids.

For 2021, Parks has limited funding and time to restore trails in 12-Mile Coulee Park. Parks has received $350,000 in Provincial Municipal Stimulus Project funding to restore trails. This funding is restricted to 2021 only. Parks will focus our activities in two phases of work:

• Trail realignment on an eroding cliff for safety; and
• Trail restoration on existing designated trail(s) to improve its condition, primarily through reshaping, improving drainage, improving lines of sight, and other trail management best practices.

Calgary Parks’s activities are unrelated to ATCO’s Northwest Calgary Connector project, which is currently underway. The Northwest Calgary Connector (NWCC) project involves installing approximately 14 km of natural gas pipeline that will run along the northwest leg of Stoney Trail within the Transportation/Utility Corridor (TUC) and then along 85th Street NW from Scenic Bow Road to Township Road 261A. As well, we are going to be building four above ground facilities. The project is well under way and on schedule. For more information, please see the ATCO’s project website

Per the 12 Mile Coulee Natural Environment Park Management Plan the trails network will remain a multi-user network and will not exclude users. This approach was adopted in the management plan to balance use of the park, with maintaining the ecological health of this important part of Calgary’s Ecological Network.

Where the trail network is multi-use, users are expected to be responsible and remain respectful of other users, which may include families with young children. Your respect for others and continuing to only use designated trails will protect the ecological health of the park for future users.

Parks has limited funding and time to complete our work. The Province of Alberta’s Municipal Stimulus Program requires that work and funds be restricted to 2021 only. To meet these requirements, Parks is limiting activities to restoration of existing trails only and not expanding effort to evaluation of the entire trail network.

Parks has received $350,000 of the Province of Alberta’s Municipal Stimulus Program funding to restore existing trails. This funding is part of the Province of Alberta’s COVID response. This funding stipulates we spend all funds in 2021 only.

Current funding and capacity limits Calgary Parks’ work to trail restoration for designated trails. Future funding may allow Parks to continue evaluation of the trail network and further trail restoration in the future. Parks is not considering other changes in the park, such as recreational improvements or building new trails.

Trail restoration will be in two phases, both of which must be completed in 2021.

• Realign (move) the trail segment along the eroding cliff to a safer location and close the existing segment. This phase will be constructed in Spring 2021.
• Improve trail conditions on designated trails in the park, which may include reshaping, improving drainage, and improving lines of sight for safety. This phase will be constructed in Fall 2021, following the principles in the management plan, public feedback on uses and concerns, and technical best management practices for trails.

Two trail restoration projects are taking place from the spring and fall of 2021. The first restoration project was pre-selected for repair due to an eroding cliff that has created a hazardous slope. The repair work to the slope will start in Spring 2021.

The second restoration project focuses on general trail restoration throughout the park area. Engagement for this project is open for input about trail usage and trail concerns via the Engage portal from March 1, 2021 and will be open until March 28, 2021.

The trails at 12 Mile Coulee have been well used for several years, the restoration project is taking place to avoid safety hazards like steep slopes and erosion sites, improve connections between existing trail, improve trail usability in all seasons and minimize impacts to the creek and natural habitat in the park.

12 Mile Coulee will remain open to all during the trail restoration projects. Trails that pose a safety concern will be replaced by an improved trail or re-routed trail.

City of Calgary signage will clearly mark where the trail repairs are taking place to alert you about the trail re-routes available for use while the restoration work is completed.

The repair work to the slope near the eroding cliff will start as early as Spring 2021.

Yes! Do so on this page until March 28.

The feedback we collect will help us understand which trails are the most used and will help us to identify hazard and safety concerns on the current trails. The aim is to not close popular trials wherever possible during the trail repair work.

Where safety concerns are noted it is possible that a reroute will be installed and the unsafe trail closed and reclaimed. Upgrades to trails such as paved pathways, gravel trails or bridges will not be installed and not part of this project. The bridges in 12 Mile Coulee are not City of Calgary maintained bridges, but if there is a park feature that is deemed unsafe, it will be removed. Timber frame steps may be installed where deemed necessary.

The trail restoration project is funded by Provincial Stimulus Funding.

The City of Calgary wants to maintain minimal disruption to the natural vegetation and surroundings while the trail restoration projects take place. Any impacted areas or rerouted trails will be restored to their natural habitat as part of the project, hand work will be favoured over machine work for the restoration.