Biking Edmonton’s River Valley

I started the ride in Old Strathcona, heading through the neighborhood before dropping toward the river valley. I passed Redbike and some of the shops and restaurants along the way before reaching the trail system. Once there, the signs pointed in seemingly every direction—Walterdale Bridge, Kinsmen Park, downtown and miles of other trails. I wasn't particularly concerned about following a specific route. I had the afternoon and decided to ride and see where the trails took me.

The Walterdale Bridge was one of the first major landmarks I reached, and its huge white arches were hard to miss. Riding across gave me a wide-open view of the North Saskatchewan River and the city beyond it. Once across, the route took me briefly through residential streets along the edge of the valley. Some of the homes were interesting enough that I stopped to photograph them before heading back toward the river.

Back in the river valley, I began to realize how much was tucked into the park system. I passed an outdoor climbing wall, the River Valley Adventure Co. and the Edmonton riverboat sitting along the water. Nearby were large open playing fields and recreational areas. The trail wasn't simply following the river; it was connecting parks, neighborhoods and all sorts of activities scattered throughout the valley.

One of the more interesting crossings was the Tawatinâ Bridge. The pedestrian and bicycle level underneath the bridge has been turned into an enormous public art installation, with artwork covering the underside of the structure and continuing along the crossing. The repeating supports, shadows and artwork made the bridge itself worth stopping to explore rather than simply riding across it. I spent some time looking around and photographing the details before continuing.

As I continued along the trails, the views kept changing between the river, the city skyline and the neighborhoods built along the top of the valley. From one hillside I could look across the North Saskatchewan toward downtown, while elsewhere houses and apartment buildings appeared above the trees. I stopped at a plaque explaining the importance of the North Saskatchewan River and its long history as a transportation corridor and gathering place. Nearby, exposed sandbars stretched into the river, with people walking along them far below.

Closer to downtown, the relationship between the river valley and the city became even more obvious. The downtown skyline rose directly above the trees, while high-rise apartment buildings stood along the opposite ridge and reflected in the water. One of the more unusual pieces of infrastructure was a glass elevator connecting the river valley trails with the streets far above. Under another bridge, colorful murals covered the concrete supports. I could be surrounded by trees and river one moment and looking directly at downtown Edmonton the next.

Farther along, I found myself riding through a long blue pedestrian and bicycle crossing beside one of Edmonton's older bridges. The repeating railings, columns and overhead sections seemed to continue forever and made the crossing almost as interesting to photograph as the river itself. Beside me, the much larger steel bridge stretched across the North Saskatchewan on massive concrete piers. By this point I had crossed the river several times, climbed in and out of the valley and seen Edmonton from a number of completely different angles. I eventually finished with about 20 miles on the bike, and the ride had turned out to be a great way to explore the city.

Drive to Calgary

I still had a lot of energy after the bike ride, so I decided there wasn't much reason to wait until the next morning to leave for Calgary. I had seen most of what I wanted to see in Edmonton, and the bike ride had given me a chance to explore quite a few neighborhoods and see parts of the city I probably never would have found from the van.

Getting out of the parking lot was another matter. I had finished the ride right around rush hour, and Google wanted me to turn left across a steady stream of traffic. There was no way anyone was going to stop and leave enough room for a large van to get across, so I finally gave up and turned right instead. Interestingly, as soon as I did, Google recalculated the route and knocked about ten minutes off the drive. Apparently, not being able to follow its directions was the better route.

I headed south on Highway 2 toward the Wetaskiwin Rest Centre, where I planned to stop for a while. Alberta is doing a tremendous amount of road construction along the highway, and Google seemed to be having trouble keeping up with it. Some of the old turnoffs had been removed, while new bridges, interchanges and ramps were being built. A couple of times Google told me to take an exit that simply wasn't there anymore. I wondered how the updates made it back to google.

My first stop was another example of this. I could see where I wanted to go, but I couldn't get there from my side of the highway. I ended up driving about five kilometers past the rest area before I could turn around and come back from the opposite direction. Once I finally got there, I parked and took an hour-long nap before continuing south toward Calgary.

The amount of construction made more sense when I read about Alberta's plans for the Highway 2 corridor. The province is preparing for considerably more traffic as the Edmonton-Calgary corridor continues to grow, with plans in some areas to expand the highway from four lanes to six while preserving enough space for an eventual eight lanes. Driving through all the construction, it was interesting to realize that they weren't simply fixing the highway. They were planning for a much larger Alberta in the future.

I used iOverlander to find a place to stay for the night. It was described as a quiet spot. Relatively speaking, I guess it was, but after spending so much time in the quiet of Alaska and the Yukon, I wouldn't exactly describe it that way. I parked on a street in an industrial area surrounded mostly by warehouses. There were a few large trucks, quite a few trailers and at least 40 vehicles parked along the street. Still, for an industrial area on the edge of a large city, there wasn't much going on. I arrived around 11 p.m., reviewed my itinerary for Calgary and fell asleep around midnight.