Join us for a day-long hike among the remote and a beautiful upper reach of Meadow Creek in the Ghost Wilderness area. These headwaters encompass en extensive set of wetlands with some new beaver dams. The views of nearby Black Rock Mountain and Devil’s Head are amazing.

As a former fire lookout, Black Rock Mountain offers amazing views into the high Rockies and Banff NP, as well as out east into the foothills and all the way to Calgary. The hike is relatively short in distance and low in effort considering the rewards. The hike also leads through a pine & spruce forest that burned during the 2020 Ghost Wildfire; it offers an opportunity to see how natural regrowth is progressing after two years.

This field trip is an all-day road trip beginning with visiting Frank Lake, near High River, which is a shallow water slough where hundreds of bird species have been identified. We will then drive past and view the nearby large abandoned Mazeppa gas plant. Driving southwards and then westwards of Stavely we will visit the Pine Coulee Reservoir and the beautiful Willow Creek Municipal Park nestled in the valley of Willow Creek. In the Porcupine Hills, we will stop by the site of an orphan gas well assigned to the Orphan Well Association for abandonment and site remediation. The trip will continue westwards over the crest of the Porcupine Hills, reviewing the underlying geology and enjoying stunning views in all directions. The trip ends in the village of Longview viewing oil-producing sites and discussing issues related to future wells abandonment and wellsites environmental remediation.

Please join us on Tuesday evenings this summer for a season of social stewardship through Biodiversity Conservation in the Centennial Natureground and Whispering Woods – tucked away in a corner of Brentwood, in northwest Calgary.

Since the weather prevented us from making it right to the river when we held this hike in June, we are re-staging the popular White Rock Coulee hike this September! Join us on a unique opportunity to access and see a remote, rarely visited Provincial Natural Area, with beautiful rock formations. A trip to Medicine Hat in the fall, probably with an over night stay, is an extra bonus. We will hike down one branch of the White Rock coulee, then along the South Saskatchewan River bank across from the Suffield National Wildlife Area, and explore a different coulee before returning back before returning back up to the prairie.

Author and conservationist Sarah Elmeligi has spent years studying how bears use the landscape in Alberta’s National Parks. Join this adventure for the chance to hike with a bear expert in bear habitat. In this adventure for all ages, learn about how to look for and recognize bear sign on the trail, how to plan for a hike in bear habitat, and how to peacefully coexist with bears and safely recreate on the landscapes they call home.

This Saturday adventure, which begins in Cochrane, is a road trip where we will see various forms of magnificent glacial geology in the Cochrane & Lochend areas and also see a rapidly developing program of hydraulic fracking for oil in the Lochend area. We will drive through and stop at locations in the deeply incised glacial melt water channel which runs from Cochrane to Big Hill Springs Provincial Park and onwards into the northwest Lochend area. A similar melt water channel also occurs just south of the small village of Dog Pound. We will also see areas covered by glacial moraines characterized by knob & kettle topography and glacial drumlins. Small creeks and ponds occur in these channels and provide habitat for abundant water fowl. We will stop and discuss the numerous oil well pads, which produce oil from the tight Cardium sandstone oil play. Long distance horizontal wells combined with hydraulic fracking have led to the success of this oil program. Drilling and oil production is now occurring in an area of approximately 200 square kilometers and in some cases has had significant environmental impact on ranches, farms and acreages in the area. We will also see some active large gravel mining operations and the sites of a couple of planned gravel pits which will significantly impact the area. Gerry Bietz, President, Bighill Creek Preservation Society will tell us of their efforts to protect this environmentally unique and fragile area.

This 2-day-long bikepacking trip will follow the upper Oldman River from the Oldman Falls near the continental divide, downhill and through the Livingstone Gap, then out across the foothills as we trace the river’s route past the Oldman Reservoir where it becomes a meandering, middle aged river through to Fort MacLeod. In this two-day adventure we will spend a day biking (mostly) downhill through the mountains, taking in the fantastic scenery and history of Alberta’s front range as we learn about how human development interacts with Alberta’s headwaters. Then we’ll camp overnight near the Livingstone Gap before experiencing the lower foothills the second day, with a stop at the historic Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. The adventure will be led by an experienced bikepacker and we will have support on-hand to cover any eventuality.

This is a one day hike to one of the most beautiful lakes in Alberta and a chance to learn about this magnificent wilderness area. The views are spectacular and the needles of the many alpine larches may have turned a golden colour when we are there. It is also a chance learn about some of the geography and plant life of the area.