Calgary Kid Friendly Hikes – The Weaselhead

20111229 weaselhead - 11

[twitter]I have no idea what exactly a weaselhead is.

In Calgary, The Weaselhead, is the western end of the Glenmore Reservoir where the Elbow River meanders amongst a swampy marsh.

In fact, this is the only delta in the city. Weaselhead Flats also contain one of the largest stands of coniferous forest in the city.

The dominant White Spruce forest is on the south shore but very impressive individual trees are found interspersed in the predominantly deciduous forest on the flats and valley walls. The more moist deciduous forest areas are primarily Balsam Poplar while dryer areas are Trembling Aspen. Also on the flats is an extensive tall shrub community consisting mainly of Sandbar Willows and Water Birch.

20111229 weaselhead - 03

20111229 weaselhead - 07

20111229 weaselhead - 10

The diverse habitats allows for a correspondingly wide range of birds and other wildlife. In the open waters, look for Common Loons and Tundra Swans, species you are unlikely to see in other parks. The mud and sandbars are the haunts for shorebirds such as Lesser Yellowlegs and American Avocet.

With the warm winter weather we’ve been experiencing in Calgary this year (another +5 December day), I took the chance to take my two boys for our first exploring of The Weaselhead and do some geocaching. There’s easily a dozen caches in the area, we scooped three and saved the rest for a mandatory return visit (hopefully with my running shoes to tackle a gorgeous outdoor running venue).

(Visited 603 times, 1 visits today)

7 Comments

  1. Pingback: Calgary Kid Friendly Hikes: Griffith Woods | The Blog According To Buzz

  2. Pingback: 12 Things To Do In Calgary For Family Day Long Weekend | The Blog According To Buzz

  3. Pingback: Achievement Unlocked - 100th Geocache | DadCAMP

  4. Pingback: Calgary Herald Neighbours: Fresh Ways To Entertain The Kids | DadCAMP

  5. Pingback: Family Events For New Year's 2015 In Calgary - The Blog

  6. Pingback: 37 Free Things To Do For Kids In Calgary This Summer

  7. Probal February 28, 2021 at 8:55 am

    Hello sir, I don’t qualify exactly as a kid, hopefully u will ne able to answer my question.

    How do I recognize/identify trees from their bark color ? Or the best way to identify them is from their leaves.

Leave a Reply