Calgary, Alberta, Canada has a feature which is rather unique – glacial erratics. Several of these ice age mementos of various sizes are located within the Calgary city limits. Each of the glacial erratics of Calgary, although different in size and shape, are similar in rock type and origin.
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THE ORIGIN OF THE FOOTHILLS GLACIAL ERRATICS
Some 15,000 to 20,000 years ago a rockfall occurred in the Tonquin Valley near Jasper, Alberta. The rock debris from this rockfall fell onto the massive glacier below and began a long journey from the Tonquin Valley, then out of the mountains as part of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet.
Contact with the larger Laurentide Ice Sheet deflected the rock debris along a southeast direction paralleling the front of the Canadian Rockies. Thousands of glacial erratic rocks were deposited along a 650 kilometres (400 miles) path from Hinton, Alberta to northern Montana, USA.
The rockfall debris path is known as the Foothills Erratic Train, including boulders ranging in size from a few centimetres to over 40 metres thick.
The Foothills Erratic Train Path
For survival of these erratics in their current condition, they had to withstand the erosive power of the immense glacier that carried them such long distances. The 500 million year old quartzite erratics minimized any significant erosion throughout their journey south. However, the hardness of the quartzite erratics allowed for significant fracturing.
CALGARY’S GLACIAL ERRATICS
A multitude of glacial erratics lie throughout Calgary in various settings including small neighbourhood parks, beside pathways, meridians, and in large city green spaces.
However, fifteen glacial erratics are high-lighted due to their size or prominence in their locations. I photographed myself with each boulder in order to gain perspectives of their respective sizes. I’m 1.75 metres (5.75 feet) in height so you can get a sense of scale.
For a taste of the Calgary glacial erratics of all sizes, check out this video.
The map below shows the locations of each glacial erratic presented. The yellow stars signify the locations of prominent glacial erratics, while the small black dots signify locations of less prominent glacial erratics.
BEDDINGTON (COVENTRY HILLS) GLACIAL ERRATIC
The most northern, and largest, known glacial erratic within Calgary is the Beddington Glacial Erratic, located near Beddington Creek, just east of the Coventry Hills community in northeast Calgary between Country Hills Blvd and Stoney Trail.
This four meter (13 feet) high, graffiti covered rock sits in a depression on an open field between Beddington Creek and the railway tracks.
Sizeable Beddington Glacial Erratic
Beddington Erratic sitting between Beddington Creek and the railroad track
Access to this erratic is a 5 minute, 365 metres (1,200 feet) walk along the access path, down the hill and across the railway tracks from the pedestrian path at Coventry Drive and Covington Close NE (51.134042, -114.066033).
PANORAMA HILLS BUFFALO RUBBING STONE (aka CRATER ROCK)
Panorama Hills Buffalo Rubbing Stone (aka Crater Rock) is located in in the community of Panorama Hills in northwest Calgary and stands about 3 metres (10 feet) tall. This glacial erratic is the centerpiece of a small community park. Centuries ago, this glacial erratic was used by the native bison to rub against in order to either remove winter coats and relieve the itch of insect bites.
Before the City of Calgary expanded into this area, Crater Rock was a rock climbing (bouldering) destination. Originally sitting in a crater-like depression, Crater Rock was much taller. Area development reduced the height of Crater Rock by filling in the depression.
Panorama Buffalo Rubbing Stone (Crater Rock)
It is an easy access to Crater Rock at the intersection of Panorama Hills Way NW and Panorama Hills Road NW (51.151864, -114.070225)
SPLIT ROCK (CONFLUENCE PARK ERRATIC)
The magnificent Split Rock is located near the pedestrian pathway in Confluence Park just north of Beddington Trail NW. Gee, I wonder how it got its name?
Sitting some 3.5 metres (12 feet) high, Split Rock has a clean vertical fracture, but is definitely not the only glacial erratic that has split. Big Rock (Okotoks Erratic), near Okotoks, is another great, and much larger, example of a fractured glacial erratic.
There are several smaller boulders beside the main split rock, which obviously broke off at some point in the long glacial journey from the mountains.
It’s obvious how Split Rock got its name
Additional smaller boulders can be seen
Split Rock can be accessed from the Confluence Park parking lot off of Harvest Hills Blvd. NW. Walk eastward for some 300 meters (1000 feet), and Split Rock is just down the hill from the path (51.134042, -114.066033).
TUSCANY GLACIAL ERRATIC
The low-profile, conference table sized, Tuscany Glacial Erratic rests along a major pedestrian path system in the community of Tuscany.
Low profile Tuscany Glacial Erratic
The cozy location of the Tuscany Glacial Erratic is accessed along a 155 metre (505 feet) connecting pedestrian path at Tuscany Hills Point NW (51.124214, -114.238706).
NOSE HILL BUFFALO RUBBING STONE
The Nose Hill Buffalo Rubbing Stone sits high on the east side of the massive Nose Hill Park. It is the largest of the many known glacial erratics in the park at about 3 metres (10 feet) high. This glacial erratic has one of the best views of Calgary due to its elevation. Native bison rubbed up against this large stone centuries ago.
Nose Hill Buffalo Rubbing Stone
Amazing view from the Nose Hill Buffalo Rubbing Stone
The Nose Hill erratic is best accessed from the 64 Avenue Parking lot off of 14th Street NW. It is then a moderate 600 metre (1,965 feet) mainly uphill hike in the northwest direction to this glacial erratic. The view makes it worth the journey (51.111872, -114.090789).
NOSE HILL 64th AVE GLACIAL ERRATIC
The mini car-sized Nose Hill 64th Ave Glacial Erratic sits on the eastern slope of Nose Hill, west of the 64th Avenue Parking Lot off of 14th Street. Sitting in a swale off the main trails and close to a wooded area, this erratic is consequently not obviously spotted.
64th Ave Glacial Erratic
Access is westward and up the hill, 670 metres (2,220 feet) from the Nose Hill 64 Avenue Parking Lot off 14th Street NW (51.109089, -114.084530).
NOSE HILL BRISEBOIS GLACIAL ERRATIC
The Nose Hill Brisebois Glacial Erratic is a grizzly bear sized glacial erratic located between the south Nose Hill Parking Lot at Brisebois Drive and John Laurie Blvd. NW.
Nose Hill Brisebois Glacial Erratic
Access to the Nose Hill Brisebois erratic is 30 metres (99 feet) from the south Nose Hill Parking Lot off John Laurie Blvd. at Brisebois Drive NW (51.103655, -114.127117).
VALLEY RIDGE BUFFALO RUBBING STONE
The Valley Ridge Buffalo Rubbing Stone is located in the northwest Calgary community of Valley Ridge. It’s name comes from the historic use bison had to help remove their winter coat and relieve any itch they may have had. Many large glacial erratics along the Foothills Erratic Train were used by the bison in the same manner.
Valley Ridge Glacial Erratic hugging the pathway
Access to the Valley Ridge Erratic is 152 metres (500 feet) along the pedestrian path access on Valley Creek Crescent (51.092758, -114.260472).
PASKAPOO’S BIG ROCK
Paskapoo’s Big Rock is a large and ski-jump looking glacial erratic located in the Paskapoo Slopes Environment Reserve below Calgary’s Cougar Ridge community.
This 3 metre (10 feet) high glacial erratic sits on a clearing within a highly vegetated area. The trail down to this erratic is steep and challenging. Watch out for mountain bikers on the myriad of interconnecting paths in this area.
The hike down is well worth the effort. Please note that this ‘big rock’ glacial erratic, although big, pales in size to Big Rock, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) further south near Okotoks.
The considerable Paskapoo’s Big Rock
Looking upslope to Paskapoo’s Big Rock
Access to Paskapoo’s Big Rock begins by parking along the pond beside Cougar Ridge Heights SW. Walk around the east side of the pond and follow the downhill path into the wooded area. Follow this path straight down for about 200 metres (640 ft.) to Paskapoo’s Big Rock (51.075042, -114.198686).
It is a fairly steep hill, so the climb back up is a workout. Total distance round trip is 915 metres (3,000 feet).
Quite the view from the top!
SIENNA HILLS MOUNTAIN ERRATIC
The car-size Sienna Hills Mountain Erratic is 1.8 metres (6 feet) high, 6 metres (20 feet) long and 2.1 to 2.5 metres (7 to 8 feet) wide. It is located in the southwest community of Sienna Hills, incorporated into a small residential park.
Car-sized Sienna Hills Mountain Erratic
Access to this erratic is at the corner of Sienna Hills Drive SW and Sienna Hill Court SW (51.025967, -114.171917).
DOVERGLEN GLACIAL ERRATIC
The dump truck sized, graffiti covered Doverglen Glacial Erratic, stands some 3 metres (10 feet) in height, with a great view of downtown Calgary from its ridgetop location.
Graffiti-covered Doverglen Glacial Erratic with view of downtown Calgary
Large graffiti-covered stone
Access to the Doverglen Glacial Erratic is from a small parking area on Gosling Way SE on the west side of Deerfoot Trail. Walk through the Southview Off-Leash Dog Park for about 160 metres (525 feet) on top of the ridge (51.022228, -114.003150).
PARKLAND GLACIAL ERRATIC
The truck-sized Parkland Glacial Erratic, about 2.5 metres (8 feet) in height, is located along a main road at the north end of the Calgary community of Parkland. This erratic has the Parkland community name and logo etched into the side of this flat topped boulder.
Parkland Community sign on large glacial boulder
The back side perspective of the Parkland Erratic shows its size
The Parkland Glacial Erratic at the corner of Canyon Meadows Drive SE and Park Estates Drive SE, on the north edge of the Fish Creek Park, and accessed from Parkwood Way SE and Park Estate Drive SE (50.929066, -114.044810).
FISH CREEK PARK GLACIAL ERRATIC
The Harley-Davidson sized Fish Creek Park Glacial Erratic resides on a steep hillside just above the Fish Creek Park parking lot off of Bow Bottom Trail.
Fish Creek Park Glacial Erratic
A steep but short walk up the north slope just east of the Fish Creek parking lot off of Bow Bottom Trail (50.91016, -114.016765).
MCKENZIE LAKE GLACIAL ERRATIC
The truck-sized McKenzie Lake Glacial Erratic resides in a McKenzie Lake community park in the southeast Calgary. Its angled orientation suggests it may extend below ground and be much larger than it appears.
The McKenzie Lake Erratic, with its mountain-like shape, appropriately resides in the small Mt. Norquay Park (Mt. Norquay is a ski resort near Banff).
Mountainous shape suites being in Mt. Norquay Park
Access to this erratic is from Mountain Park Drive SE with a very short downhill walk into Mt. Norquay Park. (50.906436, -113.997764)
BRIDLEWOOD GLACIAL ERRATIC
The Bridlewood Glacial Erratic sits within Bridlewood Wetlands Park in the deep southwest Calgary community of Bridlewood. This erratic is the size of delivery truck and lies in two pieces. It stands about 3 to 3.5 metres (10 to 11 feet) in height.
Trucked-size Bridlewood Erratic
The Bridlewood Glacial Erratic is tucked into the southeast part of Bridlewood with access from Bridlecreek Park SW. Luckily the ground was relatively dry so close access to the erratic was reasonable.
During wetter times of the year, the Bridlewood Glacial Erratic is in the middle of a swamp (50.899817, -114.096694).
The Bridlewood Erratic is broken in two
ARE THERE MORE GLACIAL ERRATICS IN CALGARY?
There is no doubt many more glacial erratics are lurking around in Calgary and beyond. Who knows where the next one will be located. For example, a news article from 2015 described the discovery of a large glacial erratic while excavating below where an old house once stood in the heart of the City of Calgary. It measured about 4 metres by 4 metres (13 feet x 13 feet).
Please comment if you know of any other glacial erratics in the Calgary area. If you’re not from this vicinity, what other erratic boulders have you come across?
Here are additional ice-age related posts:
The Canadian Badlands – A Time Travel Dinosaur Adventure
Athabasca Falls Jasper National Park – The Power House
Big Rock Okotoks – When Glaciers Leave Souvenirs Behind
This is amazing, I love this stuff! Imagine how different the world was those many thousands of years ago. Thanks for sharing! ❤️
Thanks John,
I love this stuff myself too. Yes, these ice fields that blanketed the northern hemisphere definitely altered the look of the land!
Great post – thanks Dave!! The old saying “Learn something new every day”.
Thanks Phil. It was fun stumbling upon a few new Calgary erratic boulders!
Great post. I live the bison running stones. Amazing to think about…
Thank you Wendy. Yes, the Bison were clever to find and utilize these large rocks!
*love
Love your correction 🙂
I had no idea that there was so many in the Calgary area
I also didn’t realize there were so many. I believe there are still more to discover!
This blog post makes me think of the geological formations out there, or any other remnants of geological activities in the past, that I often overlook. The big boulder over there might have an interesting history, and this rock over here sits in its current location because of an unusual events that happened eons ago. Very fascinating, Dave!
Thanks Bama. I love the geological past and today’s results of what happened so long ago. These erratic rocks in Calgary are but a blip in geologic history (15,000 – 20,000 years) versus the actual age of the rock (some 500 million years).
I really enjoyed this! I also followed the link to Big Rock and watched your video explaining how the erratics were formed (must have missed that post). Fascinating stuff-I had no idea there were so many in Calgary-I will have to check some of them out myself! Thanks for such an interesting, informative post!
Thanks so much Anna. It truly is a fascinating journey theses boulders took so long ago. Enjoy the Calgary erratics. The Doveglen one (near Inglewood golf course), and the Beddington one (below Conventry Hills) are the most colourful ones 🙂 for you to check out.
How cool! I lived in Calgary for 30 years, and I never realized how many erratics were in the vicinity. (I’m referring to glacial erratics, not the late-night denizens of the C-Train.) 😉
I enjoyed the photos with you in them – it makes it much easier to understand the scale of these giant boulders. Thanks!
Thanks so much Diane. I was also surprised at the number of glacial erratics (not transit erratics) there are in Calgary. My first attempt a photographing some of these erratics were without something to give their scales. So my GoPro and I took a journey around the city 🙂
Wow! I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes erratics. I actually mark them on Google Earth as I find them in my travels around Calgary and Alberta. You have shown me a few I didn’t know about.
My first climbing lesson was on Crater Rock 30 years ago, before the city surrounded it. I once dressed as a caveman and acted in a company promotion video, looking in wonder across the fields from my primitive Crater Rock home to the modern downtown of Calgary.
I didn’t know you were so fond of rather large boulders. We’ll have to keep each other apprised of new finds! It’s somewhat sad that the city chose to allow the ‘crater’ to be filled in at Crater Rock.
I didn’t realize you were a film star in the day. I should get your autograph!
The science of this is fascinating, but my favorite thing is all the new vocabulary … glacial erratics, foothills erratic train, rubbing stones, etc.! I also enjoyed your size comparisons: rocks the size and shape of conference tables, mini-cars, grizzly bears, ski jumps, dump trucks, and more! Very fun post.
Thanks so much Lexie,
Yes, quite the jargon that is used to describe these boulders. I tried to make the description of the sizes as descriptive as possible. It was a fun adventure to find the glacial erratics and do selfie photographs with them.
I had no idea these were all over! Thank you for the pictures and the descriptions…I hope to visit one of these sites some day:)
Thanks Mariel,
I too was surprised as to how many glacial erratics are located with Calgary’s city limits! Hope you can visit a few of them!
Amazing! I wish I’d known about these when we were in Calgary at the start of June. We were only there for one afternoon and night before setting off on a guided tour through the Canadian Rockies. We loved the city and would like to return and stay for longer.
Thank you so much!
I’m sure your guided trip took you close to the birthplace of these glacial erratics. Near Jasper, Alberta.
Would love to have you back to explore Calgary and area!
Dave,
We were on a two-week trip to Alaska – one week driving on our own and one week on a cruise – and I just now got around to looking at this post.
The timing was great for me, if irrelevant to to you. I took a small helicopter out of Juneau that landed us on the Taku and Mendenhall Glaciers. At some points, one could see long dark rows in the ice where two glaciers came together on their flow downhill; the lines formed when the dark stones broken down by the glaciers were forced to the surface; some were the size of pebbles and others as big as a house. Perhaps someday someone will comment on them as “erratics.”
That’s awesome Ray. You saw the birth of glacial erratics! It is amazing the power of the ever so slow moving glaciers to transport massive rocks so far! We were in Juneau a few years ago, but weren’t smart enough to take a helicopter ride to the glaciers. Well done!
Fascinating! Thanks, Dave. I wish I had known about these when I lived in Calgary.