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Dale Hodges Park is a 40-hectare public landscape on Calgary’s Bow River where stormwater treatment is deliberately made visible. Runoff from northwest neighbourhoods enters through sculptural walls, passes through a clarifying pond, cascades, retention water, wetlands and planted marshes, and then leaves through an engineered outlet toward the river. The same sequence creates habitat, paths, boardwalks, lookout points and an outdoor artwork that visitors can read as a water journey.
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The former Klippert gravel pit is therefore more than a conventional park. Its landform, planting and hydraulic structures work together: each treatment step has a corresponding landscape experience. The City lists the site at 2123 52 Street N.W. within the broader Bowmont Park area, with walking and cycling routes and a self-guided tour that explains the history, ecosystems and wildlife.
What Dale Hodges Park is and where to find it
Dale Hodges Park occupies the former Klippert gravel pit along the northern bank of the Bow River in northwest Calgary. The City of Calgary acquired the site in 2010, and Sans façon records the park’s opening to the public in June 2019. It sits within the larger Bowmont Park landscape, but its defining purpose is specific: stormwater from surrounding communities is treated on site before it reaches the river.
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The park is named for former Alderman Dale Hodges, whom the City credits with 30 years of public service and contributions to Calgary. O2 Planning + Design, AECOM, Source 2 Source and Sans façon developed the project with City Parks, Water Resources and Public Art through the WATERSHED+ initiative. Their collaboration combines civil and hydraulic engineering, ecological restoration, landscape architecture and public art rather than placing those functions in separate zones.
The City currently lists access from 2123 52 Street N.W., with hours of 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.. Check the City’s park page for temporary closures, construction notices or seasonal changes before travelling: calgary.ca/parks/dale-hodges-park.html.
Key facts at a glance
| Item | Published detail |
|---|---|
| Area | 40 hectares, according to the City of Calgary and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA). |
| Stormwater drainage area | 1,775 hectares, as stated by Sans façon on its project page: sansfacon.org/dale-hodges-park. |
| Opening | Opened to the public in June 2019, according to Sans façon. |
| Current listed hours | 5 a.m.–11 p.m., subject to City updates. |
| Address | 2123 52 Street N.W., Calgary. |
| Park features | Wetlands, wildlife habitat, regional pathway, walking and cycling trails, lookout points, boardwalk and a self-guided walking tour. |
Follow the water through the park
The clearest way to understand Dale Hodges Park is to follow a drop of neighbourhood runoff from its arrival to its release. The sequence is designed to operate by gravity, so visitors encounter a chain of visible landforms and water bodies instead of a hidden treatment plant.
1. Runoff arrives at the sculptural source walls
Rain and snowmelt from upstream residential areas travel through underground pipes before daylighting in the park. At the entry point, water emerges in jets from sculptural source walls. These walls are both hydraulic structures and public artwork: they mark the moment an invisible urban system becomes part of the visible landscape.
The entry does not represent untreated river water. It is the first public-facing stage of a stormwater route that the City and project designers describe as serving neighbouring northwest Calgary communities. The sound and movement of the jets provide an immediate orientation point for a walk.
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2. The Nautilus Pond settles sediment
From the source walls, water moves into the roughly 90-metre-diameter Nautilus Pond. Source 2 Source designed this basin as a sediment-removal clarifier. Its broad, circular form slows the flow so heavier particles can settle before the water continues downstream.
The pond’s geometry makes a technical process legible without requiring visitors to enter a fenced utility compound. Paths and views allow people to see the scale of the basin and understand that stormwater treatment begins with slowing and separating material carried from streets and pipes.
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After clarification, the water passes through a cascade and a small retention pool. The cascade adds a visible change in elevation and helps break the journey into another hydraulic stage. The retention pool temporarily holds water, providing storage within the park’s landform rather than sending every surge directly toward the river.
These features also create changing conditions for observation. Water level, flow and reflections vary after rainfall and snowmelt, while the surrounding paths keep the infrastructure within view.
4. Wetlands and planted marshes filter the moving water
The next part of the route is a series of wetland areas, including sculpted polishing marshes and wet meadows. Marsh plants help remove turbidity and nutrients as water moves through shallow, planted zones. O2 describes forms inspired by river processes and sediment movement; the shapes increase filtration, provide varied habitat and create additional storage when needed.
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The planting is not ornamental cover placed around a machine. It is part of the treatment system. Broad wetland shelves, varied depths and meandering edges slow water and expose it to soil and vegetation. Boardwalks and paths echo or contrast with those forms, allowing visitors to read the relationship between landform and flow.
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At the end of the treatment sequence, water leaves through an outflow stream designed to discharge toward a trout habitat area. That area can also provide refuge during river flood conditions, linking the park’s stormwater function to conditions in the Bow River itself.
Two Tideflex valves at the discharge point are intended to help mitigate fish migration into the treatment system. AECOM describes the overall design as gravity-based, without gates or electronic monitoring systems. “Intended” is important here: the published project descriptions explain the design objective, but they do not provide a long-term monitoring dataset demonstrating measured performance for every flow condition. AECOM’s project summary is available at aecom.com/projects/dale-hodges-park/.
How the park turns infrastructure into a landscape experience
Most urban drainage infrastructure is buried or hidden behind service fencing. Dale Hodges Park reverses that convention. The treatment route is arranged as a sequence visitors can see, hear and walk alongside, while the former gravel pit is reshaped into wetlands, meadows and river-like landforms.
The paths are not simply circulation laid over an engineering project. Their alignments make the water’s direction understandable: a visitor can move from the source walls around the clarifier, follow the cascade and retention pool, cross or approach wetland areas, and continue toward the outflow. Boardwalks bring people close to wetland planting while protecting sensitive ground from constant foot traffic.
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This integration is why the CSLA jury described the project as “at once an ecological infrastructure, a habitat, a living place and an artwork” in its 2021 award material. The statement captures the park’s combined identity rather than assigning it to only one category.
What visitors can do
Walk the treatment sequence
A self-guided walking tour introduces the park’s history, landscape, ecosystems and wildlife. Use it to connect each visible feature to the water journey instead of treating the site as a series of unrelated viewpoints. Allow time to pause at the source walls, Nautilus Pond, wetland edges and the river-facing outflow.
Use the regional pathway and trails
The City lists a regional pathway alongside walking and cycling trails. Cyclists can use the broader Bowmont Park connections, while walkers may prefer the slower pace of the boardwalk and interpretive stops. Surface conditions and route availability can change seasonally, so check current City notices before setting out.
Look for wildlife from viewpoints
Wetlands, wet meadows and the trout habitat area support a range of wildlife opportunities. Lookout points provide places to scan open water and river corridors without leaving marked routes. Compact binoculars can be useful for observation, but they are optional equipment, not a park requirement. Keep distance from wildlife and remain on paths near planted or saturated areas.
Visit at different water levels
A dry-weather visit emphasizes the sculpted landforms, planting patterns and standing-water features. After rain or snowmelt, visitors may see stronger flow at the source walls, fuller retention areas and visibly moving water through the cascade and wetlands. Do not enter channels or climb hydraulic structures; the treatment landscape is public space, but it remains working infrastructure.
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Ecology, restoration and public art in one project
The former gravel pit required more than cosmetic planting. The project team used landform, soil, water movement and native-style wetland vegetation to restore ecological functions while accommodating public access. Wet meadows and marshes provide habitat variety, and the outflow’s connection to trout habitat acknowledges the river’s seasonal needs.
Public art is embedded in that ecological work. Sculptural source walls give form to the arrival of stormwater, while the Nautilus Pond and other constructed elements make treatment processes part of the park’s visual language. Sans façon worked with O2, Source 2 Source and AECOM through the WATERSHED+ framework; the City’s Public Art page outlines the municipal partnership and budget at calgary.ca/arts-culture/public-art/dale-hodges-park.html.
AECOM reports responsibilities including environmental remediation, regulatory approvals, hydraulic analysis, hydraulic structures and piping design, plus construction inspection and administration. O2 describes the collaboration as an integration of water engineering, landscape architecture, ecological design and art. That division of expertise explains why the park’s visible forms perform practical work as well as communicate an idea.
What the published figures do—and do not—show
| Figure or claim | How to interpret it |
|---|---|
| 50 per cent sediment reduction | The City describes this as an estimated reduction. It should not be presented as a verified, long-term measured outcome: City park page. |
| $26.8 million overall project budget | The City’s public-art page breaks this into $19.4 million for stormwater treatment-system design and construction, $1.9 million for park construction, $3.3 million for design and $2.2 million for public art. |
| 2021 CSLA award | Dale Hodges Park received the Jury’s Award of Excellence for Large-Scale Public Landscapes. See the award record: csla-aapc.ca/awards-atlas/dale-hodges-park. |
| Gravity-based operation | AECOM states that the design uses gravity and does not rely on gates or electronic monitoring systems. This describes the intended operating approach, not a published monitoring series. |
The drainage-area number also needs attribution. Sans façon states 1,775 hectares, while other project descriptions use rounded wording such as more than 1,700 or approximately 1,800 hectares. Those expressions describe the same broad catchment at different precision; 1,775 hectares is the specific figure published by Sans façon.
A practical first visit
- Check conditions. Confirm the City’s hours, access information and any closures on the current park page before leaving.
- Start at the listed address. Use 2123 52 Street N.W. as the park destination, then orient yourself toward the sculptural source walls and the regional pathway.
- Follow the water in order. Walk from the source walls to Nautilus Pond, then continue past the cascade, retention pool, wetlands and polishing marshes.
- Use the self-guided tour. Read the interpretive material to connect the visible landforms with stormwater, habitat and the site’s gravel-pit history.
- Choose a viewing pace. Walkers can linger at boardwalks and lookout points; cyclists can use the regional pathway and connecting trails while yielding to pedestrians.
- Finish at the river-facing outflow. Observe the trout habitat area from the marked route and leave channels, valves and planted wetland shelves undisturbed.
Why Dale Hodges Park matters
Dale Hodges Park demonstrates a specific urban design proposition: stormwater infrastructure can be made understandable and publicly accessible while restoring a damaged site. Its success as a visitor destination does not depend on disguising the pipes, clarifier, wetlands or outlet. Instead, those systems become the organizing structure for paths, habitat and artwork.
For visitors, that means a park experience with two simultaneous readings. You can enjoy a riverbank walk, cycling route, wildlife lookout or boardwalk, while also tracing how Calgary manages runoff before it reaches the Bow River. The published 50 per cent sediment figure remains an estimate, and the available project descriptions do not establish a dated, independent performance series. What is clearly documented is the design intent: a gravity-fed treatment landscape that exposes water movement, adds habitat and gives the public a way to understand infrastructure normally kept out of sight.
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