The Calgary Curling Club was founded in 1888 and opened its first rink in 1892. They sold that one,…read moremoved to Victoria Park in 1909, and then later moved to its current location in Sunnyside in 1953. The old club, which sits north of the Bow River and Prince's Island Park in the city's centre, was rebuilt following a fire in 1976. I passed by and stopped in on my way towards (and up) the McHugh Bluff stairs. Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area which is segmented into four rings. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a circular target marked on the ice. Each team has eight stones. The purpose is to accumulate the highest score for a game; points are scored for the stones resting closest to the centre of the house at the conclusion of each end, which is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones. A game may consist of ten or eight ends. The Curler can induce a curved path by causing the stone to slowly turn as it slides, and the path of the rock may be further influenced by two sweepers with brooms who accompany it as it slides down the sheet, using the brooms to alter the state of the ice in front of the stone. A great deal of strategy and teamwork goes into choosing the ideal path and placement of a stone for each situation, and the skills of the curlers determine how close to the desired result the stone will achieve. This gives curling its nickname of "Chess On Ice". Bocce also comes to mind, with both allowing the consumption of adult beverages during play.

WOW, this place is AMAZING! Really friendly, staff, large, well staffed pro shop, great cafe, ample…read morecomfortable seating, and the nicest curling ice I have ever been on! I dropped in from out of town today and they made me feel at home, I will be back again!

The Olympic Plaza is located in the heart of the Cultural District at the start of the Stephen Walk…read morewhich takes through down town into Devonian Gardens & shopping. It was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics that took place in Calgary 36 years ago. Today a church group is providing a breakfast with prayer for the indigent. There was a lot of construction, garbage was piled up and security was walking around. There were some flowers. The center of the Plaza functions as a water fountain in the summer and a skating rink in the winter. In the summer there are flowers blossoming around the fountain. This is the venue for many big events in Calgary, the Stampede, the first Night Festival on New Year's Eve, the International Children's Festivals, & special events that include athletes and dignitaries.

A nice downtown park in Calgary. There are plenty of seats. It is way nicer in the summer time…read morewhere there are running fountains and people sitting and having lunch. It is close to the Center Street C-Train. It is a beautiful open space for many Calgarians to enjoy.

riley park is a lovely destination spot during any time of year! i love it here so much and love…read morethe cricket set up here!! go GCC

A very nice huge park. For some reason this park reminded me of QE park in Vancouver BC. tis big…read moreand there are few events happening here during the summer time. Like you can join in on bocce games and other games. You will need to check Facebook for that. Free drop in are welcome. On top of that there are nice plants and thing to look at during the summer making it really nice and relaxing to walk in. Overall, I like coming here. After the good walk, you can go down to Kensington and get yourself a treat.

Fun but small ski hill. Took advantage of the 2 hour end of day special since it's sooo cold! There…read moreare also some discounts for families and such or 4 hour rates to consider. It's a very small ski hill but if you only need a few simple blue and green runs this is a great deal and on the edge of the city vs another hour drive out to the mountains (that cost double - but have 20x the runs and black diamonds etc of course!). Can also check out the Olympics history here and it's cool to see the former ski jumps in the background.

This sports center is incredible and provides the perfect venue for hockey enthusiasts to catch a…read moregame or even play! This place caters to high school students who practice their sport. It is incredibly well designed and allows for many different activities including popular winter sports events!! Definitely worth checking out and exploring!!

I visited Prince's Island Park while on a work trip in Calgary. Wow. What a beautiful park. I went…read moreon a jog from downtown Calgary where my hotel was and it is so nice to have a large park so close to the city. I think there's ~50 acres of land with plenty of well-maintained walkways for walking, jogging, biking. This seems like a perfect place to go on a date, walk around a bit during a work break, read a book on the many places to sit there, or just walk/jog like I did. There is also a cafe located near the center in the park. Unfortunately it was closed when I visited but I heard it's good!

This beautiful, 50 acre"urban park" is found on the north side of downtown Calgary by the Eau…read moreClaire neighborhood and is a fantastic place to get out in nature - even though it's in such close proximity to the city. There are paved walking paths and gravel trails - all very well maintained. We saw lots of geese and ducks and butterflies too - it was surprisingly peaceful! I imagine this would be a great place for migratory bird watching when the time is right! Lots of articles call this park the "heart" of Calgary...it certainly is popular but I can see why. It's lovely - there's tons of flower gardens, some native bee habitats, and it's surrounded by the Bow river on all sides and even has a lagoon that you can ice skate on in winter. Calgary holds lots of festivals here. There are picnic areas and playgrounds and even a cute little cafe. Several bridges connect it to downtown Calgary and one of them connects you to the other more northern side as well. It's very walkable and easy to access - I'd definitely say it's handicap accessible as a good portion of the paths are paved and flat. There are lots of info signs dotted around the island as well. Definitely a must see when visiting the city! We loved it!

Stunning, peaceful, clean and well manicured - what a place to have a picnic…read more Tall tress line the pathways that are friendly to bikes, dogs, roller bladers, walkers and one cool guitar player strumming away in his pyjamas! A big park, but not too big. We were able to walk it all. Ponds house the ducks amongst the babbling brooks and happy squirrels run this way and that over acres and acres of grass. There are several ball diamonds and a tennis court. Many places for families to gather as there were an abundance of tables and benches left in memory to loved ones. There were quite a few photographers there today on a Sat - it is just a gorgeous spot. I am going to take more time to slow down, change my walking scene and go down there more often.

This park is a hidden gem in this city. It's much larger than it seems and it's not very busy…read more There are always available benches and a few scattered picnic tables. It's a great place for a nice walk, bike ride or picnic. There is plenty of space for frisbee or kite flying. The lovely creek, pedestrian bridges and duck pond make it so serene. My only complaint is that there is no washroom facilities closer to 14th street side I go there nearly every day for a quick walk around the loop, which is approx 1 mile.

This is a really great park I don't really understand why there's a stereotype that it's full of…read moredrug addicts and homeless people and you have to watch out where you want because it's full of used needles... That has never been my experience so I suggest you give it a try and don't listen to the stereotypes

Edworthy Park is an Aboriginal heritage site with a rich history that I first discovered while…read moretaking a summer course in University. Unfortunately now it's mostly regarded as a glorified dog park and not always fully appreciated. I'm surprised anyone would call it small though, it's rather large, and actually contains the most edible plant life in Southern Alberta in one little space. This is a herbalists dream park really, and I know many people who have come here to study plants. Try not to take anything from the land without making an offering though; bad form. When it's nice out, I love to come here with a book and a cup of tea from Lazy Loaf, put on some headphones to drown out the yuppies with strollers doing outdoor aerobics, and read next to the river. When it's cold outside, I like to come here in the winter and watch the river freeze over, then thaw in the spring. I love you, Edworthy, a little bit. *Review 14/30 of Yelp's 30 day Challenge 2012

Epically priced gym. Not many people know about this, but a workout for $6 can't be beat. Check it…read moreout if you don't want to join a gym and pay 12 months membership.

This place is a little hard to spot and looks kinda weird and shady from the outside but it's an…read moreawesome City of Calgary fitness centre & pool conveniently located in downtown! It's a tier 1 facility which means drop in fees/memberships are cheaper than the tier 2 facilities and you can also use your tier 2 membership/passes here if you have one. They have a smaller 18.25m 4 lane pool that's in a half-basement with a nice sauna. The shorter pool might not be best for hardcore training but you do get to say you've done way more laps than you normally would and it is also amazingly deserted for a City of Calgary pool. I hate swimming in crowded lanes and it's usually very empty here. They also have drop in classes and programs of all varieties for children and adults alike. There is a respectable fitness centre with some free weighs as well as machines and regular cardio machines. The outdoor rock climbing wall is also now open! You can climb as long as you've done a belay lesson and signed a waiver and there are auto-belays for you to climb unsupervised. Definitely recommend checking this place out; I think it's way better value than most gyms and I love the variety of activities available! The staff are also super friendly and helpful!