Attention all walkers and lovers of the North Saskatchewan River Valley
You are invited to join the very first (and hopefully annual) Edmonton Camino, a five-day walk from Friday June 15 to Tuesday June 19, 2018, alongside the North Saskatchewan River from Devon through Edmonton, continuing downstream to Fort Saskatchewan/Lamoureux.
Led by Sheila Thompson and Graham Hicks, the plan is to follow, as much as possible, river valley walkways and trails that have been built by the member municipalities of the River Valley Alliance. The River Valley Alliance is a not-for-profit organization owned by the seven municipalities bordering the North Saskatchewan River. Its primary goal is to create a continuous 88 kilometre walkway within the river valley.
Our plan is to follow the River Valley Alliance trails as closely as possible - while making detours around those parts of the river valley through which trails have yet to be built. We will be walking 10 to 25 kilometres a day.
We will start each day, rain or shine, at 8:30 a.m. from automobile-accessible starting points, ending between 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at automobile-accessible finishing points.
To keep things simple, each walker will be responsible for arranging their own transportation to-and- from each day’s start-and-finish points.
If you’d like to join us, for as many days as you’d like, please call or text Graham Hicks at 780-707-6379.
Please note that the Edmonton Camino is not a formal organization, just a collection of friends and acquaintances who like to walk, and who love our river valley.
Here’s the proposed schedule
Friday June 15, Day One
Start at 8:30 a.m. from the University of Alberta Botanical Garden (the former Devonian Gardens) parking lot, taking the new trail to the river valley at Prospector’s Point, across the bridge to Devon, following the shoreline to the Devon Lions Campground. Distance 10 kilometres. Estimated finish time: 3 p.m.
Saturday, June 16, Day Two
Start at 8:30 a.m. from Blue Meadow Hall at 51123 Range Road 255, (actually down a side road off RR 255, just north of the Blackhawk Golf Course), following informal trails (with some bush-whacking) north to the Henday Dr. West bridge, across the bridge and north to the Terwillegar Park parking lot. Distance 16 kilometres. Estimated finish time: 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 17, Day Three
Start at 8:30 a.m. from the Terwillegar Park parking lot, through the river valley in the city, finishing at the Gold Bar Park shelter (close to 50 Street on south side of the river). Distance 22 kilometres. Estimated finish time 4:30 p.m.
Monday, June 18, Day Four
Start at 8:30 a.m. from the Gold Bar Park shelter, across the river via footbridge to Rundle Park, across the next footbridge to the Strathcona Science Centre, following new trails through Sherwood Park to our end point of Township Road 540 on the east side of the North Saskatchewan River. (Trails alongside the river in this stretch are as yet incomplete.) Distance 20 kilometres. Estimated finish time 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 19, Day Five
Start at 8:30 a.m. from Township Road 540 and the east side of the North Saskatchewan, following riverside trails to Fort Saskatchewan, hopefully crossing the river somehow (volunteers with cars?) to end our camino on the trail running through the village of Lamoureux across the river from Fort Saskatchewan. Actual pick-up spot to be determined. Distance 15 kilometres. Estimated finish time 4 p.m.
Bring your camera, lunches, snacks and be prepared for all weather conditions!