Trips to Edmonton for medical appointments often include overnight or weekend visits with our youngest son and his family. This morning, we all headed out to Bunchberry Meadows, a Nature Conservancy Canada site just outside the city for a family hike. The 260 hectare (640 acre) conservation site is made up of open meadows, old-growth forest and wetlands and was a great place to spend a couple of hours enjoying nature.

This was our first hike with 20-month-old granddaughter, Mikayla. Daddy found a sturdy baby carrier backpack on an online buy and sell site last night, so she started the hike riding high and enjoying the sights. 

Before long, however, she wanted down and was soon leading the way running along the trail! 

The park has 8.68 km of groomed trails. We took the 4.43 km Aspen Trail which was perfect for a family outing. Though the area is habitat for a variety of wildlife including salamanders, weasels, porcupines, and moose, all we saw was one squirrel, a few fuzzy caterpillars, a frog, and some insects. There were also several varieties of wildflowers including Alberta’s provincial flower, the wild rose that blooms at this time of year. 

Sharp-eyed Nate also spotted this wreck hidden deep in the bush, so we had to check it out. In earlier days, it was common practice on the prairie for old vehicles and machinery to be abandoned in the bush. I suspect that this one was there long before the conservation area was set aside for hikers, cross-country skiers, and snowshoers to connect with nature. 

If you’re in the Edmonton area and want to leave the city behind for a little while, Bunchberry Meadows might be the place you’re looking for. There’s a parking lot, picnic tables and outhouses located at the trailhead. It’s definitely a place that we’d like to go back to and explore further.