Every park on this list sits in one landscape: the North Saskatchewan River valley, the largest continuous stretch of urban parkland in Canada — over 7,300 hectares and more than 160 kilometres of trail linking some thirty parks along the river. That shape was a decision, not an accident. In 1907 Frederick G. Todd told the young city to keep its valley and ravines as open space, and Edmonton spent the next quarter-century buying valley land instead of selling it as lots.
What separates them is ground and purpose. William Hawrelak Park is the festival floor — a lake, an amphitheatre and paved all-abilities loops, back in use after a three-year rebuild. Victoria Park is the flat terrace under the downtown skyline, with a 400-metre skating oval and the country’s first municipal golf course. Borden Park trades river views for old shade trees, a bandshell and a chemical-free pool; Terwillegar Park and Whitemud Park are the wild end, all dirt trail, ravine reserve and a record-setting footbridge. Choose by three things: who is coming, what the season is doing, and how you will get there.
At a glance
| # | Place | Score | Reviews | Stands out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Hawrelak Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 4 029 | Editors' pick |
| 2 | Rundle Park | ⭐ 9.3 | 3 483 | — |
| 3 | Terwillegar Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 2 883 | — |
| 4 | Borden Park | ⭐ 9.1 | 2 380 | — |
| 5 | Victoria Park | ⭐ 9.3 | 2 291 | — |
| 6 | Whitemud Park | ⭐ 9.3 | 1 309 | — |
| 7 | Louise McKinney Riverfront Park | ⭐ 9.1 | 1 255 | — |
| 8 | Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 1 139 | — |
| 9 | Constable Ezio Faraone Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 1 035 | — |
| 10 | Buena Vista Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 1 018 | — |
Highlights
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Editors' pick:
William Hawrelak Park
Opening hours
Every place in this selection stays open late.
Check the hours before you set out — they shift on holidays and out of season.
Full ranking
1. William Hawrelak Park · ⭐ 9.5
(4029 reviews)
+7 photos
9330 Groat Rd NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 2T5, Canada
Sixty-eight hectares of meadow, poplar and open sky wrapped around a five-hectare lake, William Hawrelak Park is the piece of the North Saskatchewan River valley that Edmonton treats as its living room. This is where the city gathers: a summer weekend brings picnic smoke, paddle boats tracing slow circles on the lake and an amphitheatre crowd settling onto the grass; a February…
«It's nice to be able to visit this park now that it has reopened after the upgrades. It's…»
2. Rundle Park · ⭐ 9.3
(3483 reviews)
+7 photos
2909 113 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5W 0P3, Canada
Rundle Park is the river valley's best argument that land can be given a second life. Rolling hills, dense poplar woods, a chain of man-made ponds — one crowned by a tall fountain — and a footbridge over the North Saskatchewan cover ground that was once strip-mined for coal, then farmed, then used as a municipal garbage dump. Landfill operations stopped in 1972, the ground was…
«I have been going to Rundle park for at least 8 years and I love it. I have ran hundreds o…»
3. Terwillegar Park · ⭐ 9.5
(2883 reviews)
+7 photos
10 Rabbit Hill Rd NW, Edmonton, AB T6R 0R7, Canada
Terwillegar Park is the least manicured of Edmonton's major river valley parks, and that is precisely its appeal. There is no concession stand, no lawn bowling, no formal garden — just a broad sweep of the south bank of the North Saskatchewan, a network of dirt and gravel trails threading through aspen and willow, a hand launch for canoes, and one of the largest off-leash dog a…
«This park is amazing, the dogs get to roam free, you have cyclists on their bike trails, w…»
4. Borden Park · ⭐ 9.1
(2380 reviews)
+7 photos
7507 Borden Park Rd NW, Edmonton, AB T5B 4W8, Canada
Borden Park is twenty-two hectares of mature trees, flower beds and quietly extraordinary buildings on Edmonton's near north-east side, wedged between the Virginia Park, Cromdale and Highlands neighbourhoods. For a park that opened in 1906 it has aged in an unusual direction: what was once a fairground with roller coasters, a tea room and the city's first zoo is now the place E…
«A great park close to downtown. Lots of shaded and unshaded picnic spots. Easy access by p…»
5. Victoria Park · ⭐ 9.3
(2291 reviews)
+7 photos
12030 River Valley Rd NW, Edmonton, AB T5K 1L4, Canada
Victoria Park lies on the flats below downtown Edmonton, on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan, with the escarpment and the skyline rising behind it and the High Level Bridge closing the view upstream. It is one of the oldest and most heavily used pieces of the city's river valley: golf and cricket in summer, a 400-metre speed skating oval and about two kilometres of lit…
«A wonderful day at the rink now that the weather has warmed up. But closer to the end of t…»
6. Whitemud Park · ⭐ 9.3
(1309 reviews)
+7 photos
13204 Fox Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T6H 4P3, Canada
Whitemud Park sits where Whitemud Creek finishes its long run north through the south side of the city and slips into the North Saskatchewan River. It is a working park at the front and a wilderness at the back: picnic flats, a broad sledding hill, an amenity building and a marked riding trail, all pressed up against the Whitemud Ravine Nature Reserve, which naturalists credit…
«A great place for walking, jogging and cycling. The trails are well maintained, and the su…»
7. Louise McKinney Riverfront Park · ⭐ 9.1
(1255 reviews)
+7 photos
9999 Grierson Hill NW, Edmonton, AB T5H 2G3, Canada
Of all the parks in Edmonton's river valley, this is the one you can reach in a few minutes from the office towers, and the one that most deliberately puts the North Saskatchewan on display. Roughly 12.9 hectares of promenade, lawn, garden and plaza run along the north bank with about half a kilometre of unobstructed river view — no trees in the way, no road between you and the…
«An incredible view of the riverfront. The views are incredible. By the way, if you go all…»
8. Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park · ⭐ 9.5
(1139 reviews)
+7 photos
13221 Buena Vista Rd NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 2R7, Canada
If Edmonton has a default answer to "where are we having the family gathering", it is here. Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park spreads across about thirty-three hectares of flat river terrace on the north bank, with more organized picnic capacity than almost anywhere else in the valley, two ball diamonds, a boat launch onto the North Saskatchewan and a granular trail that runs right alon…
«A beautiful place with a lot of greenery and space for a picnic. You may have to book in a…»
9. Constable Ezio Faraone Park · ⭐ 9.5
(1035 reviews)
+7 photos
11004 97 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5K 2W3, Canada
This is a small park with one very large view. Four and a quarter hectares of lawn, shrub planting and paved lookout sit on the top of the north bank of the North Saskatchewan, right at the north end of the High Level Bridge and immediately west of the Alberta Legislature grounds. From the railing the whole river valley opens up: the bridge stretching south on its steel trestle…
«A great place to sit and admire the river valley; to watch the people climbing the "stairs…»
10. Buena Vista Park · ⭐ 9.5
(1018 reviews)
+7 photos
13210 Buena Vista Rd NW, Edmonton, AB T5R 5R2, Canada
Buena Vista means "beautiful view" in Spanish, and the name was earned honestly: this is a stretch of wooded river flat on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan, below the Laurier Heights neighbourhood in Edmonton's west end, with the valley walls rising on both sides and the water running past the trees. It is best known as dog country. The off-leash ground here runs into t…
«Very lovely. This is one of the things I love about Edmonton, where the river valley trail…»
Questions & answers
Which place tops the ranking? William Hawrelak Park — score 9.5/10 (Editors' pick).
How many places are in the list and how were they chosen? The selection includes 10 places chosen by our editors based on rating and reviews.
What is the average rating in the top? 9.4/10 — average score of 10 places in the list.
Which place has the most reviews? William Hawrelak Park — 4029 visitor reviews.
With a small child: Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park, natural playgrounds and picnic ground on one flat terrace, or William Hawrelak Park, whose new playground sits on a paved loop a stroller handles. Runners get the level route at Victoria Park, Rundle Park the diamonds and courts. Water: the dock at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park, the canoe launch at Terwillegar Park. Quiet and July shade: the ravine trail at Whitemud Park. Winter is a season, not a pause: a lit ice trail at Victoria Park, an IceWay and toboggan hills at Rundle Park.
Be honest about the edges. Ten of the valley’s thirty-odd parks, nearly all on the floor or rim, leave out the greens beyond. Off-leash ground appears only at Terwillegar Park and in the run shared by Buena Vista Park and Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park; cycling routes go unmapped, bicycles are barred from the Whitemud reserve trail, and lighting is barely covered. Access splits it too: pavement at Constable Ezio Faraone Park, gravel and mud at Terwillegar Park.
See also:
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Sources: Google ratings and reviews, official websites and social media of the places, other open data. Selection and texts by the edmonton.name editorial team, August 2026.