Prince’s Island Park Playground

Prince’s Island Park Playground is a lovely cowboy & train-themed playground in Calgary’s downtown. With bike paths, Bow River, and another indoor playground nearby, it’s a great spot year-round. Here’s our review so you know what to expect when visiting (+more family-friendly activities at the end).

I’ve loved Prince’s Island Park since we moved to Calgary almost a decade ago. It has all the relaxing vibes you might look for in a park. Nice bike paths along the river, cafés along the way, picnic tables, and lots of wildlife.

This post is part of the series about the best playgrounds in Calgary.

Recently we started visiting the beautiful playground as well. There are several structures with different difficulties for kids of all ages – lots of slides, climbers, monkey bars, and swings.

Let’s take a closer look at the playground.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Prince’s Island Park Playground.

Info about the Prince’s Island Park Playground:

Location: Prince’s Island Park is located north of Calgary’s downtown with easy walking access from Memorial Drive NW, Map
Parking: Paid parking is available at 200-286 Memorial Drive NW, and a few free parking spots are available along 3 Street NW by the Curling Arena. Another option is south of the park at Eau Claire Market (address: 4-110 Barclay Parade SW). There’s no vehicle access to the park, and it’s only accessible within a short walk.
Age range: all ages
A public washroom is available on the backside of River Café

Prince’s Island Park Playground

Playground features

The playground has a gravel floor and covers a huge area under the trees by the bike path.

Only the newest addition of a pretend-play booth “Shakespeare in the park” and a toddler playground has a pour-in recycled tire floor.

Our son loved the structure for the smallest toddlers. It’s lower to the ground, and the stairs, climbers, and slides are easily accessible. Several benches for parents divide it from the bigger part of the playground.

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Three structures are next to each other, with climbers and slides built as a train. The train structure with a real bell and a slide was the biggest hit.

The next part of the playground is for the older kids with higher climbers, slides, and lots of monkey bars. It’s built in a theme of “Lil Fort Calgary” and kids seemed to enjoy the spinners the most when we visited the last time.

Adorable parts of the playground are the swings. The structure is shaped like a cowboy hat and has three baby and three regular swings.

Relax options

Prince’s Island Park has rolling hills with lots of greenery and picnic tables, and I see people hanging out or playing Frisbee every time we visit.

There are paved bike paths along the river, lots of picnic tables close to the playground, and the island’s east part has wetlands where you can watch beavers. If you visit in spring, you see many cute little ducklings walking around.

What’s close by

Eau Claire Market, located towards downtown, is a great place year-round. There’s an indoor playground (that looks like an outdoor playground), eateries, ice cream, and a café. Outside, close to the bridge, is another playground with a wading pool and a splash park.

Eau Claire is now easily accessible since the Jaipur pedestrian bridge opened again in June 2022.

Just a short drive, or walk, away is another favourite, Rotary Park Playground and Spray Park.

And if the weather ruins your plans, you have several options close by: