Exploring Wilden

Kelowna Parks Challenge – Trip #18

This week, as part of my Kelowna Parks Challenge, I travelled to the new subdivisions of Wilden. There I saw three parks and enjoyed the mountain views. I also visited the last park in Glenmore remaining on the unvisited list.

https://youtu.be/fwj0jKFRwgU

Read on for my impressions and reflections

The Trip

Wilden is a “master-planned community” that is being built on the top and sides of the Glenmore Ridge, a mountain that runs north from Knox Mountain. Having perused the project website, I now know that the Hidden Lake and Still Pond neighbourhoods I visited last week represent the northern half of what is an enormous and ongoing development.

The concept of Wilden was presented to Kelowna city council in 2000 and construction began around 2003. The development comprises a very large area and has been constructed in patient stages. Even now, sixteen years on, only a third of the planned houses have been built. Preparations have barely begun on the lots that are zoned for the elementary school and commercial centre.

Half of the total area of the development is planned to be left as natural space, though much of it has not yet been formalized into city parks. Last week I visited four of the existing parks in Wilden and this week I climbed higher to visit the three others.

Ballou Park

Before heading up into Wilden, I stopped at the only park down in the Glenmore Valley bottom that I hadn’t seen yet. Found at the western end of Ballou Road, this park sits right up against the foot of Knox Mountain.

Ballou Park is larger than it first appears. The northeast corner of the park is a typical neighbourhood park. It has a manicured lawn, a picnic table, and a playground. This, however, is only a quarter of the entire park. Beyond the fence that contains this area, there is a much larger grassy, hilly area that is also part of the park.

Other than a community garden that sits directly adjacent to the playground, the wider area of the park has not been developed. A small sign at the top of a long low hill gives rules for safe sledding, but that appears to be the only feature the city parks department has added. In the northwest corner of the park, an old asphalt driveway leads to an old asphalt parking pad, perhaps giving a clue to the site’s former use. It doesn’t look like either has been used in a very long time.

Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.

Dog Rules: Because this park has a playground, a garden, and no trails, dogs are not allowed in this park.

Lost Creek Park

Occupying the end of a hairpin turn in Lost Creek Court, this little park is a very modern yet timeless neighbourhood park. It is dominated by a children’s playground and can be easily viewed by all of the houses that surround it.

Interestingly, this park is across the street from the northernmost end of the Upper Canyon Open Space. There is no trail through that part of the park, but it provides a natural backdrop for all of the houses along the western side of Lost Creek Court. The park can also be accessed from the southern end of the street, where there is an excellent viewpoint.

Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.

Dog Rules: Because this park is taken up by a playground, dogs are not allowed in this park.

Skyland Open Space

Similar to the Upper Canyon Open Space, this park is an undeveloped gully that has been preserved as a conservation corridor. Connecting the upper and lower parts of Skyland Drive, this park is located at the highest point (so far) of the Wilden development.

Many more conservation corridors have been laid out as part of the Wilden development, though it might still take decades for them all to be lined with houses. Most have not yet been formalized as city parks. Across the street from the upper end of the Skyland Open Space, for example, is another corridor, zoned as parkland but not yet formalized. Here an old trail leads off along the bottom of a gully. A city parks sign advises walkers to leash their dog. Apparently, like most things in Wilden, the development of parks is ongoing and manifesting with patience.

Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.

Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed in this park, but only on-leash.

Wilden Ridge Pond

Like the previous park, Wilden Ridge Pond is an undeveloped green space that has been preserved for reasons of conservation. Occupying a hairpin turn at the corner of Wilden Ridge Drive and Skyland Drive, this park is across the street from the bottom of the Skyland Open Space.

Most of this park comprises a small pond which, despite its size, is of clear ecological value. Though the pond was completely frozen over during my visit, it was surrounded by rich and varied plant communities and was still being visited by birds.

Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.

Dog Rules: Because this whole park is a sensitive natural ecosystem, dogs are not allowed in this park.

Reflections

Wilden

Having read more about the Wilden development and the ecological sensitivities of the European developer who dreamed it up and started it, I am able to appreciate it better. I like the way they are trying to minimize each house’s footprint on each lot. I like the way they have left half of the land in a natural state. I like the way every house can be built with a connection to geothermal heating and with high levels of energy efficiency. Nevertheless, I still worry about the neighbourhood’s car-dependency.

Will enough density to justify a bus route through the development ever accumulate here? Will the city’s property tax base will ever be up to maintaining this kind of sprawl? I realize it is an environmentally-sensitive development, but isn’t it still sprawl?

I do love how this project of visiting all these parks in all of these neighbourhoods is getting me to think about city planning and development so much.

Glenmore

With my visit to Ballou Park, I have now seen all of the parks in the Glenmore Valley. That means it is time to turn my attention to other areas of the city. Where should I explore next? What areas will look best in the winter?

Several options present themselves as viable candidates, but wherever I go I know it will be just as fun to explore them as it has been everywhere else.

Conclusion

With the addition of this week’s parks, I have now visited eighty-four of Kelowna’s 203 parks in one hundred forty-one days, or 41% of the parks in 38% of the time. I am happy to still be ahead since it still seems possible I will have more trouble getting out for a trip during the holidays.

Let me know if you have any comments about anything I’ve written here. I look forward to telling you about more Kelowna parks next week!