Mill creek ravine trail – the Mill Woods edition
This trail is a great option if you live in Edmonton’s south east and do not want to travel far for a beautiful walk in nature. Drive south on 50 St and turn left at 40 Ave. Park along 47 St and 40 Ave.
Head down the slight hill to the ravine entrance, which is marked with a sign. One direction leads you to the Jackson Heights neighbourhood, the other to the South Ravine. Turn right to follow the South Ravine trail.
After 2.5 km, you will have reached the end of this section of ravine. This is marked by a trail fork, where you can either go to 34 St or into the Silverberry neighbourhood. There is more trail on the other side of 34 St, but to keep this route 5 km long, turn around here and go back the way you came.
If you have a dog that still needs to burn off energy, you can extend your walk once you return to the green space out of the ravine. Walk north on 50 St to reach Jackie Parker Park, an off-leash area with a few small sections of trail. Trail info at https://rivervalley.ab.ca/news/trail-trek-how-to-mill-creek-ravine-the-mill-woods-edition/
Last Edmonton coal mine in Whitemud
Situated adjacent to Snow Valley Ski Hill and Rainbow Valley Campground, the Whitemud Creek Coal Mine was the final one in Edmonton. It opened in 1952, the same year the last coal mine closed in Beverly.
The underground mine extended from 45th Avenue on the southside (now Whitemud Freeway) to 52B Avenue on the north and from 142 Street on the west to roughly 126 Street on the east. The slope into the hill was at fifteen degrees, and the air shaft or manway was seventy-two feet. The coal seam was substantial, six to eight feet in depth, so miners could work standing up.
The mine operated behind a single “No Trespassing” sign adjacent to a busy natural area that provided skiing in the winter and camping and day picnic use in the summer. Bert’s Saddle Club, which offered horse rides, was also nearby in Rainbow Valley.
The mine lease extended under two neighbourhoods, South Brookside and Lansdowne, and despite “considerable ground movement,” including a cave-in, a squeeze and heaves, a stability study prepared in 1974 cited “no evidence that the coal mining activity north of 45th Avenue affected the slope stability of the creek valley.” The closure of the Whitemud Creek Coal Mine in 1970 marked the end of underground coal mining in Edmonton. Learn more at https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2020/10/14/the-last-edmonton-coal-mine-whitemud-creek/
Northern bog lemming not just a tundra resident
Lemmings are not just an Artic mammal. Northern bog lemmings are found in wet northern forests, bogs, tundra, and meadows, including in Edmonton and area. They are a small rodent related to gerbils and hamsters.
Female lemmings have two or three litters of four to six young in a year. The young are born in a nest in a burrow or concealed in vegetation. They feed on grasses, sedges, mosses, other green vegetation, as well as snails and slugs. Predators include owls, hawks, mustelids and snakes.
Lemmings are active year-round, day and night. They make runways through surface vegetation and dig burrows. In winter, they burrow under the snow. These animals are often found in small colonies. Lemming populations go through a 3 to 4-year cycle of boom and bust. Read more at https://wildernessclassroom.org/wilderness-library/northern-bog-lemming/
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Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
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