William Hawrelak Park

This is my favourite park in the city. It has everything, trails, open fields, the big pond, skating in the winter, a kids park, picnic sites, the amphitheatre thing. What more do you want?

I LOVE this Park… During different times of the year it transforms into a theatre for the Free Will Shakespeare Festival, a United Nations for Heritage Day Festival, and for the rest of the year it is a wonderful place to have a picnic, take a pedal boat out, and then there is just sitting at the stream, near the foot bridge, to contemplate and rest a weary brain… AND cross country ski!!!

Hawrelak Park is my favourite in the city! (Although I won’t lie, I can never remember how to spell it…) It’s always clean, with nicely trimmed grass and a sparkling little pond feature. The park is absolutely huge, so you can find your own private little area away from the rest of the park visitors fairly easy. Nothing worse than a random person hitting you in the head with a football… Unless you’re living in a romantic comedy, because that means you probably just met your soul mate.
It’s the perfect place to come have a picnic/​BBQ, play around, exercise, or just lay around and soak up the sun in the summer. I will say that the bathroom facilities can get a little bit grungy and they can run out of paper towel/​toilet paper really quick when it’s busy there. So I’d recommend bringing some of your own Kleenex, or whatever you prefer, and hand sanitizer.

Perhaps the only downside of this park is that it can occasionally be very busy! I do rather love attending events here year round. Whether it is the Servus Heritage Festival, or the Silver Skate Festival, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, the Inter-​Nerd Gathering, or just a gathering of friends, this park is great for activities of all sizes and types.
I have enjoyed skating, snowshoeing, biking, frisbee throwing and catching, walking, hay rides, and more at the park! The big picnic sites cost to reserve, but guarantee shelter should inclement weather come to pass. The more casual and smaller spots around the park are free for use most of the time, however. There are also paddle boats in the summer but I’ve never used them.
There is a bus stop outside of the park, which allows for convenient access, especially during or for special events. There is also park and ride and shuttle service from various areas of town for these larger events. Parking can be difficult or impossible when such events are going on.
The man-​made lake is pretty nice and has been used for major events. There is a great bridge to the off-​leash area and other parks in the river valley park system from this park which is great when walking. Generally I enjoy most events and activities I’ve done in this park year-​round.

A great place to get away from the city craziness. Enjoy a jog/​run/​BBQ or just simply grab a blanket and chill out on the grass with a good book. With whatever the pleasure brings you here. I have yet to visit the festivals in the area but I hear they are some great ones held here, and hope this summer I get to visit some.

One of the most beautifully maintained parks in the city. Often host to various festivals during the summer.
They have group picnic sites that you can reserve ahead of time.
There is a pavilion that has a few indoor picnic tables, lockers, water fountain, flush toilets and a cash only concession for ice cream, hot dogs and burgers.
For some reason this year they have fences around all of the lake. Some kind of construction?
There is plenty of parking but the park is also transit accessible.

This is pretty much my favorite edmonton place year round. It’s got everything: the amphitheatre with great programming, festivals that are fun throughout the year, cross country trails and a skating rink with music and chocolate in the winter, and a whole lot of grass to lie on in the summer. I am within walking distance and this makes me happy. I feel like this park embodies the best of Edmonton for me.

This is a well maintained, multi-​functional park that is perfect for families and people who are looking for something to do. I haven’t been here in the winter, but I was lucky enough to use this park in several different ways during my weekend visit: trail running, lounging by the «lake» and road racing. I was also very impressed with how well the washrooms were maintained. I expected a super dirty washroom with no soap or nothing to dry your hands, but it was a full functioning washroom that didn’t smell!
Next time i wish I was more prepared to go on the paddle boats. The only reason why I’m giving it a 4 stars is that it wasn’t as zen as I was hoping it would be. It gets pretty busy on a hot summer day, and there were tons of gross seagulls.

Best park in Edmonton? I think so. A huge park in our lovely river valley, with trails coming in from a bunch of different directions. There are all kinds of great festivals and events going on here year-​round. It’s also a great spot for barbecues in the summer and ice skating in the winter.
But the absolute best thing about Hawrelak? Paddleboats. I. Love. Paddleboats.

William Hawrelak Park is one of Edmonton’s most used parks, and used by me and my family on a regular basis. The park is named after a former mayor of Edmonton and the site used to be an old gravel pit. My, much has changed over time!
The park is situated just off Groat Road with the North Saskatchewan River running by it’s side. The park has many amenities available from picnic areas, public washrooms, amphitheater, playground, and of course the lake. Regardless of the time of year you go to Hawrelak Park there is always something to do — skating, cross country skiing and snow shoeing in the winter to flying kites, paddle boats, wildlife watching and chilling out in the summer. Some of the larger picnic areas need to be booked in advance and to do so you need to call the City’s Parks and Rec division. Regardless of the time of year you’ll see people running through the park as part of the trail system goes through it. It’s also a hot spot for wedding pictures.
Hawrelak Park has been the location of many events from the annual Heritage Days Festival, Edmonton marathon route, the now defunct Bright Nights Festival, Terry Fox Run, Symphony Under The Stars, sporting events and Silver Skate Festival, to name a few.