Top 3 Best City Views of Calgary

Scotsman’s Hill

Calgary City View from Scotsman's Hill

Scotsman’s Hill in the neighbourhood of Ramsay is the iconic postcard view of Calgary downtown with the Calgary Tower and Saddledome in the foreground. This place is amazing for fireworks during the Calgary Stampede. You can’t drive here during those 10 days in July, but you can walk. Well worth it. This photo was taken during the Great Flood of 2013 where all of downtown Calgary was flooded and the power went out. Everything was quiet there that day except for the roaring power of the Elbow River. Just weeks later, Calgarians still put on the Calgary Stampede come hell or high water. I still have that t-shirt kicking around.

St Patrick’s Island

Calgary City View from St. Patrick's Island

When you think of Calgary, you don’t really think of waterfront usually. We’re not by any great body of water, but Fort Calgary was built at the confluence of the Elbow and Bow River. Go to St. Patrick’s Island by the Calgary Zoo for this somewhat odd view of Downtown Calgary. I especially like this when there is a mix of water and ice. We are in the North after all. I remember finding this spot and taking this photo while testing out the camera on my Samsung Galaxy S7. I was pleasantly surprised by what cell phone cameras could do these days. Especially since it now has image stabilization for shaky people like me.

Tom Campbell’s Hill

Calgary City View from Tom Campbell's Hill

There aren’t too many places where you can get a picture of Calgary downtown and have those light streaks from traffic, but there is at least one near the Calgary Zoo on Tom Campbell’s Hill. If the conditions are right, you can probably see the Rocky Mountains in the background too. Pretty much anywhere in Calgary, if you can look West you can see those beautiful mountains.