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One thing that I was not expecting about Edmonton is the amount of large wooden staircases you can find dotted around the North Saskatchewan River Valley. There are 8 well-known staircases that usually are apart of a trail of some kind though I am sure there are more. Somewhere in between my 2nd and 4th ascent/descent of the Grandview Stairs near Fort Edmonton, I decided it would be a fun challenge to visit and climb all these staircases as a fun challenging way to get to know Edmonton. Or maybe it was that delusional haze that some call the Runner’s High when your heart rate peaks over 180bpm.

So anyway, here is my stair journey across the River Valley:

Grandview Stairs
Step count: 243 one way | 486 round trip
Steepness: Low
Elevation: ~24m
View: 2/5

The Grandview stairs were not my first Edmontonian outdoor staircase – that title belongs to the Wolf Willow Stairs; however, the Grandview is one of my favourites (my #1 favourite as of writing this on July 26th). It’s not too steep unlike the Wolf Willow that made me fear for my life at some points, and it’s actually more comfortable to take two-steps at a time when ascending. The lowness of the steps in respect to the next is quite nice if you want to take it at a light jog, something I tried my 3rd time visiting them and wow what a workout. There are benches along the way, one at 1/3 of the way and another 2/3rds of the way.
The view from the top isn’t amazing as it’s right next to the major highway that acts as an artery from the Southwest suburban areas of Edmonton into the main city so it’s always busy and even the aspens at the top can’t muffle the sound of traffic. You can see quite a bit of the sky, something I have been missing since leaving the southern prairies and there is a nice wooden lookout platform that looks out over the river adjacent to the highway (though there is a really ugly brick estate on the top of the opposite hill that is monstrously big). These stairs are definitely more for exercise than enjoying the view, which is fine by me. I haven’t explored the rest of the loop but the trails in and around Fort Edmonton do seem quite nice. Since you need to either have access to a vehicle to drive into the park or live nearby, it’s not as busy as the other stairs that are connected to Terwillegar Park.

Wolf Willow Stairs
Step count: 200 one way | 400 round trip
Steepness: High
Elevation: ~28m
View: 4/5

I was tired of being cooped up all week besides going to and from work due to the smoke, and the risk of thunderstorms. The sky seemed constipated and despite two full days of severe thunderstorm warnings, the clouds only choked out a measly spit of rain for a few hours. My bus commute takes me past the Grandview Stairs, and I wanted to climb them but mistakenly mapped my way to the Wolf Willow Stairs as at the time, I didn’t know what the stairs I had passed were called. The first thing that struck me about these Wolf Willow Stairs were that they were extremely steep. I had foolishly started at the top which really takes the fun out of the initial climb, and the wooden steps had rounded and begun to swoop from use, almost becoming slippery. I walked a bit of the trail, also not realizing I was in Terwillegar park, just on the other side and slightly more north than where my aunts house was though maybe I should have clued in sooner as it’s hard to miss the giant footbridge spanning the river.
As I sat on the bench just a ways away from the ascent back up on the phone with my grandma, I kept seeing this woman peaking around the corner from a smaller bridge that crossed a stream filtering into the river. She would disappear for a time, and then peak back around doing some arm stretches. At first, I thought she might have wanted the bench I was on before I spotted another woman who rounded the corner and chatted with her as they both stretched before disappearing again. I spotted them climbing the stairs through the trees and realized, “Oh my god, they’re taking the stairs…to exercise! God, I could never do that,” and this thought was only cemented as I started the climb up myself and was embarrassed by my huffing, puffing, and probably redder than a tomato face yet too prideful to catch my breath at the many benches built into the turn platforms. The next day my legs would be ever so slightly sore, and I thought, “Yeah, that is embarrassing,” to be bested by a staircase. So, I guess you could say this is where the initial spark occurred but didn’t take hold until rushing the Grandview.
Many of these stairs would be even more breathtaking in the fall when the larch trees start to turn. The views, despite me rating them as 5/5, are more of a prospective idea of what they’d look like in peak weather as the few I’ve climbed have either been during smoke cover or overcast skies that make everything look a little dull.

Royal Glenora Stairs
Step count: 200 one way | 400 round trip
Steepness: Medium
Elevation: ~26m
View: 5/5

The Royal Glenora Stairs seem to be the central hub where all the CrossFit-nuts and stair masochists seem to congregate. It was a pretty long drive from where I am staying, about 20 minutes close to the core of Edmonton but it was a beautiful day. It was really busy which made doing laps at your own pace difficult – I have the weird pace of being too fast for the walkers but too slow for pretty much everyone else who was using the place for exercise. Sometimes it would be impossible to pass or be passed due to the directional traffic and the width of the stairs and with not a lot of platforms, it was like getting stuck on an escalator at times.
Getting to the top is worth the struggle. Right by the Albertan Legislative Building, the top of the stairs is a charming urban park with lots of green space for people to complete circuits (the 400 step round trip being only a portion of the workout), or lie in the grass (like me) and die wondering how those people do it. I probably won’t make the Glenora Stairs a part of my routine due to the drive there and the crowds, but it is a nice scenic workout.

River Valley Stairs
Step count: 224 one way | 448 round trip
Steepness: Low
Elevation: ~23m
View: 4/5

Coming in close second to the Grandview stairs, the River Valley Stairs are definitely a top tier set of steps. The bottom of the stairs leads out to the Highland Golf Course and as you go up, there is a small footpath dividing the two sections of stairs as it joins with nearby walking trails. There are technically 3 sections, the 3rd being a just a few steps that lead down to the highway bridge, but I didn’t really feel like running through the golf course and instead stuck with the main two segments. Out of all the stairs, this feels like the cross-country version of stair climbing as each case was different than the last e.g. step width, height. Sometimes you’d need to take two at a time but other segments would be almost 3 boards side-by-side, so it was almost like a pseudo-lunge getting up.
At this point, this is my 4th staircase, and I absolutely demolished the workout. I felt confident as I had a quick snack of McDonald’s fries and a sip of Fruitopia, so I started taking the stairs at a running pace. There were barely any people as it was pretty secluded off to the side of a fenced highway and right in the middle of a quiet neighbourhood, so I didn’t feel too self conscious as I stood keeled over with my heart rate peaking at 200bpm. To compare, I peaked at 200bpm a two weeks ago when I did the Grandview for the first time, and I WAS WALKING IT. I didn’t need my Fitbit to tell me I had already made great cardio progress; I could feel it in my bones.
The view of the River Valley isn’t too bad, it’s pretty closed in with foliage besides the lower golf course section bordering the highway, however, on the end of the street at the very top is a beautiful view of the city making it all worth it. If it wasn’t so far from the south end of Edmonton, I’d like to go more often.

Lansdowne Outdoor Stairs
Step count: 131 one way | 262 round trip
Steepness: Low
Elevation: ~9m
View: 2/5

I hit the Lansdowne stairs the day after coming back from BC. I had spent the whole day lounging around in and out of sleep because it felt like I was hit by a wall of exhaustion. In another life, the Lansdowne would be great for quick stairs circuits. It’s short, not too steep and there is almost no one around as it doesn’t have the best view as it’s right next to the highway, nor is it near any trail hubs. It was pretty smokey out, so I only did two laps before retiring back home.

Closing Remarks
I’ll be real, the reason I went to the Grandview Stairs the second, third, fourth and so on time is because I am visiting a friend in BC in August, and we are planning a big hike. I haven’t had the chance to get my elevated hike legs working as most of the walking I have done hasn’t been at an incline, or over large elevation gains (or any elevation gain for that matter) since Crystal Mountain over 4 months ago. I am not as anxious as a person I used to be, but I did not want to be the one slowing down the group or making a poor impression on his friends so that fateful stormy evening, I raced to Grandview and pushed myself the hardest I have in a while. I scaled the climb at least 5 times round-trip, even starting to run the stairs by the end. My Fitbit even told me to slow down as my heart rate spiked to 200bpm and as I sat on the lookout platform in a puddle of sweat, I realized that, hey, that was actually way more fun than I thought it would be and didn’t feel much like exercise at all.

I didn’t get the chance to finish all 8 staircases that I set out to complete due to timing unfortunately but I am glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone nonetheless. I like being active but I’ve always shied away from physical institutions like gyms or public lane swims because I always felt like I would be doing it ‘wrong’ or too slow (or becoming a spectacle). Other than also finding it hard to work out solely for the sake of working out, I’d much rather feel like there was a physically, quickly attainable goal in mind such as the top of the stair case.

TOTAL STEPS: 13,512

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Other than the insane construction related traffic on seemingly every roadway, Edmonton is quite nice. I sincerely appreciate and gratefully thank my aunt and uncle for letting me stay for a month as I finished up my co-op term with ECCC as it let me become a Edmontonian local for at least a few weeks before heading back to the much smaller, but just as much construction-ridden city of Guelph. I’ll have to find some staircases to continue my workouts in Ontario because I will definitely miss the flights from Edmonton.

Until next time, Edmonton….