Welcome to the User Guide for Planning, Developing & Maintaining Urban Parks
This user guide provides helpful information, guidelines and best practices for developing recreation spaces within your community.
The guide was developed by the Association of Urban Parks and Recreation Agencies (ASUPCA), an organization comprised of seven cities in Saskatchewan that have invested in creating accessible, inclusive outdoor spaces with mixed uses.
The guide is designed to assist municipalities and organizations with their park projects, to provide applicable and useful advice, and to share knowledge gained by ASUPCA members about park development.
ASUPCA invites you to learn from parks who have gained valuable resources and experience gained over years of projects!
ASUPCA Member park locations: North Battleford, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Regina, Weyburn. Click image to enlarge.
Each ASUPCA member provides a unique perspective on outdoor recreation, conservation, education, community interconnectedness, and how to encourage use based on community need and demand.
Throughout the guide, we’ll focus on how parks use these pillars to guide project development:
Encourage Action & Recreation
Provide Education
Make Spaces Accessible & Inclusive
Connect People to Nature
Create Interconnections & Active Transportation Corridors
Conserve and Promote Biodiversity
Learn more about the Pillars of Urban Parks in the next section.
Freely accessible urban green spaces add enormous value to communities, and have consistently shown to improve the health and sense of wellbeing of residents.
Besides connecting people to nature, communities can use urban parks to educate, encourage activity, and create accessible spaces for community residents to relax, engage, socialize, and travel within and around their neighbourhoods.
The parks that contributed to this guide cover a wide range of sizes, uses, staffing, and ecological zones. Each park has natural areas, developed areas, recreation spaces, and interconnectedness, and each continues to build their urban getaways to balance nature and accessibility within their cities.
Boat launch at Wakamow Valley, Moose Jaw, SK
ABOUT ASUPCA MEMBER PARKS
Battleford River Valley - managed by the North Battleford Parks Department
The beautiful Battleford River Valley provides the backdrop for this extensive trail network for visitors of any season. The park spans two communities whose residents can access both natural and paved trails, and Finlayson Island via a converted road bridge. Cross country ski clubs can enjoy the groomed trail network, and the tidy picnic area, complete with tables and firepits. The trails through the valley are a great example of how desire paths can be unobtrusively maintained, including well designed wayfinding signs placed throughout. The park feels like a nature oasis in the heart of the two communities.
Chinook Parkway - managed by Swift Current Parks Department
Swift Current’s river valley provides the city with 20 kms of accessible paved trails, creating connections between neighbourhoods and recreational facilities. The city also invested in a very unique, fully inclusive playground - one of the first in the province! Between nature and recreation, Swift Current’s parks and facilities have a lot to offer both residents and visitors alike. Swift Current partnered with organized sports groups, including a disc golf club and a mountain biking group to add low impact recreation spaces to underused and underdeveloped land within the city.
Little Red River Park - managed by Prince Albert Parks Department
Formerly the site of a beautiful cross country ski site managed by the Prince Albert Nordic Ski Club, Little Red River Park has since become a tourism draw for the city. The Prince Albert Parks Department built up a core service area, including a bistro, large play area, warming huts, and covered picnic areas. The rest of the park remains a playground for skiers, snowshoers, hikers and mountain bikers. Located outside the city, Little Red River Park is the largest municipal park in Saskatchewan that crosses through several unique ecological areas.
Tatagwa Parkway - managed by Weyburn Parks Department
Using the Souris River as an anchor and backdrop, the City of Weyburn created a series of interconnected parks that include a campground, links to recreation facilities, naturalized areas with paved pathways, and an integrated mountain bike trail area. The campground facility is ideally located on a beautiful section of the river with water access to launch canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, paved trails, picnic area, and a playground. Tatagwa parkway focuses on conservation of natural areas along the paths, and drawing in visitors from the region and across the US border.
Wascana Centre - managed by Provincial Capital Commission in Regina
A unique park space, the Wascana Centre and trail system provides the backdrop for the seat of government in Saskatchewan, and is managed as a Provincial XXXX. The park encircles Wascana Lake, an ecologically sensitive shoreline and a vital recreation area for the city and for its visitors. Wascana Centre is both an interpretive centre and events area, with both indoor and outdoor amenities for private events. Wascana Centre staff provide education programs, manage shoreline erosion strategies, and maintain the park in accordance with provincially set guidelines.
Meewasin Valley Conservation Area - managed by Meewasin Valley Authority
The Meewasin Valley conservation area winds through built up areas and natural habitats, and includes land inside and outside of the city. Meewasin Valley Authority manages conservation, trail building, waterway conservation, recreation areas, and interpretive centres throughout the valley. Joining education, development, and conservation, Meewasin Valley has created an urban oasis worthy of national attention.
Wakamow Valley - managed by Wakamow Valley Authority
As part of a city that celebrates its heritage and has a passionate population of park users, the Wakamow Valley in Moose Jaw is a unique, inviting and multi-use park system for year round outdoor recreation. There are elements of the long history of use through the valley, a great appreciation for the valley’s importance to the First Nations people, as well as its role in providing flood mitigation for the nearby built up areas of the city. The park is an oasis in the south, and includes a well used campground and access to the Moose Jaw River.
