'Oasis getaway': Calgary's Douglas Fir Trail almost ready to reopen after 4 years

The Douglas Fir Trail took a beating during the torrential 2013 rains that caused widespread flooding, and while it won't be the same, it's almost ready to reopen.

"It is an oasis getaway for people in the city," Dan Borslein of Calgary Parks told the Calgary Eyeopener.

"You hardly know you are in the city when you are on the trail."

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That's why the city had no problem getting engaged volunteers to help with restoration.

"We have actually organized a volunteer co-ordination and that has really gotten the community involved and they understand the challenges on the site. It is very steep, very slippery," Borslein explained.

The 2.5-kilometre trail just south of the Bow River runs from Edworthy Park to Cedar Crescent S.W. It has a long history.

"This trail has been here for 50 years or longer," Borslein said.

"Back in the 1970s they had a volunteer trail-build, and then they also had another effort in the 1990s ... and once again in the early 2000s. So it seems like every 20 years it needs some major work done."

The work should be completed in about a month, but Borslein said it won't be the same experience.

"This trail will be a difficult recreational trail, something like what you would expect to see in Kananaskis. Expect to see lots of tripping hazards from roots, a narrow dirt trail," he said.

"It won't be as easy of a hike as it was prior to the water damage."

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopenerand CBC's Paul Karchut