Live in Signal Hill
A 1986 hillside community whose escarpment carries the Battalion Park numerals — 16,000 stones spelling out four First World War battalion numbers.
Signal Hill was established in 1986 on land annexed to the city thirty years earlier: 5.6 km², 13,000 residents in 5,065 dwellings at the 2021 census, with rental at 11%. The community sits on a plateau above Sarcee Trail, and its own escarpment carries the Battalion Park hillside numerals — four battalion numbers laid out in 16,000 stones by the soldiers who trained on this ground during the First World War. Westhills and Signal Hill Centre sit at its northern edge, and Sirocco and 69 Street CTrain stations put the West Line within a short drive of every block. The honest tension is size: this is one large community built out in a single decade, so its one elementary school, its shopping centre and its two access roads all carry the same load at the same times of day. This is what living here is actually like.
A 1986 plateau community built out in a single decade
Bounded by 17 Avenue SW to the north, Sarcee Trail to the east, Stoney Trail to the south, and 69 Street W to the west. Ward 6.
Signal Hill was established in 1986 on land annexed to the city thirty years earlier — 5.6 km², 13,000 residents in 5,065 dwellings at the 2021 census, with rental at 11%. It is one of the larger communities on this site, and almost all of it was built in a single decade, which shows in the uniform housing stock and the single school carrying the whole community's elementary enrolment.
The numerals. The community's own escarpment above Sarcee Trail carries Battalion Park — 16,000 stones, hauled and arranged by soldiers training here during the First World War, spelling out four battalion numbers on the slope. The park officially opened in 1991 and is visible from Sarcee Trail itself, no detour required.
What's at the edge. Westhills Towne Centre and Signal Hill Centre sit together at the community's northern boundary — over a hundred stores combined — and Sirocco and 69 Street CTrain stations put the West Line within a short drive of every block.
Median household income was $116,000 in 2020, with a wide internal spread — the upper streets on the plateau itself have historically run well above that figure, while the newer Sienna Hills and Signal Ridge sections sit closer to the community-wide median.
- Battalion Park School is the community's only elementary; enrolment and catchment pressure fall on one building
- Sarcee Trail and Stoney Trail both carry heavy commuter traffic along the community's edges
- Westhills and Signal Hill Centre parking gets genuinely tight through Stampede week and the holiday season
- Housing stock is almost entirely from the 1980s and 1990s — condition and mechanical age vary block to block
How Signal Hill got here
- 1956The land is annexed to the City of Calgary from the Municipal District of Rocky View.
- 1986Signal Hill is established, taking its name from the Canadian Expeditionary Force's use of the hilltop for signals training.
- 1991Battalion Park officially opens on November 3, its 16,000 stones arranged into four battalion numbers.
- 2012Sirocco and 69 Street CTrain stations open on the West LRT extension, both on the community's edge.
- 2021Federal census records 13,000 residents in 5,065 dwellings, with rental at 11%.
16,000 stones on the community's own slope
Battalion Park sits on Signal Hill's own escarpment above Sarcee Trail — four numbers, 137, 113, 151 and 51, laid out in stone by the battalions who trained on this hill before shipping out in the First World War. It officially opened on November 3, 1991.
The resident's angle: the numerals are visible from Sarcee Trail without leaving your car, which is how most of Calgary actually sees them — walking the slope itself is a five-minute detour that most residents make exactly once.
15 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 15 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from the centre of the community to each destination using Calgary's road grid, and are rounded to honest ranges rather than presented as precise figures. Being a large community, the range from the Sienna Hills end to the Signal Ridge end can shift these by a few minutes either way.
Every gym within reach
WestSide Recreation Centre north on 69 Street is the anchor facility for the whole hillside cluster. Battalion Park's own slope is the free option, inside the community's boundary.
- Wave pool, two ice rinks, climbing wall and fitness centre
- Battalion Park's hillside trail is the free option, inside the community
- Signal Hill Centre's commercial gyms cluster around the plaza
- Canada Olympic Park adds a ski hill and year-round training gym north on Sarcee Trail
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| WestSide Recreation Centre open | Wave pool, two ice rinks, climbing wall and fitness centre — the anchor facility for this cluster of hillside communities. | 4–6 min |
| Battalion Park's hillside trail open | Free option: the escarpment slope around the numerals, inside the community's own boundary. | 1–3 min |
| Signal Hill Centre district clubs open | Commercial gyms around the Signal Hill Centre plaza. | 2–4 min |
| Canada Olympic Park (WinSport) open | Ski hill, luge track and a year-round training gym, north via Sarcee Trail. | 12–16 min |
The slope does double duty — Battalion Park is both the community's landmark and its free outdoor gym.
One elementary carries the whole community
Battalion Park School sits inside the community in the Sienna Hills sub-area and serves all of Signal Hill's elementary-age children. Everything after elementary designates out to a neighbouring community.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Battalion Park School | Calgary Board of Education | Public K–6 inside the community, in the Sienna Hills sub-area; 694 students as of 2012. |
| St. Andrew Elementary | Calgary Catholic School District | Catholic K–6 designation, outside the community in Glamorgan. |
| Griffith Woods School | Calgary Board of Education | Public K–9, one junior high option, in neighbouring Discovery Ridge. |
| Ernest Manning High School | Calgary Board of Education | The public senior high designation, in neighbouring Springbank Hill. Confirm for a specific address. |
Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board. Confirm the designation for a specific address before you buy — junior and senior high designations here have shifted before as enrolment across the hillside communities has grown.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Battalion Park's stone numerals stand out sharpest against fresh snow, visible from Sarcee Trail
- The open-air Sirocco platform is the coldest wait on the West Line, exposed on the plateau's edge
- Upper Signal Hill's ridge streets catch a harder wind than the sheltered blocks below Battalion Park
- Westhills' parkade fills for indoor errands once the cold settles in for good
- A chinook off the escarpment can strip Battalion Park's slope bare within a single afternoon
- 69 Street Station's park and ride empties out during the CBE's mid-winter break
- The plateau's western edge still shows the Elbow Valley and the mountains on the clearest cold days
- Ice builds under the numerals' stone rows where meltwater refreezes overnight
- Meltwater runs off Battalion Park's slope and pools at the base of the numerals
- Cleats are the right footwear on the escarpment paths below Sienna Hills
- Sirocco's platform sheds its ice as the plateau warms faster than the valley below
- Signal Hill Centre's parking lot is the last place in the community to clear of ice
- Battalion Park's grass greens up around the stone numerals before the rest of the slope
- Garden centres at Westhills open for the season and the lots fill on weekends
- Last hard frosts pass before Sienna Hills' mature yards go into planting
- The plateau's western viewpoint turns green again, mountains still snow-capped beyond it
- Sunset past 9pm turns the Battalion Park slope into an evening walking route
- Signal Ridge's newer streets fill in with leaf cover faster than the older sections
- School-run traffic on 17 Avenue lightens as the days lengthen
- Westhills' outdoor patios open for the season
- Battalion Park School lets out and the numerals' slope gets its first summer visitors
- Peak daylight at the solstice gives the plateau's western edge a long view of the mountains at dusk
- Sirocco and 69 Street both see their first summer festival crowds heading downtown
- Thunderstorms building over the foothills are visible from the escarpment's open western edge
- Stampede crowds board at Sirocco and 69 Street rather than fight downtown parking
- The numerals' stones hold the day's heat well into the evening
- Westhills' parking lot is at its fullest through the Stampede stretch
- Hottest month, with the plateau catching more wind than the sheltered valley below
- Battalion Park's slope grass turns gold before the rest of the community's lawns
- Kananaskis-bound traffic on Sarcee Trail is visible from the community's eastern edge
- Back-to-school traffic starts building at Battalion Park School before the month ends
- Wildfire haze can settle over the plateau on windless late-summer days
- Battalion Park School's morning drop-off returns to its full crawl along Sienna Park Drive
- First frost usually reaches the exposed plateau before it reaches the sheltered valley communities
- The numerals stand out again as Battalion Park's surrounding grass turns brown
- Westhills and Signal Hill Centre see their own back-to-school rush
- Peak colour runs through Sienna Hills' mature yards before the newer Signal Ridge streets catch up
- Snow tires go on before the first real snowfall reaches the plateau's exposed edge
- The Elbow Valley view from the community's western edge is at its clearest before the leaves are gone
- Sirocco's open platform gets its first genuinely cold waits of the season
- Battalion Park's numerals get their first dusting of the season, visible from Sarcee Trail
- Dark by 5pm turns the 69 Street park and ride into a headlamp-lit lot
- Signal Hill Centre's holiday displays go up along the frontage
- The plateau's first hard freeze arrives ahead of the sheltered communities below it
- A chinook arch over the escarpment can turn a −20 Sienna Hills morning into a +5 afternoon
- Outdoor rinks in the community's parks open once the freeze holds through a full week
- Battalion Park's stone numerals sit under snow for most of the month
- Sirocco and 69 Street's platforms are at their coldest and darkest for the evening commute home
36 photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed and served from this app — nothing loads from a third party. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 36 photographs.
Honesty note. This page uses only the general Calgary, seasonal, Alberta-wildlife and day-trip photography from the site's shared library. Nothing here is presented as a photograph of Signal Hill itself.