Live in Springbank Hill
Calgary's largest southwest edge community, running from LRT-side condos near 69 Street down to gated acreage estates in The Slopes, and still filling in on its southern lots.
Springbank Hill was established in 1999 on land annexed to the city in 1994: 6.3 km², 9,840 residents in 3,275 occupied dwellings at the 2021 census, with 16% rental. It is one of the largest communities on Calgary's western edge, running from the condos and townhouses near the 69 Street LRT terminus down to the gated estate lots of The Slopes and Summit of Montreux. Ernest Manning High School and Ambrose University both sit inside its boundaries, and Griffith Woods Park drops away to the Elbow River at the south end. The scale cuts both ways: the northern streets have been settled for two decades while the southern lots are still being built out. This is what living here is actually like.
A 1999 community spanning condos to acreage estates
Bounded by 17 Avenue SW to the north, 69 Street SW to the east, Stoney Trail to the south, and 101 Street SW to the west. Ward 6.
Springbank Hill was established in 1999 on land annexed to the city in 1994. At 6.3 km² it is one of the largest communities on Calgary's western edge, and by the 2021 census it held 9,840 residents in 3,275 occupied dwellings, with 16% rental.
The two ends. The northern streets, near the 69 Street CTrain station and Aspen Landing, are condos, townhouses and standard single-family lots settled for two decades. The southern end — The Slopes and Summit of Montreux — is gated, acreage-scale and still building out lot by lot. Buying here means being precise about which Springbank Hill you are actually looking at.
Ernest Manning High School and Ambrose University both sit inside the community's boundaries, which is unusual for a suburb this far out — most communities this size send every student somewhere else. Griffith Woods Park, a 93-hectare natural area on the Elbow River, forms the southern edge.
What it costs. Median household income reached $152,000 in 2020, among the highest figures on this site. The trade is scale: Springbank Hill is large enough that a five-minute drive can separate a townhouse block from a half-acre estate lot, and the honest downside is that the community does not read as one place.
- The Slopes and Summit of Montreux are still under construction on their remaining acreage lots
- Griffith Woods School, the designated K-9, has been flagged by the CBE as over capacity in some years
- The exposed western ridge carries real wind and holds snow later than the sheltered inner city
- 17 Avenue and Old Banff Coach Road carry the school-run and commuter traffic, and both back up at peak times
- "Springbank Hill" on a listing can mean a condo near the LRT or a multi-million-dollar acreage — confirm which end
How Springbank Hill got here
- 1994The land is annexed by the City of Calgary.
- 1999Springbank Hill is established on the city's western edge.
- 2001The community association forms as the first phases build out.
- 2011Ernest Manning High School opens inside the community in September.
- 201269 Street Station opens on December 10 as the West LRT's western terminus.
- 2021Federal census records 9,840 residents in 3,275 dwellings, with 16% rental.
The Elbow River valley at the southern edge
Griffith Woods Park is a 93-hectare natural area on the Elbow River, reached via Old Banff Coach Road at the community's southern edge — off-leash trails, a river crossing, and one of the closer stretches of genuine river valley on this side of the city.
The resident's angle: the park is a real amenity only for the southern half of the community — a northern-edge condo near the LRT is a drive from it, not a walk.
16 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 16 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. Because the community spans 6.3 km², a specific address can run meaningfully closer or further than the figures below.
Every gym within reach
Westside Recreation Centre, by the 69 Street terminus, is the closest full facility for most of the community. WinSport is further but genuinely close by Calgary standards.
- City wave pool, twin ice rinks, climbing wall and fitness centre
- Canada Olympic Park (WinSport) adds a ski hill, luge and bobsled legacy track, ten to thirteen minutes north
- Rundle College's gymnasiums run community-use programs on 17 Avenue SW
- Griffith Woods Park's trail network is the free option, at the community's own southern edge
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Westside Recreation Centre open | City wave pool, twin ice rinks, climbing wall and fitness centre near the 69 Street terminus — the anchor facility. | 3–5 min |
| Canada Olympic Park (WinSport) open | Ski hill, luge and bobsled legacy track, and a year-round training gym, north across Old Banff Coach Road. | 10–13 min |
| Griffith Woods Park pathways open | Free option: the natural-area trail network on the Elbow River, south of the community. | 6–9 min |
| Rundle College fitness facilities open | School gymnasiums with community-use programs on 17 Avenue SW. | 5–7 min |
Which one is convenient depends on which end you live in. The park pathways serve the south; the recreation centre and WinSport serve the north.
Two schools inside the community, an over-capacity middle school outside it
Ernest Manning High School and Ambrose University both sit inside Springbank Hill. Griffith Woods School, the designated CBE K-9 for both Springbank Hill and neighbouring Discovery Ridge, sits just outside the community and has been flagged by the CBE as over capacity in some years.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ernest Manning High School | Calgary Board of Education | CBE grades 10–12, inside the community since 2011. |
| Ambrose University | Post-secondary | Private Christian university inside the community, near the 69 Street terminus. |
| Griffith Woods School | Calgary Board of Education | Designated K–9 school for Springbank Hill and Discovery Ridge; CBE has flagged it as over capacity in some years. |
| Rundle College | Private | K–12 private campus on the community's northern edge, on 17 Avenue SW. |
| Designated schools | Both boards | No Catholic school sits inside Springbank Hill; confirm the current elementary, junior high and senior high designation for a specific address with Calgary Catholic School District. |
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 — Griffith Woods' capacity has meant overflow assignments in past years, and Catholic designation should be checked directly with the board.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- The Slopes' private estate roads are the last in the community to see a plow after a heavy snow
- Ernest Manning's students face the longest cold walk of the year between the school and the 69 Street terminus
- Summit of Montreux's newest streets still show bare boulevard trees, too young to cut the wind
- Griffith Woods Park's trail down to the Elbow is quiet and nearly untouched on the coldest mornings
- A chinook off the ridge clears snow from Springbank Hill's exposed acreage lots faster than it clears the valley floor
- Griffith Woods School's classrooms run tightest in February, the CBE's over-capacity flag at its most visible
- Ambrose University's reading week thins the crowd at the 69 Street park-and-ride for a few days
- The community's mix of half-acre lots and townhouse blocks means two very different heating bills on the same street
- Meltwater runs hard down the ridge streets in Summit of Montreux before the storm drains keep up
- Rundle College's spring sports tryouts start indoors while the fields are still too wet to use
- Cleats are the right footwear on the Griffith Woods Park switchbacks down toward the Elbow River
- New foundations go in on Springbank Hill's remaining acreage lots as the ground thaws
- Ernest Manning's outdoor track season starts on the school's own fields
- Griffith Woods Park's off-leash trails reopen along the Elbow, south of Old Banff Coach Road
- The Slopes' estate lots bring their landscaping crews back for the season
- Deer move off the escarpment into the mature yards along the community's older streets
- Sunset past 9pm turns the ridge streets above Griffith Woods Park into a favourite evening walk
- Aspen Landing's patios fill on the first warm weekend, a short run north across 17 Avenue
- The 69 Street park-and-ride fills before 7am once Ambrose's spring term overlaps the morning commute
- Building permits go up on Summit of Montreux's final unbuilt phase
- Ernest Manning closes its year with an outdoor ceremony on the school field
- The Slopes' acreage lawns, the largest private lots in the community, get their first full cut of the season
- Griffith Woods Park's trailheads see their first real weekend crowds once school lets out
- Ambrose University's campus quiets as the spring term wraps
- Stampede traffic on 69 Street thins out as commuters take the week off
- The Trans-Canada west toward Kananaskis carries the community's heaviest Friday-evening traffic
- Griffith Woods Park's valley floor stays several degrees cooler than the ridge streets above it
- Estate sprinklers across The Slopes run daily through the driest stretch of summer
- Ernest Manning posts its September supply list as Ambrose's residence fills for the fall term
- Kananaskis-bound traffic on the Trans-Canada is visible from the ridge on clear evenings
- Summit of Montreux's last lots see a construction push before the fall selling season
- Griffith Woods School sends home its over-capacity notice ahead of the new year
- Ernest Manning and Griffith Woods both restart the same week, doubling the Old Banff Coach Road school run
- Ambrose's returning students and the morning commute converge on the 69 Street lot together
- First frost usually settles on The Slopes' exposed ridge lots before it reaches the valley floor
- Rundle College's fall sports season opens on the school's own fields, on the community's northern edge
- Peak colour runs down through Griffith Woods Park toward the Elbow River
- Snow tires go on before the first real snowfall reaches Summit of Montreux's ridge lots
- The Slopes' acreage owners post their fall maintenance notices ahead of the first hard freeze
- Griffith Woods School's fall enrolment numbers show up in the CBE's next capacity report
- Ernest Manning's winter concert opens the community's holiday calendar
- Wind-driven snow off the ridge makes The Slopes' private roads the last to get cleared
- The 69 Street park-and-ride fills earlier each week as the shorter daylight compresses the commute
- Ambrose University's winter term begins as the escarpment gets its first real ice of the season
- A chinook can turn a −20 start into a +5 afternoon on the exposed ridge above Griffith Woods Park
- The Slopes' estate homes have the community's best sightlines for the western chinook arch
- Griffith Woods Park stays open through the holidays for walkers willing to bundle up
- Rundle College and Ernest Manning both break for the holidays in the same week
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 Springbank Hill itself.