Elevation of Calgary, Alberta

Calgary elevation at a glance

Calgary grew up around Fort Calgary, built in 1875 where the Elbow River joins the Bow. The city centre lies on the flat ground of the river valleys at around 1,045 m, while the residential districts climb onto the surrounding prairie benches and hills. The north-west and south-west suburbs reach well above 1,200 m, and from their higher streets the Rocky Mountains are visible on the western horizon, roughly 80 km away. Nose Hill Park in the north is a large natural grassland on a plateau high above the Bow Valley, and a good place to see how much the ground rises across the city.

Chinooks and the foothills

Calgary's height and its position in the lee of the Rockies give it the famous chinook winds. Warm, dry air descends from the mountains in winter and can raise the temperature by more than 20 °C within hours, melting snow in the middle of January. The thin, dry air also means sunny days and fast-changing weather.

Air pressure at this height is about 12 % lower than at sea level, so cakes and bread recipes rarely need changes, but visitors heading on to Banff, at about 1,400 m, and the mountain passes above it climb noticeably higher.

Floods in the river valleys

Because the downtown core and several older neighbourhoods lie on the valley floors, a few metres of height decide whether a street floods when the Bow and Elbow rise, as they did severely in June 2013. Use the map to compare heights, but rely on the official flood maps from the City of Calgary and the Province of Alberta for decisions.

How to find the elevation of a place in Calgary

1. The map opens on the city point and shows its elevation in the panel.
2. Search for another place or zoom in to the street, park or plot you want.
3. Click the exact spot; each click adds a point with its height in metres and feet.
4. Switch to feet if you prefer, copy the share link, or download the points as CSV or GeoJSON.

The map opens on the GeoNames point for Calgary and reads its height straight away. Heights come from the open Terrain Tiles dataset and are read in your browser; nothing is uploaded. A city has no single elevation: the number depends on the spot, so the values on this page are a guide, and official heights come from the national mapping agency. Read more in how to find the elevation of a location.