Diamond Valley Pathways –> Snob Hill

This short in-town walk begins in downtown Turner Valley (now part of Diamond Valley, a little south of Calgary) and heads up to a bluff atop “Snob Hill”. From up there you get a good view of the town’s historic gas plant. This walk is a pleasant diversion when you only have a little time to waste. Or when it’s too cold to do anything ambitious (like this day).

The route is along paved pathways paralleling local roads and with one stretch sharing the road. But it’s a quiet dead-end lane and so no big deal. The final stretch is along the Jack Bowman Interpretive Trail and there’s signage here where you can learn a little about the discovery of gas in the region, long ago, and how it helped shape the community. And how it shaped the province and its people.

It begins the corner of Main and Sunset Boulevard (also shown as Highway #22, where it make a right angle turn) in Turner Valley. Turner Valley and Black Diamond, a few clicks away, were separate towns not that long ago, but have amalgamated under the name Diamond Valley. The new name refers to it as a whole but the old ones are still used too.

There’s on-street parking here or at Royalite Millennium Park kitty corner to the start. We found some in front the distillery and not far from the famous Chuckwagon breakfast place. The smells were intoxicating. Poached eggs on toast and with bacon can’t be beat but if we did that too often, it’d be our downfall. It’s so bad for you…but so good.

In a moment of weakness we’ve visited the Chuckwagon. Once or twice…no more…honestly. It’s our shame.

Take to the roadside pathway on the southwest corner of Main and Sunset and begin the journey. You soon pass a cute little church: St George’s Turner Valley ( <-- a history write up from a few years back ) and soon after the path heads to the other side of the road.

It then makes a left at Decalta Road and runs in behind the old Turner Valley gas plant. A small section is still active, but most of infrastructure is a historic site. Team BIGDoer got to tour it some years back but unfortunately, the resultant post is no longer online.

For someone into history, it’s an amazing place and that it’s so intact is nothing short of incredible. Founded over a hundred years ago, it was added to piecemeal over time (most of it from the 1930s-1950s period) and when closed in the 1980s it was a literal operating museum.

The plant was built around the very first wells in the area, the legendary Dingman #1 and #2 from 1914. The Turner Valley field was the first in the province to be exploited on such a scale, so in a sense it all began right here. Turner Valley is the birthplace of a province-wide industry, both via the discovery of the first major field in the province and thanks to the plant, the first of its kind in Western Canada.

The view to the complex is mostly obstructed by terrain, although the Horton Spheres can clearly be seen. There’s a better, more elevated angle from he lookout at the end of this hike and there, the entire complex can clearly be seen. Those big round tanks date to the early 1940s and were for the storage of high-performance aviation fuels used in the war effort.

Cross over the Sheep River and if you look back to the plant at this point you can see the gasoline/propane processing sections near the river.

The pathway and adjacent road make a broad curve here as they climb up the hill, but the grade is never that steep. Once at the top, make a hard left and double back on Imperial Drive. It’s all flat from here on and easy going.

You’ll now have to walk in the street itself, but it’s quiet. It used to be a through road but was truncated some years back. You are now atop Snob Hill (unofficial name) and it’s where all the executives and big-wheels associated with the gas plant once lived (but a bit more to the east).

Snob Hill: in direct contrast with Poverty Flats, Whisky Row and Dogtown, down where the worker bees lived.

There’s an occasional break in the trees where the gas plant can be viewed below, but the best vantage point is at the end of the hike. After the road ends continue along the paved path and enter the Jack Bowman Interpretive Trail. There’s a number of lookout points along here, but the final one offers the best angle. There’s benches and picnic tables at regular intervals too.

Jack held a prominent position at the Turner Valley Gas Plant in the 1960s-1980s period.

Interpretive signs share the history of the operation, the people associates with it and of Snob Hill. Somewhere in that group of houses across the golf course (directly east and to the north-ish) are ones that date back to the early days. The once belonged to prominent higher-ups employed at the plant and the name given .

At the final lookout, there’s a viewer that allows to take a closer look the whole complex below. The plant sits on a large plot of land and when shut down, it’s like they just up and walked away. There’s a high level of historic integrity here.

The group of buildings below once processed the raw material (naphtha & natural gas) into gasoline and other products. That includes propane, they extracted sulphur here and made aviation fuel for a time. A maze of pipes ties all it all together. There’s storage tanks (many more when the plant operated), pressure vessels, manifolds and absorption towers. It’s all so complex, barely understood by us, yet quite fascinating.

Support buildings include those used for maintenance and offices.

While a big plant for the era it’s tiny by today’s standards. We wandered about the property one time (on a history tour) and by the end of the day we had many kms under our belts. Buildings are well space to help isolate them and mitigate the chance of a fire consuming the entire complex. One big building in back houses the compressor station and this is where they shipped out stuff by pipeline. The din from all those compressor engines must have been incredible.

Remember the Dingman wells spoken of earlier? The site of both are within the plant property but what little remains of them is lost in the clutter. If a Then & Now shot this day works out (knock on wood), we’ll post a comparison so their location can be seen relative to everything here present day.

We in fact shot a few T&Ns from this Snob Hill position (it must have always been free of trees) and we’ll post them as the get processed. If they work out and even then they take time, unfortunately. Keep a watch for them down the road. The old photos used date back to as early as the 1910s (so, back when it all started) and a few are more modern.

The viewpoint on Snob Hill is a good lunch stop and a great place to doddle. Take in the view, soak up a bit of history and enjoy some good eats if you got them. It was a rather cold day (-15c, but with a biting -25c windchill), so we we had an abbreviated visit, even though well prepared. All the winter-wear in the world couldn’t keep away the chill forever, but we did have a hot beverage which helped for a bit. Mulled Wine is the best on days like this.

Return via the same route and in no time it’ll be done. It’s short one but still great fun. The history angle (for us, at least) was the highlight of this adventure, but even in spite of this, it’s still a nice, pleasant walk. We’ll see you next time…

Know more: (new tabs): Diamond Valley Alberta Pathways and Turner Valley Alberta Gas Plant.

They’re saying…

“These two are amazing!!” Dayna Kent (straight to the point and we love it!).

More town pathways…
Canmore Pathways: All Around Town.
Edgemont Ravine (NW Calgary).
Mirror Lake & Stoney Creek Loops Camrose.

If you wish more information about this adventure or if you love to chat don’t hesitate to contact us!

Date of adventure: January, 2025.
Location: Diamond Valley (Turner Valley), Alberta.
Distance: 6km out and back.
Height gain maximum: 40m.
Height gain cumulative: 60m.
NOTE: all distances and heights are approximate and may differ slightly from other trip reports (including our own).
Reference: Town of Diamond Valley and Alberta Cultural & Tourism.

St George’s at the start.

A cold, blustery, overcast and colourless day.

The Turner Valley Gas Plant – the hike ends at that bluff in back.

Heading up to Snob Hill.

On Imperial Drive.

Turner Valley is down there in the back somewhere.

The road ends and the Bowman Interpretive Trail begins.

There’s informative signage along here.

Learn about Dingman #1, which started it all.

The plant comes into view.

Taking a closer look…

Lookout over the entire complex.

It speaks of Turner Valley, Snob Hill, Dogtown and all the others.

The Horton Spheres were built in support of the war effort (WW2).

The gasoline and propane processing area.

The small brown building is all that’s left of the plant to still operate.

We have hot beverages!

That’s one cold picnic (-25c with windchill).

Dropping down on Decalta Drive.

One last look from the Sheep River Bridge.

Turner Valley to Snob Hill – 6km there and back total – star = start.