Bow Habitat Station & Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery — Attraction in Calgary

Such a unique and fun attraction for a first-time Calgary visitor! It's conveniently situated between the airport and downtown; an Uber ride cost $30. It's not so convenient to take public transit from the airport to here, it's an easy 20min public transit ride to downtown.

There were not many people when I visited, even though it was a Saturday. The staff members were pretty cheerful - and the one in the fish hatchery is clearly passionate and proud of her job! Way to go. I'm glad I visited when the hatchery was open (on Fridays and Saturdays) - you could feed the fish for just an extra $2. It was fun just seeing the fish swarm towards the feed. And the hatchery is where you could really learn about the purpose of the facility and the rather unique role it plays in conservation. They also have guided tours of the hatchery on Tue/Wed/Thurs.

The exhibits on the second floor were more geared towards children and could have some updates, but I didn't mind being a child again for an hour and had fun when the mini-games and learning about Alberta's aquatic ecosystems and fish stocks. The second floor provides a nice overlook of the fish hatchery. There's also a small aquarium in the basement.

In total, I'd say about 1.5 hour at the attraction is good, but allocate a bit more time if you'd like to walk around the park/towards...

2 weeks ago, we took our kid to this nice park and fish hatchery. Wow! It was a great experience, from feeding the fishes to understanding the eco system in our rivers and lakes, plus there's so many other things about being eco friendly and caring for our environment that are being taught at this fine establishment... All in all, you feel welcome when you step in the facility as the staff are incredibly friendly and super nice, and everything is neat and tidy, and carefully planned out for the visitors. My kid enjoyed everything on show and especially the aquarium at the basement.

I would recommend to anybody. And the cherry on the topping? You can walk out to the park outside the habitat and sit down and relax outside, to enjoy the greeneries. But please be considerate visitors - last week, we went to the outdoor areas and it was great to see many people do picnic. Everyone was great and kept the place tidy except for a couple of basically very 'ignorant' people who left their garbage outside the bins that were full... perhaps use another bin - it's common sense. Don't leave your bin bags in the open air where there are rodents and other wildlife! Be considerate to others...

The Bow Habitat Station is such an amazing educational and informational gem! We visited in the wintertime but I’d love to come back in the summer because they even stock the pond out front with fish that can be caught. We came with a school group and they did an amazing job with their educational presentations, it was fun and informative, and even my little guys were entertained with the performance. We also really enjoyed the fish feeding experience and seeing the sheer volume of fish that are hatched and raised here is eye opening. They take care of their facility and are careful with cleanliness here too and it really shines. Doing a scavenger hunt and learning to identify different kinds of fish in the lower fish tank areas. And these older fish really did seem like they were listening to us if we stopped and talked to them- that was probably the fishiest part of our visit! Fish talking lol And upstairs the displays are so well done! Lots to see and the video that was playing was really great too....