Course
The Elbow River originates from Elbow Lake in the Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park in the Canadian Rockies, then continues through the Rocky Mountain foothills and flows into the hamlet of Bragg Creek. The Elbow River passes under Highway 22 and then travels through the rural community of Springbank and the Tsuu T'ina Nation 145 Indian reserve directly west of Calgary. The river enters the City of Calgary at the Weaselhead Flats, an artificial inland delta, and into the Glenmore Reservoir, one of Calgary's two chief sources of drinking water. From there, it flows northward through residential communities towards the city centre, is crossed by Macleod Trail, passes the Calgary Stampede grounds and finally joins the Bow River west of the Calgary Zoo.
Fort Calgary (the North-West Mounted Police post established in 1873 around which settlement in the Calgary area began) was located at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers.
The river has a total length of 120 kilometres (75 mi), and drains an area of over 1,200 square kilometres (460 sq mi). From its origin in the Elbow Pass at approximately 2,100 metres (6,900 ft), it drops 1,060 metres (3,480 ft) at a 1% slope to its mouth at the Bow River, situated at an altitude of 1,040 m (3,410 ft).
Read more about this topic: Elbow River