Ghosts in the Ground is set in the connected landscapes of Beaver Dam Flats and Refinery Park.
Beaver Dam Flats lies along the eastern bank of the Bow River in southeast Calgary and covers about 43 hectares of riverside habitat. The park takes its name from the beaver dams once found on the flats, and even now it feels less manicured than many city parks, shaped as much by water and erosion as by planning.
The escarpment above the flats supports shrubs like buffaloberry, Saskatoon, silverberry, and water birch, while the old river channel and gravel bars create habitat for ducks, eagles, woodpeckers, chickadees, and other birdlife. The park’s changing edges and balsam poplar forest give it a wild, slightly unsettled character.
Beaver Dam Flats is directly connected to nearby Refinery Park, and the two landscapes share the complicated history of Calgary’s former refinery lands. Groundwater remediation projects and the history of the Lynnview and Ogden communities add another layer to the area, so its natural beauty exists alongside a strong sense of what has been buried there over time.
That connection between Beaver Dam Flats and Refinery Park—the riverbank wildlife, shifting terrain, industrial history, and long memory of the land—made the area an ideal setting for Ghosts in the Ground. It is a place where the city, the river, and the past all seem to press in at once.
Explore a murder investigation shaped by land and history in Ghosts in the Ground, Parks Pat Mystery #17.
