Site two is located in Annex Park. This site is favored by many of the experienced river paddlers from Fernie. The location of this site is on the outside of a gentle bend and features bedrock in some locations, thus creating a more stable channel geometry than that seen in other parts of this reach.

The river position along Annex Park moved toward the right bank after 1945 and has subsequently remained there over the half-century. The right bank hill slope is generally wooded, indicating recent stability, and some bedrock exposures occur up the hill side as well.

On the left bank there are, in fact, two dykes along this reach. A low ‘attack dyke’ occurs at the river edge and separates the river channel from the park zone. This is an advantage as the in-channel features need only be linked into the attack dyke and with high flows, the paddling features and the attack dyke would be over-topped. Moving further away from the river and through the park, the higher, vegetated setback dyke further protects adjacent housing. The channel slope is modest here but there are some waves and other features at this location.

The sweeping left turn acts to maintain the deeper thalweg of the river towards the right bank. The bedrock at this location appears to include some crumbly & friable shale and some more resilient bands. The characteristics of this location appear to provide a stable place to create a drop structure and the existing river morphology at this location is conducive to the creation of a natural drop structure.

The proximity to Annex Park is also ideal as this provides extensive public access and existing park amenities. Annex Park provides parking and trail access to the river, as well as adjacent picnic structures and a pond. The proposed design for this location is shown below:

Stay posted for two more design sites!