Mineral Springs
of Government
House Park

Springs occur in a number of locations throughout Edmonton. Some of the most accessible are found along the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River valley, just at the foot of Government House Park hill. North of the bike path lies red, white and black minerals which are formed by springs as they trickle onto the surface from an older, buried river valley.

A spring is a place where subsurface groundwater flows from rock or soil onto land or into surface water. The Government House Park springs are formed at the boundary between a permeable gravel and sand layer and the lower clay-rich impermeable bedrock. Thus, they are called "contact springs."