Horseshoe Canyon is one of the most photographed places in Alberta, and now a partnership between the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Google will be able to share spectacular views of the iconic landscape with the rest of the world.
Horseshoe Canyon is one of five spectacular nature sites across Canada that will be captured in panoramic images for Google Street View by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).
Yesterday the NCC was at the canyon with a Google Trekker camera to take these photos. Staff from the Nature Conservancy of Canada will use the 50-pound backpack mounted Google Trekker camera to take images of the canyon and all it has to offer.
The camera features a green orb about the size of a soccer ball which has 15 lenses, it is mounted in such a way that it is above the operator’s head. The camera takes multiple images in a full 360 view, every two and a half seconds. Each image will be assigned a GPS location.
According to a release, “The canyon was chosen because it represents Alberta’s unique geological features rarely seen in other parts of the country. Some of these geological layers were laid down some 70 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.”
When completed, the photos will be knitted together to create panoramic views of the routes followed by the Trekker. These will be published on Google Maps.
“These images will allow Canadians and Google users around the world to explore some of the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s most stunning and diverse landscapes, coast to coast,” states the release.
Other sites that have been shot or will be shot by the Nature Conservatory of Canada include Johnson’s Mills in New Brunswick, the Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area near Claydon in southwest Saskatchewan, Chase Woods, in the Cowichan Valley of British Columbia and the fall colours of mixed Appalachian forests in Quebec’s Green Mountains.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada owns approximately 329 acres of the canyon. It was purchased from the late Leila Nodwell’s family in 2002.
