Cochrane • Community Guide
Sunset Ridge
Up on the ridge on Cochrane’s north side, with two schools inside the community and a pond at the centre of it. There is one thing about this community you need to understand before you buy, and it is not the view. It is the way out.
Where It Is
On The Ridge, Above The Town.
Cochrane sits about eighteen kilometres west of Calgary, where Highway 1A and Highway 22 meet. Sunset Ridge is the north side of it, east of Highway 22, up on the rise above the Bow River valley. That elevation is the whole selling point: from the right streets you are looking west at the Rockies rather than at your neighbour’s fence.
The area structure plan was approved in 2005. Stage 1 was built by Tirion. Melcor took over from Stage 2, approved in 2011, and is still releasing lots today. So the community spans roughly twenty years of construction, and the street you buy on tells you a lot about which era of home you are getting.
The Housing Mix
Fee simple townhomes, semi detached, laned and front drive single family, and semi estate homes with double front garages. A genuine spread of price points inside one community, which is unusual in Cochrane.
The Schools
Both are physically in the community. RancheView School, Rocky View Schools, kindergarten to grade 8, opened in 2016. St. Timothy, Calgary Catholic, grades 9 to 12, opened in 2004. Catchments change, so confirm the current boundary before you buy on a school.
The Amenities
A central park built around a six acre pond with a fountain, more than five kilometres of lit multi use pathways, playgrounds and an outdoor exercise circuit. The Trading Post handles the daily errands: gas, country market, pharmacy, restaurants, dental.
The Fine Print
There is a mandatory homeowners association here, registered as a caveat on title. It is not optional and it transfers to you on possession. Recently estimated around $146 a year plus GST, billed 1 January. Ask for the current operating budget.
On The Market
Sunset Ridge Homes For Sale.
Live MLS® listings in Sunset Ridge, updated throughout the day. Resale only: builder inventory in the newer phases is sold directly and does not always appear here.
Be Honest With Yourself
There Is Effectively One Way Out.
Sunset Ridge’s main access is Sunset Boulevard onto Highway 22. Residents have said on the record that they have one exit. The alternate is a run around by Highway 567 and Lochend Road, which is not a commute, it is a detour.
A permanent second access has been planned for years. It depends on the Stage 4 lands north of Melcor’s phases, annexed by the Town in 2019 and owned by a different developer. Enabling that second access is the stated primary purpose of that project, and as things stand it is still in planning rather than built.
If you are buying here, ask where the second access stands today. Not what is planned. What is approved, funded and scheduled.
The related piece of good news is real. The Highway 1A and Highway 22 interchange was rebuilt starting in May 2023: 1A widened from two lanes to four, new bridges over Big Hill Creek, the rail overpass replaced. Before the work started that intersection was carrying an average of more than 29,000 vehicles a day. Permanent speed limits through it came into effect on 17 July 2026 and the Town anticipated completion that summer. It improves the run between Sunset Boulevard and the highways considerably. It does not change the number of exits out of the community.
Two more things worth saying plainly. The community centre shown in the marketing renderings has not been built and has no published timeline. And Sunset Ridge is still under construction, with grading underway to the east, so on some streets you are buying next to a build site for a while yet.
Our Track Record
What We’ve Sold In Sunset Ridge.
Four, out of eight across Cochrane since 2017. Cochrane is not our home market and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What we will do is show you the whole of a small record rather than the flattering part of it.
Yes, 75 Sunset Park is on that list twice. We sold it in June 2021 in twenty three days, and again in November 2022 in forty nine. Same house, sixteen months apart, and it took more than twice as long the second time. That is not a comment on the home. It is what the market did between those two dates, and it is the single most useful thing on this page if you are pricing a Sunset Ridge home today.
Fourteen days to forty nine days is the honest range across our listings here. Four sales is a small sample and we will not dress it up as a community average. For that, ask us and we will run the current Sunset Ridge numbers properly.
The full map of what we have sold lives here: more than five hundred homes since 2017, most of them in Airdrie and Calgary. The rest of this town is in our Cochrane guide, and every community we write about is in Gorgeous Communities.
Good To Know
Sunset Ridge Questions.
Where is Sunset Ridge in Cochrane?
On the north side of town, east of Highway 22, up on the ridge above the Bow River valley. Cochrane itself is about eighteen kilometres west of Calgary, where Highway 1A and Highway 22 meet.
What schools are in Sunset Ridge?
Two, both inside the community. RancheView School is Rocky View Schools, kindergarten to grade 8, and opened in 2016. St. Timothy is Calgary Catholic, grades 9 to 12, and opened in 2004. The sign on St. Timothy still reads junior and senior high, but it runs 9 to 12. Catchments change, so confirm the current boundary with the board if a specific school is driving your decision.
Is there an HOA in Sunset Ridge?
Yes, and it is mandatory. It is registered as a caveat on title, it runs with the land, and it transfers to you when you buy. Recent estimates put it around $146 a year plus GST, billed on 1 January, but the amount varies by lot and the association publishes an annual operating budget. Ask for the current one rather than relying on a figure you read somewhere.
Does Sunset Ridge have a traffic problem?
The community has effectively one exit, Sunset Boulevard onto Highway 22, and a permanent second access has been planned for years without being built. The Highway 1A and 22 interchange rebuilt from 2023 has genuinely improved the run once you are off the ridge, but it did not add an exit. Drive it at your real departure time, on a weekday, before you commit.
Is Sunset Ridge finished being built?
No. The area structure plan dates to 2005 and Melcor is still releasing lots, with further stages north of the current phases still in planning. Expect construction traffic, and check what is approved on the land around any lot you are looking at rather than what is merely proposed.
How does Cochrane compare on price to Calgary and Airdrie?
In July 2026 the detached benchmark price was $659,400 in Cochrane, $743,900 in Calgary and $603,100 in Airdrie, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board. So Cochrane sat below Calgary and above Airdrie, with all three easing year over year. Those are town wide figures, not Sunset Ridge figures.
Is there a grocery store in Sunset Ridge?
Not a full one. The Trading Post inside the community covers gas, a country market, a pharmacy and a few restaurants, which handles most of the daily run. A full grocery shop means driving down into the rest of Cochrane.
Thinking About Sunset Ridge?
Tell us which street and which phase you are looking at, and we will tell you what we would want to know before signing. Tara Molina Real Estate Group, Royal LePage Benchmark.