Our Top 10 Toronto Parks (in no particular order)

1)      Bluffer’s Park, foot of Brimley Road: It’s beautiful — those cliffs! — and it’s lakeside, which means you can always stick a toe in to cool off. There are wonderful trails and marshlands, and it’s just commercial enough so that you can buy an ice cream cone without being completely overtaken by constructs. The beach is sandy and the parking abundant — if you take the TTC, remember it’s a steep uphill two kilometres from the beach back to the nearest bus stop.

 2)    Corktown Common, West Don Lands, Toronto: The not-that-long-ago Don River Park renamed is a feather in the cap of Waterfront Toronto (from whom the Feds should learn some lessons re: Downsview; see below), Corktown Common boasts more than 700 trees and thousands of shrubs and grasses. It just opened last year, built on 18 acres of post-industrial ugliness. The $135 million park is loaded with paths and provides access to dozens of additional trails. Playgrounds, splash pad, athletic field, benches, boardwalk, public art, doggie park, you name it — and when you get tired of nature, head to the nearby Distillery District (or, in a couple of years, Canary District) for some retail therapy and a beverage break.

3)      Rouge Park, Finch/Meadowvale: Self-anointed as “Canada’s premier urban wilderness park,” le Rouge does indeed make for some great hiking grounds. It’s the largest natural environment park in an urban area in North America according to the website. Huge wetlands, important watersheds, forests, meadows, ponds, and all tucked away in the east end. Gotta love this city.

 4)     High Park, Bloor West: The cherry blossoms are blooming a stone’s throw from Toronto’s tony Bloor West Village. High Park features ducks, geese and hiking trails aplenty along Grenadier Pond, a popular off-leash dog park, an adventure playground, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, a restaurant, a mini zoo, and picnic areas. You’ll likely catch Shakespeare at work in the summer.

5)      Evergreen Brick Works, Bayview Avenue: It’s actually a “community environmental centre” but there are lots of park elements, including the 40-acre former clay and shale quarry that surrounds the brick works and features ponds and nature trails. There’s also a bike shop, children’s garden, clayworks, Koerner Gardens (which is an open-air garden in summer and a skating pad in winter), and a covered outdoor event space that on summer weekends hosts a farmers’ market.

6)    Ashbridge’s Bay, Lake Shore/Coxwell: Beach volleyball, walking trails, and one of the nicest beaches in the city in Woodbine Beach. Groovy skateboard park too. You can hop on the Martin Goodman Trail from the north end of the park.

7)      James Gardens, Etobicoke: More than a hundred years in the making, James Gardens is one of our more genteel options. Terraced pathways, lawn bowling (with membership), mature trees and flowers by the score. The Tommy Thompson Trail, which runs through the park, connects to Lambton Woods and Scarlett Mills parks.

 8)     Edwards Gardens, Lawrence/Leslie: Another gorgeous place to commune with the flowers and a former estate garden, head here to stop and smell the roses, literally. Arboretum, children’s teaching garden and the Toronto Botanical Gardens — 12 contemporary themed gardens over four acres — make it worth the visit.

 9)      Toronto Music Garden, Queen’s Quay/Bathurst: Dubbed “a reflection in landscape of Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major for unaccompanied cello, BWV 1007,” Toronto Music Garden was designed by internationally lauded cellist Yo Yo Ma and landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy. Features Summer Music in the Garden performances in the hot months. Each dance movement in Bach’s piece is explorable here on foot, including an “undulating riverscape” for the prelude, an arced conifer grove for the sarabande, formal flower garden for the minutes, and a swirling path through a wildflower meadow for the courante.

10)     HtO Park, Harbourfront: Designed by landscape architect Janet Rosenberg, Quebecois architect Claude Cormier and Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects (who have been responsible for some of our nicest condos), HtO features elements of park, beach, and golf course, with a huge sandpit full of Muskoka chairs and bright yellow umbrellas inspired by Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Cultured bunch, aren’t we? LED lights illuminate the park knolls after dark. Modern and man-made, this is a thoroughly urban park.

Also ran: Downsview Park, Keele & Sheppard: Downsview covers a whopping 572 acres on one of the city’s highest elevations, with more than half the site now developed. Downsview is embroiled in controversy right now, with Public Works Minister Diane Finley recently denying the rumour that the park may be sold to the city. In the Star this week, Christopher Hume says that in the years to come, the Feds will “take a beating” over Downsview, “one brought on entirely by its own clumsiness.” It does mean this space isn’t all it could be by a long shot, but it still has size on its side, and very often some tempting goings-on. Check the website to see if there’s anything to tempt you.

My feature article from last week explored the benefits of living next to parks. Click here to view it!

Feature image via Torontonianonline.com