High Park

When some people think of Toronto , they immediately think ‘nightlife,’ ‘CN Tower,’ ‘Go Leafs!’… tending to focus on the entertainment that the city has to offer rather than the quality natural environments that Toronto has so well maintained.  From Sunnybrook to Edwards Gardens , there are so many wonderful and impressive green spaces in the city.  A friend of mine who was visiting a few weeks back actually made a point of the fact that Toronto has so many trees and parks. The really great thing about High Park is that it’s centrally located and TTC accessible. 

Well, on the first warm Saturday of this year, we decided to really check out High Park —not just walk in for a few moments and then out again—really check out the walking paths, pond, the gardens, and the zoo!  Now, I’ve completed the Terry Fox Run through the park and I was still amazed at all of the things that I hadn’t yet seen. 

This time, we invited our friends Chelli and Shane along for the afternoon—though Shane is an area resident who already knew about all the cool places in High Park (he was a good sport about letting us figure things out on our own ).   We hopped on the walking path that guided us down Grenadier pond’s edge and we were happily greeted by swans and ducks.  Further up the path, we caught site of some other unique birds (that weren’t so easy to get on camera).

High Park has such a great selection of things to visit and do:  The Jamie Bell Adventure Playground (a volunteer-built playground), Hillside Gardens (comprised of three separate garden areas), Colborne Lodge (historic cottage built in 1837), Trackless Train (a 25-minute scenic tour of the park that runs from 10:30 to dusk during the summer months), sports fields, tennis courts, swimming pool, and plenty of picnic areas.  This park is a VERY popular spot for group and family picnics!  There’s also a very eatery—Sunflower Café—in the center of the park.

A little known fact—The Ontario Foundation for Visually Impaired Children operates a school out of High Park .  The school offers a daily group program for Toronto children between the ages of 2 and 5 who have a visual impairment. 

After exploring the gardens, the trails, the ponds and a few of the picnic areas, we were ready to visit the zoo!  I was expecting a few domestic, farm-like animals but was pleasantly surprised to find a few unique animals.  I believe my favourites were the Highland cattle and the capybara (the world’s largest rodent).  If you visit the zoo, PLEASE remember that you shouldn’t feed the animals.  They will take your food but it doesn’t mean that they are hungry or that it’s good for them!  As a matter of fact, most animals are on a controlled diet and feeding them can make them very sick.  While we were there a very ignorant man decided to give a COW (a vegetarian) the last bite of his son’s hot dog—how frustrating and wrong!  So, please exercise restraint when visiting the zoo.

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