Hikes

High Park


Just the Facts about hiking at High Park:

High Park main hike website
High Park google maps location
High Park hiking trails?? KM
High Park Distance to TorontoInside Toronto

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 - Swan
A Swan. These guys a HUGE! I wouldn't want to mess with one.

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. 

High Park - Maple leaf field

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.

High Park was actually a lot nicer that I though it would be. We went on the first warm long weekend, which was a total mistake (it was crazy busy), but the park was beautiful, and a great place to view some wildlife in the middle of Toronto.
High Park has it's own little Zoo. Nothing really exotic, but you can hear the peacocks screaming right through the park!
High Park - Elk High Park - Capybara, Worlds largest rodent High Park - Muskox
This is a Capybara. It's the worlds largest Rodent. (Don't worry, it's not indigenous to Ontario!)
High Park - Chineese lantern sculpture
High Park - Gardens
There were some great little mini park areas inside High Park. The two pictures here are from separate Areas. Both had fountain (not operating yet). Should be stunning once summer hits fully.
High Park - small birld
High Park - Cardinal High Park - Canadian Goose
A Cardinal. Probably the least seen bird of the bunch (in T.O any ways). These guys are very secrative, so it's hard to get a good shot of one. If you want to see a better picture, you can view our Hendrie page
High park is an amazing place to see a variety of animals (mostly birds) in one small place... right in the middle of the city!

A Female Red-winged blackbird

A Canadian Goose. (We have been getting people on the web site from some far away places... Thought it might be neat for them.) All the birds here are fairly common in Canada.
High Park - Black and orange bird
Why not try Geocaching at High Park?

Official Geocaching Website

What's geocaching?