🌿 Ravine walk · Don Valley
The Don Valley ramble — Brick Works to Chorley Park
Toronto's signature ravine, from the restored Brick Works wetland through Crothers Woods to the Chorley Park overlook
The Don Valley is Toronto's longest, deepest, most protected ravine — forty metres below grade at the Prince Edward Viaduct, running most of the way from the lake to the city limits. This walk starts at the Evergreen Brick Works, climbs through one of the most intact remnants of native forest left in the city, and ends on the Rosedale cliff at Chorley Park. You will not see many street trees. You will see white pine, sugar maple, red oak, American beech, and a hundred other native species that do not exist in the street-tree inventory this site runs on.
The stops
Start — Evergreen Brick Works
A former brickyard turned city park, wetland restoration site, and Saturday market. The quarry cliff behind the complex is one of the cleanest visible exposures of the Scarborough Bluffs formation in the city — half a million years of glacial history in one wall. Several of the specimen native plantings here are among the most intentional in Toronto.
Lower Don Trail
From the Brick Works, pick up the Lower Don Trail heading south. The river is beside you. White cedar and silver maple dominate the flood-plain; there's a real kingfisher population along this stretch and cormorants further down.
Crothers Woods
Cut west from the Lower Don Trail up into Crothers Woods — one of the most intact hardwood forest fragments left anywhere in the old city. Mature red and white oak, sugar maple, American beech, and, in the understory, wood poppy, Virginia bluebells, Jack-in-the-pulpit. Watch for pileated woodpeckers; they're regular here.
Milkman's Lane
Continue west through Moore Park Ravine to Milkman's Lane — the steep historical cartway that climbs from the valley floor up to Rosedale. It is named, yes, after the route Rosedale milkmen used to descend into the valley with milk. The stairs at the top are relentless but short.
End — Chorley Park overlook
The park sits on the edge of the Rosedale cliff, directly above where you just were. The view east across the Don Valley is the best free panorama in the city. From here it's a ten-minute walk west on Roxborough Dr to Castle Frank subway, or north on Douglas Dr to Rosedale station.
Practical notes
Timing: best in late September through late October for fall colour. Also excellent in May for wildflower understory. Avoid after heavy rain — the Lower Don Trail floods.
TTC: Start at Broadview station (Line 2), then bus 28 or walk 15 min south-east to the Brick Works. End at Castle Frank or Rosedale station (Line 2 / Line 1). On weekends a free shuttle runs between Broadview station and the Brick Works.
Terrain: unpaved trail, some stairs at Milkman's Lane (~30 m climb). Not stroller-friendly past the Brick Works. Good walking shoes recommended.
See also the other ravine walks: Warden Woods → Taylor Creek Park and Humber Marshes → Old Mill.