🌳 Walking tour · 2 of 3
The Roncesvalles rare-tree pilgrimage
3.5 km through Roncesvalles, Parkdale and the High Park edge — three of Toronto's quietly extraordinary trees, in one loop
This walk connects three very different trees, each an outlier. A Carolinian fruit tree we have only one of. An elm that outlived its species' pandemic. A grove of Japanese cherries gifted to the city in 1959 that became its most-photographed trees. They are all within a one-kilometre radius, and all on the normal sidewalk grid — none require going off-trail into a ravine or onto private land.
The stops
Start — Dundas West subway
Exit south. Walk south on Dundas West toward Howard Park. You're now at the top of Roncesvalles, which will be your route for ten minutes.
Roncesvalles Ave — the spine
South on Roncesvalles. Busy commercial street, Polish-Canadian heritage (note the World War II monument at Geoffrey), lots of bakeries and cafés. Walk south to Howard Park. Turn west.
The pawpaw — Asimina triloba
📍 39 Macdonell Ave · Street View
This is the only pawpaw on Toronto's 689,000-tree street inventory. Pawpaw is native to the Carolinian forests of southern Ontario but almost never planted. It produces the largest native fruit in North America — a custard-fleshed pod that tastes like mango-banana-vanilla and spoils within three days of ripening, which is why you've probably never eaten one. In September look for the fruit; otherwise just the heart-shaped, droopy, tropical-looking leaves, which tell you this tree is not supposed to be here.
West on Queen, south on Lansdowne or the direct alleys
Cross Queen Street West at Lansdowne. Walk south and west through Parkdale's residential streets. You're heading for West Lodge Avenue — the stretch closest to King Street.
The American elm survivor — Ulmus americana
📍 103 West Lodge Ave · Street View
A trunk 190 cm thick. Probably 120 years old. Most of Toronto's American elms died in the Dutch elm disease waves of the 1960s–70s — the stately elm-lined avenues that gave Toronto its "city in a forest" nickname a century ago. This one didn't. The city keeps it alive with periodic fungicide injections. Look for the distinctive vase-shaped crown that used to line University Avenue and St. Clair. You're looking at the Toronto that was.
Into High Park — Parkside Dr & Colborne Lodge Dr
Walk north on Roncesvalles or Keele, west on Bloor, and enter High Park at its east gate. Walk south on Colborne Lodge Drive.
The sakura grove — Colborne Lodge Dr
📍 Colborne Lodge Dr, High Park · Google Maps
Eighty-seven Japanese cherries (Prunus serrulata), planted in stages since the 1959 gift from the Japanese ambassador. This is Toronto's most famous tree grove. In bloom week (last ten days of April in a typical year), it is also Toronto's most crowded. Out of bloom, it's a quiet tree-lined park road. Either version is a fine place to end a walk. When you're done, exit the park at Bloor/High Park and take the subway home.
Practical notes
Timing: year-round. The cherries peak in late April — go then if you want the famous scene, or pick any other time if you don't want the crowd. The pawpaw is at its most recognisable in May (flowers) and September (fruit).
TTC: start at Dundas West station (Line 2), end at High Park station (Line 2).
Terrain: flat, all sidewalk. The High Park section is paved park road.
See also: the Oakwood cherry-belt walk (the quieter and more cherry-dense alternative) and the Rosedale veteran-trees walk (for October, when the bur oaks turn russet).