Torontos Closed/Abandoned Trails

[abp10]

I wanted to make some kind of post about this somewhere to be able to document trails that are closed down and left unmaintained in Toronto. I definitely am someone to find it unusual and cool to find stuff like this in the city so I thought I would post whatever in this thread

The first trail that I want to document was formerly called "Crack Of Don". As it's name, it's pretty much on the crack of the don in my opinion lol. Squeezed right in between the little ravine space along the highway

The trail took a route like this (just sketching off another photo with active trails posted), and ran from the playter gardens parkette at cambridge and danforth to intersecting with the trail "Dave Money Hill"

Heres one of a couple videos of someone riding this trail. In the title it says "while clearing the trees", lol

As the way onto the trail keeps opening and closing (shown in the pictures below) recently I found the fence cut open, once again. Also a bit more homelessness taking place in this area compared to the last time I was here

It still seems like the city hasn't opened this trail and probably has no plans to as the trail sits extremely unmaintained. Not sure if it's unrideable because I don't bike, I hike, but there's definitely a lot of branches throughout the trail and sometimes it's hard to even make out a route. Last picture is on the "Dave Money Hill" trail as you can clearly see the whole section intersecting with "Crack of Don" is barricaded off by branches

Overall this is one of my favorite trails to hike in the city and it's unfortunate that nothing has been done for the past few years. Glad I could post this somewhere

 

[abp10]

Another one that I also wanted to post is the trail "Braaapyard". My favorite trail in the city until the darn Ontario Line...

Heres a picture of the trails route except I don't have to sketch it this time, except I'll mark where the trail has been excavated and divided, due to the construction of the Minton Portal

That leaves the beginning portion of Braaapyard, abandoned? I mean what's there to ride or hike to now unless you feel like hiking through the site

Not that I expected to be some kind of notice, this was just another hidden Toronto trail, but now they've put up a really lousy fence to what I assume is an indication that the trail is closed

Even though you can easily get around the fence (or just knock it down if you feel like it) you will eventually run into the site

So unfortunately for me, the trail is pretty much gone now. But there is one more thing that is kind of unique about this trail.

It features an abandoned shed!!! (sounds like I'm being sarcastic but this is the first and only boarded up shed I've seen by far in the city on a trail)

Like I said at first, this is my favorite trail, and unfortunately for me it's not the same since the construction. But I am happy about the Ontario line itself, don't get me wrong now, I'm glad that there's progress being made (but please open the Eglinton line first)

 

[Northern Light]

@abp10 in respect of the first trail you posted, I can confirm that the City has actively worked to close this, repeatedly. They had serious concerns about erosion and other damage to the forest, and repeatedly blocked the trail (as people unblocked it) until those who were 'maintaining' it stopped.

The City is willing to allow mountain bike trails if it deems them maintained, safe and not damaging to rare plants.

In the past at least, the had a partner in the IMBA (International Mountain Bikers Association)

I'm not sure if they are still an active partner.

Crothers Woods has trails formally designated for Mountain Biking.

 

[abp10]

@abp10 in respect of the first trail you posted, I can confirm that the City has actively worked to close this, repeatedly. They had serious concerns about erosion and other damage to the forest, and repeatedly blocked the trail (as people unblocked it) until those who were 'maintaining' it stopped.

The City is willing to allow mountain bike trails if it deems them maintained, safe and not damaging to rare plants.

In the past at least, the had a partner in the IMBA (International Mountain Bikers Association)

I'm not sure if they are still an active partner.

Crothers Woods has trails formally designated for Mountain Biking.

I only really learned about the trail because of the entrance at Chester Hill Lookout leads to a spot in the middle of the trail with a lot of tags, and where I presume people go to smoke and do whatever

There used to be a whole lot more but somebody does come and clean the graffiti off these walls or whatever their use is

Anyways thanks for the information, I haven't done a super deep search but I've always been curious why and if the trail will ever open again

 

[Mr.Tang]

I have time for legitimate erosion concerns - but saving "rare plants" is the kind of plants before people wokism that gets the average person shaking their head. There is not a lot of natural space in our city, and we should be making every effort to enable people to enjoy those spaces. There are millions of square kilometers of empty land in the rest of Ontario for people to covet if they feel the need. The ravine system of Toronto is really one of its best features. We sort of try to promote and boost it - but mostly we let it fill with rubbish and forever close sections down to be fixed up some years later at eye watering cost - but in the meantime just put up a fence and make sure no one can enjoy it. (possibly unfair rant - but topic touched a nerve)

 

[Northern Light]

I have time for legitimate erosion concerns -

Good.

but saving "rare plants" is the kind of plants before people wokism that gets the average person shaking their head.

Disagree strongly. Don't think wokism factors in at all. Science does.

Toronto is actually a relatively rare spot in the province ecologically, because we are roughly where the Boreal Zone (most of Ontario north of us, dominated by evergreens) meets the Carolinian Zone. Dominated by Maples and Oaks etc.

Toronto has a some unique places, and the ravines have not been well cared for.....many plant species are quite rare, and not found elsewhere in the province and/or are rare in the GTA.

Protecting these does not cause anyone any material inconvenience.

In this case, the adjacent area is the Todmorden Wildflower Preserve, which means there are dedicated volunteers who work hard to maintain and restore species of all types and they understandably don't want literally 30 years of work ruined by careless path builders who don't know what they are looking at.

There is not a lot of natural space in our city, and we should be making every effort to enable people to enjoy those spaces.

Sure. But creating a formal path here, depending on starting and ending points, somewhere between 1-3km, would involve building retaining walls, small bridges over seeps, stairs/ramps or switchback entrances and exits to make safer paths for people. Etc. Its not a small matter, and would likely cost well into 7-figures.

I favour more formal hiking trails in addition to cycle paths, and more entrance/exits, but one has to understand, Parks/Forestry already has a backlog of work of hundreds of millions of dollars, and that's without any 'enhanced services'.

There are millions of square kilometers of empty land in the rest of Ontario for people to covet if they feel the need. The ravine system of Toronto is really one of its best features. We sort of try to promote and boost it - but mostly we let it fill with rubbish and forever close sections down to be fixed up some years later at eye watering cost - but in the meantime just put up a fence and make sure no one can enjoy it. (possibly unfair rant - but topic touched a nerve)

As noted above, I think you're being a bit unfair. Its more complicated than that. Yes, they do screw it up at times. That's not okay, but you're painting with too broad a brush.

 

[DSCToronto]

I have time for legitimate erosion concerns - but saving "rare plants" is the kind of plants before people wokism that gets the average person shaking their head. There is not a lot of natural space in our city, and we should be making every effort to enable people to enjoy those spaces. There are millions of square kilometers of empty land in the rest of Ontario for people to covet if they feel the need. The ravine system of Toronto is really one of its best features. We sort of try to promote and boost it - but mostly we let it fill with rubbish and forever close sections down to be fixed up some years later at eye watering cost - but in the meantime just put up a fence and make sure no one can enjoy it. (possibly unfair rant - but topic touched a nerve)

The reason many people love the ravines is because they are wild and have rare plants etc. as @Northern Light says, a formal path (in particular one for walkers and mountain bikers) will be very intrusive. Nobody is suggesting fencing the ravines off but there is a need to restrict the number of trails. Like others, I certainly favour better upkeep of the ravines and think our limited funds should go on upkeep before we start expanding paths and trails.

 

[smallspy]

The City is willing to allow mountain bike trails if it deems them maintained, safe and not damaging to rare plants.

This is the key here.

The City has willingfully turned a blind eye to the trails and their builders, provided the trails were generally routed in such a way that kept things safe. And even then, there have been some trails (such as PA) which have skirted the safety lines but remained open, likely due to their rider volumes.

The only exception that I can think of to this were the former trails and jump tracks in High Park - but they were replaced by the officially sanctioned (and funded) facility built at Lakeshore and Ellis.

In the past at least, the had a partner in the IMBA (International Mountain Bikers Association)

I'm not sure if they are still an active partner.

To be fair, the IMBA was never really a full and willing partner. And they never needed to be, as the City was content to let things be.

Crothers Woods has trails formally designated for Mountain Biking.

And remain the only officially sanctioned trails to this day.

Dan

 

[abp10]

Another overgrown and unmaintained trail that branches off into other small trails that I found on a recent hike. At first glance your treated by a paved trail, though you can tell that it hasn't really been cleaned up what so ever. I do not have a picture to show of
that unfortunately, but heres a not so clear google maps shot

You then come across a couple old, cool, abandoned pumphouses. Would be nice if anyone wants to share any history on them

While I kept hiking down this trail, the overgrowth only got worse and worse, with tons of obstacles along the path

It got to the point where I ended up getting lost, unable to make out any trails, at least not without having to push through leaf's, branches, and trek through piles of mud. By no means do I expect these trails to be clean whatsoever but when you can't make out a path and have to keep climbing over branches? Normally when I go on hikes on documented trails I'm able to walk somewhat comfortably

For a bit of insight, the black line I drew is where I walked up to the point that I didn't think it was a good idea to continue as it only kept getting harder and harder to make progress through these woods. I added the X mark since as far as I could tell (I didn't bother checking to be honest), that trail is active and is fine to go on. As you can see from the picture, the trail is right off the west of Don Mills Road, off Duncan Mill Road

 

[Carpe Diem]

Good.



Disagree strongly. Don't think wokism factors in at all. Science does.

Toronto is actually a relatively rare spot in the province ecologically, because we are roughly where the Boreal Zone (most of Ontario north of us, dominated by evergreens) meets the Carolinian Zone. Dominated by Maples and Oaks etc.

Toronto has a some unique places, and the ravines have not been well cared for.....many plant species are quite rare, and not found elsewhere in the province and/or are rare in the GTA.

Protecting these does not cause anyone any material inconvenience.

In this case, the adjacent area is the Todmorden Wildflower Preserve, which means there are dedicated volunteers who work hard to maintain and restore species of all types and they understandably don't want literally 30 years of work ruined by careless path builders who don't know what they are looking at.



Sure. But creating a formal path here, depending on starting and ending points, somewhere between 1-3km, would involve building retaining walls, small bridges over seeps, stairs/ramps or switchback entrances and exits to make safer paths for people. Etc. Its not a small matter, and would likely cost well into 7-figures.

I favour more formal hiking trails in addition to cycle paths, and more entrance/exits, but one has to understand, Parks/Forestry already has a backlog of work of hundreds of millions of dollars, and that's without any 'enhanced services'.



As noted above, I think you're being a bit unfair. Its more complicated than that. Yes, they do screw it up at times. That's not okay, but you're painting with too broad a brush.

As a user of this trail, the characterization of the problem being erosion, from a singletrack walking/bike trail, seems like an exaggeration of what actaully cause erosion on a slope of that size. I know where the trail originates off the Bloor Viaduct until just past Chester Hill was a very well constructed bench cut trail with few switchbacks. Water would run off it well, and the builder knew what they were doing. The area was full of litter and largely unmaintained by anyone prior to the trail being constructed. After construction, it saw great use from mountain bikers, trail runners, hikers, and dog walkers. What's too bad is the idea of an urban trail originating on one of the busiest roads in the country, and following one of the busiest highways in the country, could be such a point of pride for the city. I know when I would ride it with people from out of town they were blown away, the encampment that took over the park beside the entrance notwithstanding.

If I am not mistaken, where the real opposition and calls for closure came in, was regarding the terminus of the trail at Todmordern Mills. The trail crossed over a low lying muddy area and then met up with the highly eroded Dave Money Downhill, which gives folks access off Broadview. I believe the Todomorden folks felt this area was environmentally sensitive. To Mr.Tang's point, its hard to see this as a lay person, because in general the slopes of the ravine the Don Valley are in are filled with garbage and Dog-strangling vine. Generally, when a well constructed trail is compelted, it gets more user into the outdoors and engaged in protecting the natural environment. Anything that can be done to get people outside in a major metro city is a positive. Though i would suggest there could easily have been a well built compromise to not damage the species in the area. What comes to mind is a slightly elevated wooden bridge to ride and walk across the bog, allowing water to travel underneath, and things to continue to grow, ensuring no one steps on them.

A side note on the Todmorden Wildflower Preserve, I've used the trail in there a lot, and read the history of it's origin. I appreciate that a lot of work has gone into it, but the whole area could use so much more investment and maintenance. It's a brillant outdoor space. and it is very underutilized relative to the size of the city and surrounding neighbourhood. The wildflower area specifically off the back of the parking lot seems to pale in comparison to it's original size and glory. In general the arguments used to shut things down strike me as simply favouring keeping things the way they area, rather than embracing change.

 

[Northern Light]

As a user of this trail, the characterization of the problem being erosion, from a singletrack walking/bike trail, seems like an exaggeration of what actaully cause erosion on a slope of that size. I know where the trail originates off the Bloor Viaduct until just past Chester Hill was a very well constructed bench cut trail with few switchbacks. Water would run off it well, and the builder knew what they were doing. The area was full of litter and largely unmaintained by anyone prior to the trail being constructed. After construction, it saw great use from mountain bikers, trail runners, hikers, and dog walkers. What's too bad is the idea of an urban trail originating on one of the busiest roads in the country, and following one of the busiest highways in the country, could be such a point of pride for the city. I know when I would ride it with people from out of town they were blown away, the encampment that took over the park beside the entrance notwithstanding.

If I am not mistaken, where the real opposition and calls for closure came in, was regarding the terminus of the trail at Todmordern Mills. The trail crossed over a low lying muddy area and then met up with the highly eroded Dave Money Downhill, which gives folks access off Broadview. I believe the Todomorden folks felt this area was environmentally sensitive. To Mr.Tang's point, its hard to see this as a lay person, because in general the slopes of the ravine the Don Valley are in are filled with garbage and Dog-strangling vine. Generally, when a well constructed trail is compelted, it gets more user into the outdoors and engaged in protecting the natural environment. Anything that can be done to get people outside in a major metro city is a positive. Though i would suggest there could easily have been a well built compromise to not damage the species in the area. What comes to mind is a slightly elevated wooden bridge to ride and walk across the bog, allowing water to travel underneath, and things to continue to grow, ensuring no one steps on them.

A side note on the Todmorden Wildflower Preserve, I've used the trail in there a lot, and read the history of it's origin. I appreciate that a lot of work has gone into it, but the whole area could use so much more investment and maintenance. It's a brillant outdoor space. and it is very underutilized relative to the size of the city and surrounding neighbourhood. The wildflower area specifically off the back of the parking lot seems to pale in comparison to it's original size and glory. In general the arguments used to shut things down strike me as simply favouring keeping things the way they area, rather than embracing change.

I know the Wildflower Preserve people quite well.

If you happen to persuade the City to offer them several million dollars to upgrade trails on/off property and to adding additional plantings and boardwalks, I'm sure they'll be happy to have that discussion.

As it stands, its a volunteer effort of a small number of dedicated people who periodically get TD FEF grant or the like for $5,000, and use some proceeds from plant sales to fund plant purchases. Large scale capital projects are outside their reach. There certainly would be a desire, if such money became available to have the design choices vetted by the Preserve, to ensure minimal damage and net benefit; but I don't think you would see any hard, reactionary, opposition.

 

[doady]

I have time for legitimate erosion concerns - but saving "rare plants" is the kind of plants before people wokism that gets the average person shaking their head. There is not a lot of natural space in our city, and we should be making every effort to enable people to enjoy those spaces. There are millions of square kilometers of empty land in the rest of Ontario for people to covet if they feel the need. The ravine system of Toronto is really one of its best features. We sort of try to promote and boost it - but mostly we let it fill with rubbish and forever close sections down to be fixed up some years later at eye watering cost - but in the meantime just put up a fence and make sure no one can enjoy it. (possibly unfair rant - but topic touched a nerve)

The far-left woke mob attacking straight white males has been sad enough, but now they are attacking Toronto's trail system. What will be their next victim? The Don Valley Parkway?

 

[MisterF]

Toronto is actually a relatively rare spot in the province ecologically, because we are roughly where the Boreal Zone (most of Ontario north of us, dominated by evergreens) meets the Carolinian Zone. Dominated by Maples and Oaks etc.

To be a bit more specific, the forests north of Toronto are mostly mixed with both coniferous and deciduous trees. You don't get into the boreal forest for several hundred kilometres north of Toronto, well into Northern Ontario.

https://www.ontario.ca/document/forest-resources-ontario-2021/geographic-profiles

 

[Northern Light]

To be a bit more specific, the forests north of Toronto are mostly mixed with both coniferous and deciduous trees. You don't get into the boreal forest for several hundred kilometres north of Toronto, well into Northern Ontario.

https://www.ontario.ca/document/forest-resources-ontario-2021/geographic-profiles

Fair, though to add to that, the GLSL forest region is literally defined as transition zone which large pockets of forest have Carolinean hallmarks, smaller pockets have Boreal hallmarks (as defined by species type and soil type) while some exhibit a hybrid state. Though, many Carolinean species are rare to non-existent in the transition zone (Tulip Tree, Paw Paw, Wood Poppy etc.) but most (not all) Boreal species are present.