Ah, fall. It’s one of the best seasons of the years. There’s nothing like that fresh, crisp air. The changing of the leaves. Getting to wear cozy sweaters. There’s this fantastic sense of change in the air. And it absolutely does not hurt that it’s so stunningly gorgeous! The weather here has been very unpredictable so the Toronto fall is only really arriving now which is definitely strange. BUT, it does mean there’s still time to get out and see some foliage! So read on for my favourite locations to see some amazing colours around Toronto.
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Downsview Park
Downsview Park is a rare occurrence in Toronto in the sense that it’s a big park with lots of amenities but it’s not actually a city run park. The park is run by Canada Lands and there are businesses operating within the park. There are several trails you can follow along the park. Personally, the highlights for colours are the big trees surrounding the pond but you will come across stand alone trees with brilliant displays of colours as well.
How to get here: Downsview Park station and walk or the 41 bus passes right by the park along Keele Street.
Milliken Park
Located in Scarborough, Milliken is a big park right at the intersection of Steeles and McCowan. There’s some playgrounds, as well as a pond and a community center to enjoy. There’s a nice trail around the boundary of the park as well as a trail that cuts through. There’s some picnic shelters and lots of grassy areas which makes it a popular place for gatherings.
How to get here: The 53, 129, 130A and 953A buses all run close to the park.
Crowther Woods
Crowther Woods is a fantastic hiking area along the Don Valley Parkway. There’s a number of different trails of varying difficulties to choose from and it goes through the forests which makes for an excellent place to see fall colours.
How to get here: The 56 bus passes close enough to the starts of the trails
Sunnybrook Park
Sunnybrook Park is located along Leslie Street between Eglinton and Lawrence. It’s bordered by other parks like Wilket Creek Park and Serena Grundy Park. It’s a super popular park for picnics and barbecues and you’ll see lots of people sitting and enjoying the park in big groups. There’s trails throughout the park to enjoy while looking for the colours.
How to get here: The 51, 54A, 54B, 34A, 34C and 162 bus lines will all get you close to the park’s entrance.
Chester Hill Lookout
Chester Hill Lookout is a viewpoint located at the end of Chester Hill Road (off of Broadview Avenue). It provides a great view of the valley as well as the downtown skyline and when the fall colours are on the view is really nice.
The lookout is in a residential area so please be respectful of the people living in the houses right next to the lookout.
How to get here: Walk from Broadview station or any of the 25B, 87A, 100A, 62 or 8 bus lines will stop close to the beginning of Chester Hill Road.
East Don Parkland/Upper Don Recreation Trail
Close to the intersection of Leslie and Finch there is an entrance to the East Don Parkland area. The trail through the area is the Upper Don Recreation Trail. There are multiple ways to enter this trail from where it runs all over but this is a pretty easy entrance to the trail and a great path to the follow. The path follows along the Don River through forested areas and provides great views of the colours.
How to get here: The 39 buses along Finch have a stop right outside of the Finch Avenue entrance of the trail.
Millwood Overpass Bridge & Don Valley Lookouts
The Don Valley is one of the prettiest places in Toronto in the fall. If you’ve ever driven up or down the DVP in this season you’ll have seen the large trees and all their colours. Obviously pulling off on the highway is not ideal (and shouldn’t be done) so you need to find other ways to enjoy these stunning colours.
There are multiple bridges across the Don Valley but one we really liked the colours from was the Millwood Overpass Bridge. Make sure you’re careful crossing the street but do take in the colours on both sides of the bridge!
How to get here: Driving is the easiest and you can park at Leaside Park and walk a couple of minutes through the park to the bridge. Alternatively, the 56A stops here as does the 25B bus.
High Park
High Park, in the west end, is one of the largest parks in Toronto with over 161 acres of space (that’s about half the size of Central Park). It’s got lots to do and see with playgrounds, a zoo, sporting fields, a pond and so much more. While High Park is incredibly well known for its cherry blossoms it’s also got some incredible fall colours.
How to get here: The closest two subway stations are Keele and High Park. Depending on which corner of the park you’re interested in either one will get you there.
Evergreen Brick Works
Evergreen Brick Works is one of those cool places in Toronto you have to visit if you’ve never been. It’s a couple of old brick works buildings (obviously hence the name) that have now been converted into use for the public. There’s a cafe and a store as well as lots of cool events (that normally include great food trucks!). There’s some pretty cool graffiti too. It’s also got a beautiful park with great hiking right behind it. In the winter there’s skating as well.
How to get here: You’ve got two options for getting here. You can take the Bayview South Bus (Number 28) from Davisville Subway station or you can take the free shuttle from around the Broadview Station area. More information on the shuttle can be found here.
Edwards Gardens
Edwards Garden is a huge botanical garden/park located in Toronto around the ravine area. There’s lots of walking trails and a lot of flowers to see. It’s a great spot to practice some macro photography! There’s also a gardening plot, a cafe, a tiny little waterfall and a gorgeous bridge. It’s super popular for engagement shoots and you can even have your wedding there. It’s hard to disagree with those who choose to do so since it’s a beautiful area of Toronto.
How to get here: The parks located at the corner of Lawrence and Leslie so either the Leslie Bus (51 bus) or the Lawrence bus (Number 54 and 54A) will get you there if you’re living on either of those streets. You can also take bus 162 from Eglinton Station (51 and 54 also depart from here).
Trinity Bellwoods Park
Trinity Bellwoods Park is the most downtown location on this list. It’s located on Queen Street West and is a popular place for hangouts. There’s playground and basketball courts as well and lots of benches. It’s also a great place to get a more unique picture of the CN Tower. They’ve also got an official white squirrel running around so you can hopefully catch a glimpse of that!
How to get here: There’s a couple of ways to get here. The easiest is to take the 501 streetcar.
Rouge National Urban Park
Rouge National Urban Park is the largest urban park in all of North America (13!! times bigger than Central Park for comparison) and actually borders a couple of different cities including Toronto. Rouge Park is great because it’s so big it almost always feels like you’re the only one there. It’s very different than most large parks you can think off in the sense that it’s not as maintained. The rest of the parks on the list have people who come and maintain it and keep it under control. There are designated trails and given how much wildlife there is I’d definitely recommend staying on a trail. When it comes to fall colours this wildness is one of the best things about the park. There are trees absolutely everywhere and there are so many different kinds that you get to see all the ranges of the colours in one go!
How to get here: Given the size of the park there’s lots of different ways to get here. I’d take a look at the Parks Canada official site here to see what part of the park/hiking trail you’d like to visit and how to get to that park.
Scarborough Bluffs
Ah, Scarborough Bluffs! One of my favourite parts of Toronto! It’s absolutely stunning and it’s hard to believe something like this is part of Toronto. With majestic cliffs and a stunning backdrop of Lake Ontario it’s just a must do regardless of the season. But in fall? With sunset? Absolutely!
How to get here: The top view is from Scarborough Crescent Park which can be accessed with a walk from the bus stop at Kingston Road and Ridgemoor Avenue. Bus number 12A from Victoria Park Station goes there. If you’re interested in the beach/Bluffers Park at the bottom of the cliff you can take the same bus to Brimley Road and Kingston Road and then walk down to the area.
Map
I’ve put together a map of the locations so you can see what’s closest to you. I highly recommend checking some of these areas out!
Have you visited any of these locations? Have any other spots you consider must visit? Let me know in the comments and pin this post for your own Toronto fall colour exploring!
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Canada is high up on my to-see list and these fall foliages turning up my urge to come see it soon:) Beautiful pictures ?
We still haven’t visited Toronto yet but definitely need to get there and this looks like the perfect time of year to visit. Great photos too.
Great ideas!! I’ve always wanted to go Brickworks! and by always I mean the past two months
It looks like I clicked on this just a few weeks too late! All the leaves have dropped. But I can’t wait to check these out next year. Especially the Brickworks. I can’t believe I haven’t been there yet.
How cool! Trinity Bellwoods Park looks love… is that a white squirrel? I think the Scarborough Bluffs are my favourite though, loving the cliffs! Thanks for sharing!
Gorgeous photos. Love this post!!
So many great places to see the fall colours in Toronto! One of my favourite places is the Toronto Islands!
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I really wanted to make it out there this year! Will see if I can next weekend. Hopefully all the leaves aren’t gone!