Parc Downsview Park — Attraction in Toronto

Downsview Park on Keele St. south of Sheppard Ave. is a secret natural refuge in the very heart of Toronto. Most Torontonians do not know it is the greatest Federal Park in the GTA, ahead of the Rouge Valley for potential to enjoy naturalist City walk. Try it and you will discover a new ecosystem, of trails and scenic beauty. But, there are 3 big problem issues: First, its noisy near the transport trucks roaring up Keele, with sound amplified from the amphitheatre pond, so the further east you meander, the better. Noise barriers are hopefully being installed along Keele St. soon. Second, most trails are not on the paved circuit, and you must make a spontaneous discovery walk off the pavement as if you are lost, to find the best natural locations, which are the park's ultimate reward. Third, the 3 washrooms are spaced in the 3 corners, (SW, NW and at the East Soccer Field) so plan your route accordingly after a morning coffee. Here are four more things that bug me about the park. Over paid bureaucrat park administrators sitting at a desk in a far away must simply not get the following: A. It is also noteworthy that French Federal propaganda propagating outrage how the English settlers under paid Native Indians for their lands is on multiple prominent medal plaques throughout, which may politicise an otherwise tranquil stroll. B. Trails meander in illogical directions, making a circle of the main feature pond near impossible. Rocks and weeds, and absence of a paved trail on the south of the pond render jogging around the pond impossible, with barriers of mud and concrete. In fact only 25% of the beautiful pond has an accessible shoreline. C. Man-made hills seem completely out of place on a former air force runway, and should have some wind or sun shelters on top, creating an incentive for the hilly climb. D. The Downsview weekend flea market to the north east cannot be missed, for a full area experience. With all these flaws, you will rarely see more than a sparse 10 people in the entire Downsview park at any given weekday. Dowsview park is under utilized and under used. The many flaws noted will keep it that way, unspoiled. And realize that Dowsview park is likely much larger in area than Toronto's famous High Park, which draws many 1,000s of daily visitors. Visit Downsview Park at least 2 times, and explore the off path areas to get the full experience. Maybe you will see me, as a repeat park attendee, because the more i go there, the more i tolerate Downsview Park's many flaws. I now understand and celebrate the powers of "Nature," glass, trees, rocks, creeks, mud, and wild bush, dominating and defeating the flaws of inept man made designs of incompetent governmental...

This is a large park, which is constantly being developed for the better. There is lots of green space for walking, a large lake and several smaller ponds, where ducks and geese live happily in a clean, well built environment. Around the lake and where the circuit walks are concerned, there are plenty of places to sit and rest and the walks themselves are user friendly to anyone walking, biking, in a wheelchair or skating etc. There are also 'off road' paths in the trees/scrub areas for those who want a slightly more rural walk. There is a new children's playground which looks really good, and a couple of hills that you can walk to the top of and even see the CNN tower from. It's a good place for picnics in the Summer. There is also decent parking on site - although I imagine it would fill up in the Summer quickly and in that case you would need to park in the nearby residential streets. Only one real drawback - there are no signs to direct you where to go - not even a map at the entrance to the grounds/at the car park! This is very poor compared with other parks in the GTA and I hope someone sorts this out in the near future. Visitors are left to either print a map out from the website or just try to figure out where to go. This is a shame because there are apparently other things to see and do, like a sports centre, where there are washrooms - the sign to which is another must if you are going to spend a couple of hours there or have children who might need to use them. I have seen people commenting on a farmers'-type market there, and I think I saw a little path leading to greenhouses which might have been it, but again, signposts are needed. Other than that, a lovely oasis in the middle of the GTA, just metres from Keele Street and well...

Great huge park with lots of great walk and bike trails. Cute dogs are presents sometimes. The trails have some interesting facts about the insects and plants found around the park.

Only issue here is the parking. Flea market goers and park goers take the same exit and entrance so it gets congested especially when there’s an event going on at the park and around the closing time of the Flea market. There would be staff, “attending the traffic” but still gets SUPER EXTREMELY congested.

They should definitely do 5 cars at a time. 5 Cars exiting from the flea market and 5 cars entering at a time, then 5 cars entering the flea market and the park grass fields parking area after. Coz the staff attending the traffic just don’t help at all, they just watch, cars cutting everyone off making more than 3 ‘exit lanes’ from the flea market and cars exiting the park grass fields parking area...