Vanderhoof Skatepark — Attraction in Toronto

A nice park ruined by the people we encountered there.

I skateboard and my 10 year old son scooters. Upon arriving we were greeted by a crudely spray painted message - "No Scooters!"

There were about 15 guys in their 20s and 30s skateboarding here. Not thugs or street punks - just regular guys out for a skate. Within minutes of us arriving, one of them approached my 10 year old son when I was out of earshot and told him not to scooter there. When I approached him, he just shrugged.

Soon, whenever my back was turned, the guys started shouting "no scooters!" and laughing about it.

Judging by the amount of time most of them spent quaffing their hipster moustaches, it was obviously of great importance for them to appear cool, and yet these grown men had no problem publicly intimidating a young child to the point where he was near tears.

I had a word with a few of the guys but it was in one ear and out the other. By this point my son was begging me to leave. I'm sure these man-children high-fived each other on a job well done once...

The main attraction at Vanderhoof Skatepark is the huge bowl. It's a U-shaped bowl, and there's a big cradle at one end of the U. I had to look up what the cradle is called--I'd never seen one in person before. The bowl is probably a great place to come and make friends with like-minded bowl enthusiasts.

Behind the bowl is a neglected street section. There's a 6-stair with a narrow down ledge. One third of the 6-stair has the bottom 4 stairs filled in like a bank. Another third has the bottom 5 stairs filled in. There's not much run-up, so I doubt you could use this like a euro gap. And there's a narrow flat ledge in between these 2 sections; it's about 4 feet off the ground and looks terrifying.

There's a long two-level ledge. Opposite this is kind of a fun box with a bank on one side and a 3-stair and down ledge on the other side. And there's a parking block. This is probably a good place to practice flat-ground, because the street section was totally empty even though the bowl was busy when...

So im not gonna lie, its actually a really cool skatepark! There wasnt much people there so it was quiet and the overall its all pretty awesome. Including some amazing spray painting jobs! There was a basketball court and a park right next door and a lot of trees and grass which i love to see since everywhere is almost gray buildings and streets now a days in Toronto, at least were I am. I do got to say though, and this is the reason I am giving this 3 stars. It was beautiful and there is so much potential to this place, but it was so dirty and it was quite upsetting. Drug bags everyone, bottles, Mc Donald garbage everywhere, napkins so many plastic bags and spray cans. It also doesnt have very much lights in the park so at night its not a good place to be. It was just a very neglected park that needs some help. Please pick up your garage, there are garage cans there...