After a good scramble around the ravines, nothing is better than chilling in a hammock next to creek.
The rains eventually arrived and drove me away.
But in all, life is good.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambles #HammockTO #ParksTO
The triple elevated wetlands on the Eastside of the DVP
The teeth in the valley.
Unveiled in 1998, the teeth (sometimes elephant) like structures at the Forks of the Don are a combo of elevated wetlands and public art installations.
#LoveTheRavines #DonValley #RavineRambles #parksTO #Toronto
Hanging on the (almost) edge of the Anewen Cliff.
You know what...
I'm calling it... Hammock season starts today.
Starting off with a dramatic vista of the Anewen cliff over looking the East Don River.
Life is good.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambles #HammockTO #ParksTO
Sunset at the Sauriol Cliff.
Catching a spring sunset over the Don Valley at the Sauriol Cliff..
The best vista in the valley.
#lovetheravines #EastCoastKin #ravinerambler #sunset
Panorama of Terraview Pond from the lookout.
Spring has arrived to the headwaters of the Taylor Creek.
The larger of the two ponds, Terraview is out of the deep freeze, but not in full bloom just yet.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #parksTO #springTO
Old Don Mills bridge, a beautiful concrete rainbow arch bridge over the East Don. It carried traffic over the river until it was bypassed by the rerouted Don Mills Rd about 100meters to the south.
Looking north along the East Don river.
Chilling at the Falls with Garfield. The Wes Don waterfalls, well a weir technically. On the rerouted West Don as it flows to the Forks just West of the new Don Mills Rd.
The whirlpools of the West Don as it flows down to the Forks with the East Don just south of the weir.
Spring at the Forks of the Don.
Where the East & West Don meet under the Old Don Mills Bride.
Well before the 1960s, before the West Don was rerouted about 70meters south to accommodate the reconstruction of Don Mills Rd & DVP.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRamble #EastCoastKin #DonValley #ForksofTheDon
Looking north towards Yorkmills Rd
Looking south towards Lawrence Ave.
The Don River swells with anger
East Don flowing high and fast thru the Donalda Golf Course.
#DonValley #LoveTheRavines #RavineRamble #Toronto #parksTO
Looking over the valley
Different angle.
The Sauriol Cliff.
Probably the most dramatic vista in the Don Valley.
Overlooking the East Don River, the Richmond rail lines & new East Don trail.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRamble #DonValley #parksTO #RavineRamble
Current water levels in the pond in March 2026
Pond water levels in July 2025.
Some ponds are more affected by ground water fluctuation than others.
See below a the pond near Vic Park Ave which is purely feed by ground water and falls several feet every summer.
#RavineRamble #LoveTheRavines #TaylorCreek #Toronto #ParksTO
Pond no southside of Taylor Creek, westside of Dawes Rd.
Pond no northside of Taylor Creek, eastside of Dawes Rd.
Pond no northside of Taylor Creek, westside of Vic Park Ave.
Pond no southside of Taylor Creek, between Vic Park Ave and Dawes Rd.
The ponds of Dawes Rd.
On Taylor Creek between Dawes Rd & Vic Park Ave lies a series of manmade ponds and wetlands. All ground fed, they're a great place to watch nature reclaim the landscape.
Right now the ponds are full from snow melt
#RavineRamble #LoveTheRavines #TaylorCreek #Toronto #ParksTO
Common snowdrop.
First flowers in the Don Valley. The common snowdrop, originally from Europe and invasive. But the first signs of springs bloom.
#lovetheravines #DonValley #RavineRamble #springblom
Finally a resource on the area, from the Scarborough historical society.
There is more to delve into in this part of Scarborough, an entire lost community in fact, but that must be left for another time.
Today was about a creek and a bridge.
#lovetheravines #highlandcreek #ravineramble #TOhistory
1939 - red circle shows the location of Midland as it crosses the creek. This could very well be the same bridge as in the previous photo.
1954 - even almost 10 years post WW2 suburban and industrial expansion has not yet reached this part of midland ave. The Highland creek flows freely, but not for long.
1965 - the channelization of Highland Creek has begun, the creek east of Midland is now in concrete. The Midland Ave itself is now a proper two lane arterial road.
1985 - The current state of affairs is complete.. The creek east and west of Midland in encased in concrete, Midland Ave has been widened and the new bridge as seen before is in place. Furthermore the Scarborough RT has recently been complete and can be seen mirroring the creek on the south bank.
The aerial photos tell the story of industrialization and channelization.
From idle farm county at the corner of the community of Ellesmere to industrial post war suburban boom.
The roads got bigger and the creek got forgotten.
#lovetheravines #highlandcreek #ravineramble #TOhistory
An image of a boy fishing on the Highland Creek near Midland Ave in 1920-30s.
Highland Creek just east of Midland Ave in 2026 in a concrete channel.
Creek itself has changed much since then. It was wild once, flowing thru sparse farm lands of Scarborough until 1960s when all of ifs branches north of HwY401 were cast in concrete channels.
Below is an example of how its changed in 100 years
#lovetheravines #highlandcreek #ravineramble #TOhistory
Midland crossing Highland Creek in the 1920s on a small wooden bridge.
Current Midland bridge was built over the 1960s channalized creek in 1981. In the background the former Scarborough RT elevated station strutted the road.
Time for a short Pontist based #TOhistory moment.
Midland Ave has crossed West Highland Creek for over a hundred years. Today I was in the area and wanted to quick look at the historical progress.
The comparison is between 1920s and today, 2026.
#lovetheravines #highlandcreek #ravineramble
New bridge looking north.
New bridge looking south.
Last thing to see today was the new Prudential Dr. bridge over the Dorset branch, directly north of the new trail bridge.
This work closed down the road in 2023-24.
That's it for this short #RavineRamble.
Thanks for joining me.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
Former Highland creek channel still carrying water to the current creek.
The two parts of highland creek meet under the temporary construction bridge. Old channel on the left, new channel on the right.
The post 1965 West Highland Creek Channel, unnaturally straight.
Now back to the abandoned creek channel. Right at the foot of the temporary bridge it meets the current creek.
Water still flows steady out this channel, it's fed by ground water and is alive and well as its very own stream.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
The new trail bridge goes over the concrete ford.
Looking south under the new bridge.
Looking north at the temporary work bridge and the forks of the Highland Creek.
The new trail bridge is built directly over the hydro corridor concrete creek ford made for hydro crews to access the areas on the east side of the creek.
I wonder if eventually this new trail will go over the railway corridor.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
Meadoway trail construction directly south of the pond.
New trail bridge over the West Highland Creek, Dorset branch.
Following this abandoned section to its confluence with Highland creek something new appears. Trail construction & new bridge over the creek.
@rzaichkowski.bsky.social any idea when this happened? This is new from last fall.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
The spillway from the pond into the abandoned creek channel.
The former creek channel has become marshy. There is still lots of ground water here that is feeding and keeping this abandoned channel alive.
This is now a wetland in its own right.
On east side of pond there is a noticeable dip for an outflow into the abandoned channel and into Highland Creek.
The channel itself is still full of water, having become marshy with ground water.
Lot of ground water here.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
Pond looking east, train tracks directly behind.
Pond looking north toward the high rises on Prudential Drive.
Pond from near the outflow pipe looking south.
Arsandco Pond pond lies directly east of the woodlot & abandoned channel, in fact it feeds into it.
It was strange to see the pond still frozen this late into March. Built in early 2000s, it first appears in aerial phots in 2005.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
The stand of old growth woodlot still standing at the old banks of the river.
This is now a nature area.
The woodlot in question. Still standing, seen previously on aerial photos in the 1940s.
Now its just my luck that for some strange reason a snow storm blew in just as I arrived today
1st this that greets you is an old stand of trees that have survived the redevelopment & can be seen as far back as 1940s aerial phots
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
Incase anyone is not familiar with the area, please refer to the google map link below.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
Map of the highland creek watershed. Red circle is where the area in question is located.
1947 - aerial photos showing the abandoned channel of the creek in question yellow.
1965 - aerial photo showing the abandoned channel in yellow in relation to the rerouted creek directly east of it. Note in red a small unnamed creek that feeds into the creek in this area.
2024 - aerial view of the creek. In yellow the abandoned channel, now marshy and still containing water. In orange, Arsandco Pond, constructed in the early 2000s for storm water management.
Time for another #RavineRamble.
It is a short jaunt on a section of West Highland Creek, Dorset Branch to explore a short abandoned section of creek when it was rerouted during the 1960s.
Follow along, more details in Alt text.
#LoveTheRavines #RavineRambler #HighlandCreek #parksTO #EastCoastKin
Famed hole 3 at Dentonia DiscGolf course.
Last toss from a top of Mount Dentonia.
Its been a great winter season of discgolf in the Taylor Creek ravine. A wonderful winter use of a @toronto.ca municipal golf course.
Until next winter Dentonia.
#discgolf #discgolfTO #parksTO #DentoniaPark #lovetheravines
A cofferdam being installed to shift the river further east.
The new narrower river channel being formed
Final note for today. Directly south of previous post, they're shifting the river to the east to make more more for the train tracks.
Years of erosion had come close to the tracks.
Thats it for today, thanks for joining this #RavineRamble
#LoveTheRavines #DonValley #DonRover #MudSeason
As a comparison, here is what the river looked like in this area in 2021.
#LoveTheRavines #DonValley #RavineRambler #DonRover #MudSeason
Temporary bridge over the river.
Looking across the river to where the fire pit once was.
What the firepit and seating looked like back in 2020.
Finally making it down to the river to see the progress
Lot of change in this area. Looking across the river image 2, they've removed the long standing firepit (image 3). Shame that was a good place to chill after a good ride on trails
#LoveTheRavines #DonValley #RavineRambler #DonRover #MudSeason
These bottles were the common beer bottle. That all ended in 1984, making this bottle at least 42 years old.
Old Chevy hubcap.
The valleys are littered the with refuse of man..
Image 1: Stubby beer bottle, at least 40 years old.
Image 2: Chevy hubcap, because motordom must invade all parts of the valley. @normal-cr02-metal.bsky.social any idea of vintage?
#LoveTheRavines #DonValley #RavineRambler #DonRover #MudSeason
View over construction in March 2026.
Same view but 360 image in March 2024.
Better view of the construction over the Don River from the top of the hill on the westside of the DVP.
So much destruction.
Second image is the same area form March 2024 to compare the progress in two years time.
#LoveTheRavines #DonValley #RavineRambler #DonRover #MudSeason
