Trek Toronto — Rouge National Urban Park, Canada

Rouge National Urban Park: Vista and Mast Trails

Canada's first national urban park on foot: up to the Vista Trail's viewing platform over two river valleys, then the old Mast Trail through Carolinian forest to Glen Rouge and back.

Duration: 1 day
Distance: 7.2 km
Ascent: 150 m
Difficulty: Moderate
Best season: May–October (best from late September through October)

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Rouge National Urban Park is the reason Toronto can say it has a national park inside the city. Established in 2015 and run by Parks Canada, it covers 79 square kilometres of river valley, forest, marsh and farmland along the Rouge River on the city’s eastern edge, and it is free to enter every day of the year. It protects more than 1,700 species, a Seneca village site from the seventeenth century at Bead Hill, and the last big stretch of wild valley inside Toronto.

This route strings together the park’s two classic trails from one trailhead, Twyn Rivers, where the Rouge and the Little Rouge meet. First the Vista Trail climbs a narrow ridge between the two rivers to a two-level viewing platform over both valleys, the best autumn view in the Toronto area. Then the Mast Trail follows a logging route cut about two hundred years ago through rare Carolinian forest, south along the Rouge to Glen Rouge Campground, and back.

It is about eight kilometres with a couple of stiff climbs; allow three to four hours.

Getting there. Start at the Twyn Rivers Day Use Area, near 55 Twyn Rivers Drive. By transit, take the subway to Kennedy station and TTC bus 86A toward the Toronto Zoo, then walk 10 to 15 minutes. Parking is limited and closes at 9 p.m.; Zoo Road Day Use Area is closed for construction and part of Twyn Rivers Drive is closed to cars, so check Parks Canada’s current directions.

Permits & fees. No entry fee and no permit for day hiking. Camping at Glen Rouge needs a Parks Canada reservation.

Good to know:

No food or water on the trails or at the trailhead; portable toilets only.
Trails are not cleared of snow or ice in winter.
The Rouge Marsh Trail near the lake has been closed; Rouge Beach, at the river mouth by Rouge Hill GO station, is a separate outing.
Stay on marked trails; this is a protected area with fragile slopes.

Tips & Insights for this route Planning this route? Read our practical tips before you go — 8 tips. Read the tips

Download waypoints (GPX) Points of interest in walking order — not a trail trace.

Day by day

DayDistanceAscentDescentWalking time

Day 1 Hardest dayTwyn Rivers, the Vista Trail and the Mast Trail

Distance7.2 kmAscent150 mDescentNot recordedWalking timeNot recorded

Day 1

Twyn Rivers, the Vista Trail and the Mast Trail

Twyn Rivers Day Use Area → Twyn Rivers Day Use Area (out-and-back) 7.2 km 150 m

Navigate this day Print day

A short, steep climb to the Vista Trail platform and back, then the Mast Trail south through the forest to Glen Rouge Campground and back to Twyn Rivers.

Segments

Up to the ridge 0.6 km 40 m Map

Twyn Rivers Day Use Area → Vista Trail loop

Forest path with stairs

From the Twyn Rivers lot, the Vista Trail climbs straight up the valley wall on a path and stairway through the forest. It is short but steep; take it slowly and the valley opens up below you as you go. About 15 minutes.
The Vista Trail platform 1 km 10 m Map

Vista Trail loop → Viewing platform and around the loop

Ridge-top forest path

The trail follows a narrowing strip of high ground between the Rouge River and the Little Rouge to a two-level viewing platform hanging over the valley. In October the forest below is a solid sheet of red, orange and gold, with the river winding through it. Walk the rest of the loop through the ridge-top forest. About 30 minutes.

About this place

The Rouge River is a river in Markham, Pickering, Richmond Hill and Toronto in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The river flows from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario at the eastern border of Toronto, and is the location of Rouge Park, the only national park in Canada within a municipality. At its southern end, the Rouge River is the boundary between Toronto and southwestern Pickering in the Regional Municipality of Durham.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Thanujan24 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Back to Twyn Rivers 0.6 km 0 m Map

Vista Trail loop → Twyn Rivers Day Use Area

Forest path with stairs, descending

Return down the same stairs to the valley floor and the confluence of the two rivers at Twyn Rivers. About 15 minutes.
The Mast Trail 2.5 km 50 m Map

Twyn Rivers Day Use Area → Glen Rouge Campground

Forest trail with steep grades and steps

The Mast Trail heads south on a logging route about two hundred years old, climbing onto the valley's tableland and dropping back through some of the park's finest forest, with Carolinian species rare this far north. It is the most demanding stretch of the day, rated moderate to difficult for its grades, and the most beautiful. It ends near Glen Rouge Campground on Kingston Road. About 1 hour.
Mast Trail return 2.5 km 50 m Map

Glen Rouge Campground → Twyn Rivers Day Use Area

Forest trail with steep grades and steps

Walk the Mast Trail back north to Twyn Rivers. The light and the views run the other way, and in autumn the return leg is as good as the outbound one. About 1 hour.