Don Valley Ravines: Beltline to the Brick Works and Down the Don

The ravines are at their best from late September to late October, when the maples turn, and on Saturday mornings the Evergreen Brick Works farmers’ market is running (check current hours on Evergreen’s site). Spring is lovely too, but the Lower Don floods after heavy rain; summer is green, shady and humid.

Start at Davisville station on Line 1 and finish at Broadview station on Line 2, so there is no car to go back for. Evergreen also runs a free shuttle bus between Broadview station and the Brick Works, and the TTC 28 bus runs down Bayview from Davisville; both are handy if you want to do only half the route. Check schedules before you rely on them.

The Lower Don Trail runs on the floodplain and closes when the river rises; the Brick Works itself flooded badly in July 2024. After heavy rain, check City of Toronto trail notices, and never walk through water on the path. The Lower Don is also a busy cycling route, so keep right and listen for bells.

The Brick Works is the natural lunch stop, with a café and, on Saturdays, the farmers’ market. There is nothing to buy along the ravine trails or the Lower Don, so carry water. At the end, the Danforth, right by Broadview station, is one of Toronto’s great eating streets.

For children, cut the walk to the Beltline and Moore Park Ravine section and end at the Brick Works, which has a children’s garden and the quarry ponds to explore, then ride the shuttle to Broadview. The ravine path is wide, shaded and mostly downhill.

The north face of the old quarry is a protected geological site: its exposed layers run from ancient bedrock through several ice ages to the sands of Glacial Lake Iroquois. Walk to the back of the Quarry Garden and look up; few cities have a record of the last ice ages this legible inside city limits.

Any downtown hotel works, since both ends are on the subway. For character, look at small hotels and rentals around Riverdale and the Danforth near the finish, or Yonge and Eglinton near the start.

The Beltline and Lower Don are graded trails and the ravine path is packed earth and gravel; ordinary walking shoes do. In winter the trails are not all cleared, so bring traction cleats for the Moore Park Ravine and the Chorley Park switchbacks.