High Park to the Humber: Cherry Blossoms and the Lakeshore

High Park is Toronto’s great city park: 161 hectares of oak savannah, ravines, gardens and a long pond on the west side of the city, given to Toronto by the architect John George Howard in 1873 on the condition that it stay free for everyone. For about a week each spring it becomes the most photographed place in the city, when the Japanese cherry trees on the slope above Grenadier Pond, gifts from Japan beginning in 1959, come into bloom.

This easy walk takes the park from top to bottom and then keeps going to the lake. It starts at the Bloor Street gate, drops through Hillside Gardens to the cherry trees and Grenadier Pond, and passes Colborne Lodge, the Howards’ 1837 cottage, now a museum. Then it slips under the Gardiner Expressway to the lakeshore and follows the Martin Goodman Trail west to the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, a white arch over the mouth of the Humber River whose decoration recalls the Toronto Carrying-Place, the ancient portage route that began here. It ends in Humber Bay Park East, on a lakefill peninsula with one of the best views back at the skyline.

It is about eight kilometres, almost all downhill or flat, and works in any season; spring blossom week is simply the most famous version.

Getting there. Take Line 2 to High Park station and cross Bloor Street to the park gate. At the end, walk up to Lake Shore Boulevard West for the 501 streetcar back toward downtown.

Permits & tickets. None. The park, the zoo and the trail are free; Colborne Lodge has its own admission and seasonal hours, so check the City of Toronto site.

Good to know:

The park is closed to cars on weekends, holidays and throughout the peak bloom.
The bloom lasts about four to ten days; follow the city’s or the High Park Nature Centre’s bloom updates.
High Park is Toronto’s dry park: no alcohol.
The Martin Goodman Trail is shared with fast cyclists; walk on the pedestrian side.

Day 1

High Park station to Humber Bay Park East

High Park station → Humber Bay Park East 7.8 km 25 m

Navigate this day Print day

Hillside Gardens, the cherry slope above Grenadier Pond, Colborne Lodge and the Howard Tomb, then under the Gardiner to the Martin Goodman Trail, over the Humber Bay Arch Bridge and out to the skyline view in Humber Bay Park East.

Segments

Bloor gate to Hillside Gardens 1.2 km 5 m Map

High Park station → Hillside Gardens

Paved park roads and paths

Cross Bloor Street into the park and head south through the oak woods to Hillside Gardens, terraced ornamental gardens on the slope above Grenadier Pond, with a flower bed planted in the shape of a maple leaf. On the way you pass through one of Ontario's rare surviving black oak savannahs, where some trees are well over a century old. About 20 minutes.
The cherry trees and Grenadier Pond 1.5 km 0 m Map

Hillside Gardens → South end of Grenadier Pond

Grassy slope and pondside path

Drop to the water. Most of the Sakura trees stand on the hillside beside Grenadier Pond, near the Grenadier Café; in bloom week this slope is a pink ceiling over a crowd of photographers, the rest of the year a quiet lawn under the trees. Follow the path along the pond's east shore, where herons and turtles are common in summer. About 30 minutes.
Colborne Lodge and the Howard Tomb 0.8 km 20 m Map

South end of Grenadier Pond → Colborne Lodge

Park path with a short climb

Climb to the Howard Tomb, where John and Jemima Howard are buried behind a fence that once stood around St. Paul's Cathedral in London, then cross Colborne Lodge Drive to their Regency-style cottage, built in 1836 and 1837 and a museum since 1928. From here the Howards looked out over the lake that the Gardiner now hides. About 20 minutes, longer if you go inside.

About this place

Colborne Lodge is an historic house museum located in an 1837 home in Toronto's High Park. John George Howard, an architect, engineer and prominent Toronto citizen, built this house, which became the property of the city following his death in 1890.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Robert Taylor from Stirling, Canada · CC BY 2.0
Under the Gardiner to the lake 0.8 km 0 m Map

Colborne Lodge → Martin Goodman Trail

Park road and sidewalk, road crossing

Follow Colborne Lodge Drive south out of the park, under the railway and the concrete Gardiner Expressway, and cross Lake Shore Boulevard at the lights to the waterfront. It is the least lovely ten minutes of the day, and then the whole lake opens up. About 15 minutes.

About this place

The Martin Goodman Trail is a 56 km (35 mi) multi-use path along the waterfront in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It traverses the entire lake shore from one end of the city to the other, from Humber Bay Arch Bridge in the west to the Rouge River in the east. The Martin Goodman Trail is part of the 730 km Waterfront Trail around Lake Ontario.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Maury Markowitz at English Wikipedia · Public domain
West to the Humber Bay Arch Bridge 1.5 km 0 m Map

Martin Goodman Trail → Humber Bay Arch Bridge

Paved waterfront trail

Turn west along the Martin Goodman Trail, the path that runs the length of Toronto's lakeshore, to the mouth of the Humber River. The Humber Bay Arch Bridge, opened in 1994, spans the river in a single white 100-metre arch, and its details, including carved turtles, recall the Toronto Carrying-Place, the Indigenous trade route that ran north from this river mouth. Stop in the middle for the view up the Humber. About 25 minutes.

About this place

The Humber Bay Arch Bridge is a pedestrian and bicycle through arch bridge south of Lake Shore Boulevard West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in the mid-1990s, the bridge is part of the Martin Goodman Trail and is 139 metres (456 ft) in length, with a clear span of 100 metres (330 ft) over the mouth of the Humber River to protect the environmental integrity of the waterway.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Wladyslaw · CC BY-SA 3.0
Humber Bay Park East 2 km 0 m Map

Humber Bay Arch Bridge → Humber Bay Park East point

Paved and gravel park paths

Across the bridge, follow the shore into Humber Bay Park East, built on lakefill and opened in 1984. The paths loop out to the tip of the peninsula, where the downtown skyline lines up across Humber Bay, with the CN Tower in the middle; at sunset the towers glow. The park also holds Toronto's memorial to the victims of the 1985 Air India bombing. About 40 minutes.

About this place

Humber Bay Park is a waterfront park located in Etobicoke, part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park consists of two landspits situated at the mouth of Mimico Creek. The park is south of Lake Shore Boulevard West, near Park Lawn Road. Humber Bay Park East is 19 hectares, while Humber Bay Park West is 120 hectares.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Dillan Payne · CC BY-SA 4.0