Ed's Sk8toronto Website SUNNYBROOK PARK OVERVIEWFor a few years I considered this to be my 'home route'. About half is on a wide park road and the other half is on a bike path behind the Ontario Science Centre. It’s in a park setting. Ten or 12 years ago this area was about the best place to skate in the city. Unfortunatley, the city has not properly maintained the road or path and things have degraded to the point that only strong skaters (or ones with a real craving to explore) can enjoy this trail. Years ago the side path going up to Edward’s Gardens was part of my regular skating route and the highlight of my outing. Unfortunately a couple of floods wiped out the path and the city has never bothered to repair the damage to the point were skaters would find it worth while. Past the horse barns there is a big hill up to a large open area with a number of playing fields (and some decent skating). However, I seldom bother skating up the hill due to the difficulty of getting back down safely. PARKING The entrance to the park is west off of Leslie Street just a little north of Eglinton Ave. There are hundreds of parking spaces in the park but the place I like the best is right by the washrooms which are on the right hand side of the road only a few hundred meters from the park entrance. (Take the right hand fork when the road splits at the bottom of the hill.) These washrooms are at the bottom of the path up to Edward’s Gardens. That route takes about 20 minutes round trip at a moderate pace. Another parking area is available at the south end of the route (under the Overlea bridge). Check a city map. There are washrooms available at this location. Other washrooms are available at the horse barns. THE ROUTE
After looping around, skate back past the washrooms and continue on the park road all the way to the horse barns and then head back to the starting point. One loop is more than 8k. I usually do 2 or 3 loops. Last Update: May/10 The map below is from the Toronto Parks and Trails Map. To get a hard copy of this map or to view the map in PDF format click HERE. This map is part of Section 8 -Downtown Central Don. The dashed blue line shows the Sunnybrook Park trail as described. The dashed yellow line is the west end of Taylor Creek Park. The dashed red line shows the Don River Trail. The dashed green line is the side-trail up to Edwards Gardens. |
I like to start at the washrooms and skate back in the direction that I came in. Rather than skating up the hill follow the road under Eglinton and skate to the end of the parking lot. The best route from the end of the parking lot is to go up and over the little bridge to the right. The route goes under the train trestle, behind the Ontario Science Centre and under the Overlea Drive bridge where the route takes a big loop around the circular parking lot. Beyond this loop, the asphalt quality is poor so do not skate farther unless you are linking up with the path down the Don Valley (see Lower Don Valley route).
