 |
Ed's Sk8toronto Website
HUMBER RIVER VALLEY (MAIN SECTION)
OVERVIEW
The Lower Humber River valley offers a really mixed bag for inliners. Some sections are really nice and others are not so great. In general, the section of pathway between the Martin Goodman Trail (MGT)(at the lake) and Bloor St is not so great (uninteresting residential roads and some steep, narrow parkway paths) and the section north of Bloor is OK. Of all the places to skate in the city I find the asphalt quality on this route to be the most variable. Pathway sections vary from beautiful, smooth and wide pavement to very narrow and extremely bumpy sections. There is quite a bit of pathway that is of generally good quality -but a little too rough for inliners to feel really comfortable (the path is smooth and crack-free but the texture of the asphalt is rough). On this pathway, whatever type of surface you are skating on you know it will not last for long. For this route, the best approach is to skate with low expectations -and then be happy when the going is good!
This route is very long and there are innumerable places to park. One good spot is on the south side of Lake Shore Blvd between the road and the lake at the base of Windermere Ave. This is close to the spot where the Humber River trail takes off from the MGT. As a consequence, skaters can go in three different directions from this place. There are some washrooms at the extreme east end of the parking lot (close to the Pizza-Pizza outlet).
Perhaps a better place to park is in Etienne Brule Park -on the north side of Catherine Ave (east of the Humber River) (in behind the OLD MILL). I didn't notice any washrooms at the park. It takes me 50 minutes to skate from Etienne Brule Park to the north limit of the path and back -at a leisurely pace -so it's a good long stretch! It takes me about 22 minutes to skate down to the MGT (to the lakeshore) and back from Etienne Brule Park.
It is possible (for the truly adventurous) to skate out of the ravine at the extreme north end of the path, up onto Weston Road, north on Weston road for a kilometre or so and back down into the flood plain at Fairglen Cr (look for a Dairy Queen on Weston Road)
THE ROUTE
I am going to describe to route from south to north. A good way to access the pathway is from the west side of the fancy pedestrian bridge at the mouth of the Humber River. Follow the pathway as it loops toward the lake and then around and under the pedestrian bridge. After passing under the QEW bridges the path heads through South Humber Park. This path is pretty hilly. In this area, there are a few side paths entering the main path. Always take the fork that is closest to the river. The pathway climbs onto Stephen Drive north of the Queensway. A jog to the left on Riverwood Parkway and an immediate right onto Valley Road take you into King's Mill Park. From here up to Dundas, the skating is in a park setting with lawns, picnic tables and playing fields making up the scenery. The pathway crosses to the east side of the Humber at the Old Mill, north of Bloor Street (in the area of Etienne Brule Park). In this area the pathway quality varies from poor to pretty good.
At Old Dundas St, the path climbs up into a residential area and then goes right back down into the park and under (new) Dundas Street. Not far from Dundas the path crosses to the west side of the river under a railway trestle. This crossing is a pain for skaters. From this point, all the way up to the end of the path near Conron Place, the skating is pretty variable -but generally good. There is a street level crossing at Eglinton Ave which is no problem but the path takes a steep and curvy dive into the flood plane north of Eglinton. Be careful here!
Latest update: May /06
The maps below have been scanned 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. The first map is part of Section 2 -Mid Humber.
The dashed red line shows the route as described below. The dashed yellow line is the south end of the Upper Humber River Valley (East Branch).
Please note that Bloor Street appears at the bottom of the map above and at the top of the map below. The map below is from Section 13 (High Park /Lower Humber) of Toronto Parks and Trails Map. The yellow dashed line on the map below is the Martin Goodman Trail (West Side)
