Not long after we moved to Toronto, I began to notice these strange brown signs all over the place. Two brown circles. One with arrows, the other with footprints. All mysteriously labelled with “Discovery Walks”. No one that I asked seemed to know what they were for. After a while they just blended into the surroundings and I stopped noticing them.
This spring my dog was old enough to begin taking extended walks and he seriously needed them. He was so hyper that the only way it seemed we could get any real peace was to walk him. I’m not talking about a jaunt around the block; it requires an undertaking of several hours. I’m certainly not going to complain. I wanted to start walking again and it seemed like I had found the right match to get myself back on track. The only problem is that I have a very poor attention span and get bored easily. I found that doing the same route day after day got old fast. I turned to Google maps and looked for green areas, but found that to be hit or miss. Some places might be suitable for walking, others might just be wooded areas without any sort of trail or path at all. The City of Toronto website listing of parks was equally frustrating, as it didn’t always point out which ones were suitable for extended walks. Some of the park listings had very little information at all. I found all sorts of information on hiking outside of the City, but it had certainly looked like the City itself might have had a lot to offer. Fishing around on the City’s website, I finally discovered Discovery Walks.
In my honest opinion, this is one of the best things that the City has put together. Walking around is one of the best ways to learn about the area you live in whether you have lived there your whole life or you are new. There are 11 Discovery Walks in total. Each walk focuses on a different area of the City, walking you through historical highlights and natural wonder, all within the City confines. One walk may take you through calm, wooded ravines, the next through the vibrant downtown core. Some stroll through popular venues, like High Park, others through quiet neighbourhoods. You may pass the final home of a favourite author, catch some interesting artwork, sooth your soul under old trees, stop to smell the roses in a lush garden, find the historic grounds of a native village or learn of some of the more monumental or tragic happenings that have helped to shape the City into what it is today. These walks are a lot of fun to do with children. Sometimes the historical plaques are hidden and it can be a real game for kids to find them. My eldest is obsessed with maps and spent the summer being the navigator. Most children have a genuine curiosity about the world around them and will find it very cool to check out the city’s secret places and history. My kids called them “adventures”. Some of my favourite walks are now Discovery Walks.
The walks range from one to three hours. Each route is marked along the way with Discovery Walk signs. One circle signals that you are on a Discovery Walk route. The second circle will indicate which direction you may take to follow the walk. If there are two arrows, this means that you have some options as to where you can go. As well, you will find from time to time, full posted maps of the Discovery Walk. Don’t count on being able to use those however as many of the City’s taggers have thoughtfully covered them with spray paint. There are maps/brochures that are available from civic centres or you can download them from the City website. I highly recommend the brochures as sometimes there is a fair amount of distance between signs or they can be a little hard to find. I will caution though, based on experience that sometimes the maps and the signs do not seem to jive. Several of the walks actually link together, so you could, if you are very ambitious, make a day of it. The brochures will highlight some points of interest. The maps within them direct you to those noted points of interest and will also point out where you can park, catch the TTC, find washrooms, and locate historical plaques and Discovery Walk information. These maps will also indicate some basic terrain highlights, such as steep hills, unpaved surfaces, stairs or intersections that may require a little more caution when crossing. They also often indicate the best point to start, although you can begin a Discovery Walk at any point in the route. The brochures also provide the distance of each route and a rough estimate of the amount of time the route will take and the amount of calories you will burn while hiking.
This past summer, I managed to accomplish visiting half of them, although I have still not completed a couple of them. Two have become regular walks. From time to time, I’ll post my thoughts and try to flush out some of the history and high points of each walk. There are actually a number of other places that I can think of which deserve Discovery Walks, although I’m not optimistic that our new mayor will be making the creation of new ones a high priority. I hope that I’ll be able to inspire you to discover more about your City through walking.
Happy Trails!
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