as I walk Toronto

A circular walk to explore the Don Mills trail south of York Mills Road… but how to get there…. We decided to start by walking south on Scarsdale Road to Bond Avenue.

Scarsdale is a nondescript street in North York with a few churches, private schools, some light industry, offices, and all in all, a lot of lowrise late 20th century architecture.

below: Don Mills Baptist Church looking very un-church like.

below: Unmarked

below: Once at Bond, the buildings are mostly residential.

below:  There is a walk-through to the neighbourhood behind

below: The old railway bridge over Bond is now part of the Don Mills Trail.  Originally it took 6 years to build (1912 to 1918) the bridge – using six 2-foot-thick beams that span the 15-foot-wide opening, spaced to handle the weight of locomotives and heavily loaded railway cars.

below: Also under the bridge is an entrance to Bond Park.

below: Another entrance to Bond Park, this time from the trail via a hole in the fence.

below: “Responsible alcohol consumption is allowed in this park”….rules and responsibilities are then listed along with health information about alcohol.

below: A few remnants of its former life.  Once upon a time this multi use path was a spur line for the CNR, the Leaside Spur.  One of its functions was to connect the CNR main line (now also used by GO to Oriole station and beyond) to the CPR line near Eglinton.  The CPR tracks are those that cross Eglinton just east of Leslie and then cross the Thorncliffe trestle bridge over Wilket Creek Park.  The path ends just before the CPR tracks – there is no connection any more.

below: Abandoned and rusting.  CNR stopped using this spur line in 1999.  The city bought the property ten years later.

below: Crab apples and dead leaves litter the path

below: Storage in bins and barrels, on the other side of the fence.

below: Left behind

below: The north end of the Don Mills Trail runs beside the live CNR line.  Not much of a view is it?  No trains passed by.  Very quiet.

below: Many, many large satelite dishes (and many small ones too).  I was feeling like a spy as I tried to take pictures through the fence… but I didn’t see any surveillance cameras…

below: Approaching York Mills Road

below: The north end of the trail runs beside the bridge York Mills over the railway tracks (on the right in this picture).  From here there is an access road to Scarsdale on the south side of York Mills, or an exit through to Longos Plaza on the north side.

below: Have a seat!

below: Rogers has a large property on the east side of the CNR tracks and has access to this area.

With thanks to my mother for walking with me – she didn’t hesitate to climb through holes in the fence!  She also doesn’t like this picture, but it’s the better of the two that I took that morning!

Bonus section! Just in case you are interested in what’s on Scarsdale Road….

below: Colonel C.O. Dalton CSO and Colonel H.E. Dalton CSO Armoury

below: Greek Orthodox Education in Ontario – Metamorphosis Greek Orthodox School.

below: Korean Presbyterian Church