Riverdale Park East

Riverdale Park East — the hill Toronto photographs itself from

Every city has one slope that ended up on all the postcards, and in Toronto it is this one. Riverdale Park East is a long grass hill falling west into the Don valley, and because nothing stands between it and downtown, the entire skyline lines up across the top of the trees — best at sunset, better still on a clear winter evening. What the view does not advertise is what the hill is made of. This was a municipal dump until the 1920s, and the slim green pipes standing in the grass are vents, still releasing gas from waste buried a century ago. It is one of the most honest pieces of landscape in the city: a garbage heap with a world-class view and a running track on top.

Highlights

• The skyline lookout — the crest of the hill gives an unobstructed sweep of the downtown towers across the valley, which is why it draws photographers, film crews, picnic blankets and, in winter, people who come specifically for the cold clear air.
• The toboggan slope — the same hill, which becomes one of the most heavily used sledding runs in the east end as soon as there is snow on it.
• The running track — a 400-metre track with stadium lighting and an artificial-turf infield used for soccer and field sports, floodlit into the evening and open to anyone who turns up.
• The pedestrian bridge — a green steel span that crosses the expressway, the rail corridor and the Don River in a single run, linking the east half of the park to Riverdale Park West, Riverdale Farm and the Lower Don Recreational Trail.
• The Sun Yat-sen statue — a bronze of the Chinese revolutionary leader at the southern end, placed as a tribute to the East Chinatown community next to the park.
• The old Don Jail — the 1864 Renaissance Revival prison at the park’s southeast corner, designed by William Thomas and Sons and now, after a conservation project completed in 2013, the administrative building of the hospital beside it.

What you’ll find

Riverdale Park is really two parks with a valley between them. The east half is the open, sporting, view-oriented side; the west half, across the bridge, is quieter and leads into Cabbagetown and the farm. Most visitors use one or the other, but the crossing takes only a few minutes and doubles what the visit contains.

• Sports fields and courts — two ball diamonds, three multipurpose fields used for soccer, baseball and Ultimate, and seven tennis courts, all in constant league and pickup use through the warm months.
• The outdoor pool — a supervised summer pool with a lap tank, a waterslide and a separate tot pool, one of the better-equipped outdoor pools on this side of the city.
• The artificial ice rink and ball hockey pad — a year-round hard surface that switches use with the season.
• Playground and picnic areas — clustered near the level ground rather than on the slope, which keeps small children away from the sledding lines in winter.
• The valley floor — a stormwater marsh built in 2002 and native tree and shrub plantings put in by the City together with the citizen group Bring Back the Don, part of the long restoration of the river corridor.
• Riverdale Farm — across the bridge on the west side, a 7.5-acre working farm with heritage-breed livestock, gardens and the surviving buildings of the old zoo, open daily and free.

Things to do — and who it’s for

• Photographers and anyone with visitors in town — this is the least complicated way to show someone the Toronto skyline without paying for a tower ticket, and the light an hour before sunset does most of the work.
• Runners and track athletes — a floodlit 400-metre track in a public park is unusual; the hill beside it makes for punishing repeats if you want them.
• Families — the pool, the playground, the farm across the bridge and the rink cover every season, and the farm in particular gives small children animals to look at without a ticket.
• Winter sledders — the slope is long, wide and consistent, and it is the neighbourhood’s default snow-day destination.
• Walkers and cyclists heading somewhere — the bridge connects directly into the Lower Don trail system, so the park works as an entrance to a much longer valley route rather than a destination in itself.
• History-minded visitors — the jail, the vent pipes, the vanished zoo and the stadium that was never built here make this a park where almost every element has a story attached.

Getting there & practical

The park lies in the Riverdale neighbourhood on the east side of the Don valley, with Cabbagetown facing it from the west bank and East Chinatown at its southern end. The simplest approach is Line 2 Bloor–Danforth to Broadview station, then a short ride south on the 504 or 505 streetcar, both of which run past the park’s eastern edge; walking down from the station takes about fifteen minutes and is pleasant in itself. Entry to the park is free and there are no gates. Paid or scheduled elements are separate: the outdoor pool runs on City of Toronto summer swim schedules, the tennis courts and diamonds are bookable through the City permit system, and organized events need permits. Riverdale Farm across the bridge is also free, open daily, and worth building into the same trip. Allow an hour for the view, the track and a walk down the slope; two to three hours if you cross the bridge to the farm or head south along the valley trail. Two practical notes: the hill is genuinely steep, so anyone with mobility limits should approach from the level upper edge rather than the valley floor, and the vent pipes standing in the grass are functional infrastructure — they are part of the landfill’s gas management and are not something to climb on.

When to visit

Spring brings the park back quickly: the slope greens, the track fills with clubs and school teams, and the valley below turns loud with birds while the trees are still bare enough to see through. The ground can stay soft, so the sports fields sometimes open later than the calendar suggests. Summer is the park’s busiest stretch — the outdoor pool, evening league play under the floodlights, picnics along the crest and a free outdoor movie series after dark. Sunset is the event: on a warm evening the top of the hill becomes an informal grandstand facing the skyline. Autumn is the best walking season, when the valley colour is at its peak and the lookout stays warm into October without the summer crowd; it is also the quietest time on the trail below. Winter turns the hill over to sledders, the artificial rink runs through the season, and the cold, dry air gives the sharpest skyline views of the year — many photographers consider a clear January evening the single best time to be standing here.

Good to know

The land started as part of John Scadding’s farm, granted in the earliest years of the town. In 1856 the City bought roughly 120 acres of the Scadding estate, intending a jail and a jail farm. The prison that followed was extraordinary in scale for its time: commissioned in 1857 from the Toronto firm of William Thomas and Sons, built between 1859 and 1864 in the Renaissance Revival style, the largest building project in Toronto’s history to that date and the last work of one of early Canada’s most respected architects. What was left over opened as Riverdale Park in 1880, and when Toronto annexed the community of Riverdale in 1884 the park expanded across the river. Toronto’s first zoo opened on the western side in the late 1880s and ran until sunset on 30 June 1974, when it closed for good; its buildings were mostly taken down over the following four years, and Riverdale Farm opened on the same ground in 1978, interpreting a nineteenth-century Ontario farmstead with heritage-breed livestock. The east slope has a rougher past — it was a municipal landfill until the 1920s, and the green pipes visible in the grass today still vent gas from that buried waste. Two later interventions reshaped the park. Construction of the Don Valley Parkway through the valley in the 1960s cut the park from about 162 acres to roughly 104 and split it into two halves connected only by the pedestrian bridge. Then in the 1970s the site was seriously considered for a 40,000-seat stadium — the project that was eventually built downtown as SkyDome. Restoration came later: a stormwater marsh was added on the valley floor in 2002, and native trees and shrubs were planted by the City with the citizen task force Bring Back the Don as part of the long effort to bring the river corridor back to life. The jail itself found a second life too, conserved and adapted in a project completed in 2013 to serve as the administrative building of the hospital campus at the park’s southeast corner.

Visitor tips

• Come an hour before sunset if the skyline is what you are here for, and bring something to sit on — the crest is grass, exposed, and it gets breezy the moment the sun drops.
• In winter, keep sledding lines and pedestrian routes separate. The slope is long and fast, and the busiest snow days put hundreds of people on it at once.
• Build the crossing into your plan. The pedestrian bridge takes a few minutes and delivers you to Riverdale Farm and Cabbagetown; skipping it means seeing half of what the park actually is.

Questions & answers

Is there any charge to visit? No. The park is free and open at all hours, as is Riverdale Farm across the bridge. Only the scheduled facilities carry costs — the outdoor pool operates on City of Toronto swim schedules, and tennis courts, diamonds and organized events require City permits.

Where exactly is the famous skyline view? From the crest of the hill on the east side, looking west across the valley. Nothing obstructs the sightline, which is why it appears in so much Toronto photography and film. Sunset is the classic time; a clear, cold winter evening gives the sharpest air.

How do I get there by transit? Take Line 2 Bloor–Danforth to Broadview station, then the 504 or 505 streetcar a few stops south — both run past the park’s eastern edge. Walking down from the station takes roughly fifteen minutes.

What are the green pipes sticking out of the grass? Landfill gas vents. The east slope was a municipal dump until the 1920s, and the pipes still release methane generated by that buried waste. They are functioning infrastructure and should be left alone.

Can I toboggan here? Yes — the hill is one of the busiest sledding slopes in the east end. It is long, wide and steep, so keep small children to the shallower sections, watch the run-out at the bottom and stay clear of the fenced sports surfaces.

What is on the other side of the bridge? Riverdale Park West, and then Riverdale Farm: seven and a half acres of working farm with heritage-breed cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and poultry, gardens, ponds and the surviving buildings of the Riverdale Zoo, which operated on that site until 1974. It is free and open daily.

Is the old Don Jail open to the public? The 1864 building at the southeast corner is not a museum — after its 2013 conservation it serves as the administrative building of the hospital next to it, and access is limited. It is impressive from the outside, and its scale explains why it was the largest construction project in the Toronto of its day.

How long should I allow? An hour covers the lookout, the track and a walk on the slope. Two to three hours is right if you cross to the farm or continue south on the Lower Don trail, which connects from the bridge and runs deep into the valley.

Are dogs allowed? Yes, on leash throughout the park; keep them off the sports fields and the track surface, and note that Riverdale Farm across the bridge does not admit dogs, since it is a working livestock operation.