Earl Bales Park is a large park in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, Canada. The

West Don River The Don River is a watercourse in southern Ontario that empties into Lake Ontario, at Toronto Harbour. Its mouth was just east of the street grid of the town of York, Upper Canada, the municipality that evolved into Toronto, Ontario. The Don is o ...

runs through it.

History

The park was built on farm land owned by John Bales, which later became York Downs Golf and Country Club in 1922. The land was saved from development after the sale of the club which relocated in 1969 to

Unionville, Ontario Unionville is a suburban district and former village in Markham, Ontario, Canada, 2 km (2.5 mi) west of Markham Village (the City of Markham's historic downtown), and 33 km (20.5 mi) northeast of Downtown Toronto. The bo ...

and was turned into an urban park in 1975. Don Valley Golf Course is located to the east and south of the park. John Bales House, which dates back to 1824, was used as the greenskeeper's home from 1922 to 1969. The park is named for former Reeve of North York Township (1934-1940) Robert Earl Bales (and great-grandson of John Bales).

Services

Besides being a city park, it is also home to: *

North York Ski Centre Earl Bales Park is a large park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The West Don River runs through it. History The park was built on farm land owned by John Bales, which later became York Downs Golf and Country Club in 1922. The land was saved from d ...

* Barry Zukerman Amphitheatre * Earl Bales Community Centre * Spirit of Bravery Statue

North York Ski Centre

North York Ski Centre (also known as the Earl Bales Ski & Snowboard Centre) is a small alpine skiing hill located in Earl Bales Park, close to the intersection of Bathurst Street and

Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main ro ...

. It features one quad chair and a

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-c ...

, serving three intermediate slopes and one beginner slope. It is now the only alpine skiing centre located within the boundaries of Toronto, after the closure of Centennial Park in 2022. The hills are a natural formation from the edge of the Don River. In 2011 and 2012, repeated failures of the now-retired double chair brought up talks of closing the centre. Instead, the city decided to revitalize the club by adding a quad chair. The double chair is still in place but is unused.

Roads

The park has one named

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, Raoul Wallenberg Road which is named after

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. 31 J ...

. The road connects

Bathurst Street (Toronto) Bathurst Street is a main north–south thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It begins at an intersection of the Queens Quay roadway, just north of the Lake Ontario shoreline. It continues north through Toronto to the Toronto boundary at ...

with the parking lot at the Earl Bales Community Centre. The park also has one unnamed road connecting Raoul Wallenberg road with the ski hill parking lots as well as many trails running in the forest.

References

Parks in Toronto {{Toronto-geo-stub

History

Services

North York Ski Centre

Roads

See also

References