Morningside Park is a recreational

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

located in Scarborough,

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 Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. It is Toronto's largest municipal park by area.

Description

The park occupies most of the

deep valley ''Deep Valley'' is a 1947 drama starring Ida Lupino and Dane Clark, directed by Jean Negulesco and produced and released by Warner Bros. A young woman lives unhappily with her embittered parents in an isolated rural home until an escaped convict ...

of Highland Creek where it borders the communities of West Hill and Highland Creek. Spanning , the park includes picnic areas, public washrooms, parking and footpaths which connect to nearby communities and the

Waterfront Trail Stretching over 3600 km (2236 miles) from Prince Township, west of Sault Ste. Marie, to the Quebec border, the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail is a signed route of interconnecting roads and off-road trails joining over 150 communities and First Na ...

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. The park is bounded by Morningside Avenue on the east,

Ellesmere Road Ellesmere ( ) may refer to: Places Australia * Ellesmere, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland * the former name of Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia Canada * Ellesmere Island, an Arctic island of Canada and named f ...

on the north and

Lawrence Avenue East Lawrence Avenue is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is divided into east and west portions (Lawrence Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue West) by Yonge Street, the dividing line of east-west streets in Toronto. Route d ...

to the south. Together with the

University of Toronto Scarborough The University of Toronto Scarborough, also known as U of T Scarborough or UTSC, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set up ...

lands east of Morningside Avenue and Colonel Danforth Park, the park is part of a continuous forested corridor along the lower reaches of Highland Creek. The park features a high degree of urban wilderness compared to other parks in Toronto, with deer, eroded cliffs and a remnant forest.

History

The valley of Highland Creek was at one point a settlement. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, a shortage in housing resulted in many new residences being built from cottages. However, an increase in settlers was becoming problematic as contaminated wells, evictions, and home demolition were contentious issues in the post-war period. Living conditions were further complicated by the steep slopes and flat floodplain of the Highland Creek further in the area as residents and their cottages were regularly threatened by flash flooding. In 1954, severe damage from

Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and Sout ...

led to the removal of housing in the area. Public ownership of floodplain land was established to prevent further development. The area eventually turned into parklands and wildlife was restored. Over 5,000

White Pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

trees were planted in Morningside Park by the Boy Scouts of Canada in 1994.

References

External links

*
A Walk on the Wild Side of Morningside Park
at Curran Hall Community Association {{Parks and squares in Toronto Parks in Toronto Scarborough, Toronto