The Toronto ravine system is a distinctive feature of the city's geography, consisting of a network of deep

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.urban forest that runs through most of

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 ...

. The ravine system is the largest in any city in the world, with the ''Ravine and Natural Feature Protection Bylaw'' protecting approximately of public and privately-owned land. The ravine system has been presented as a central characteristic of the city, with the size of the ravine system leading Toronto to be described as "a city within a park". The ravine system began to take shape approximately 12,000 years ago at the end of the Last Glacial Period when the glaciers that once covered Toronto retreated northeast, leaving rivers and valleys in their place. Due to the topography of the ravine system, limited urban development occurred within it until the mid-19th century. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the ravine system underwent a number of changes and saw several infrastructure developments built within it. Limited development in the ravine system continued until

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 ...

passed through Toronto in 1954; when the destruction caused by the hurricane resulted in the cessation of almost all major developments in the ravine system. The Toronto ravine system remains largely undeveloped, with most of its public lands having been designated as parkland. More than two-thirds of the publicly owned portions of the ravine system are made up of forests, with the other portions being beaches, meadows, open water, successional lands, and wetlands. Although large portions of the ravine system remain undeveloped, parts of the ravine system are used for flood management,

carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon dioxide () is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These changes can be accelerated through changes in lan ...

, and recreational purposes by the city. In addition to its human uses, the ravine system also serves as a habitat and

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

for a large number of animals.

Origin

The Toronto

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Last Glacial Period, with rivers and valleys being formed in the wake of the retreating glaciers and the compressed land it left. Meltwater from the glacial deposit at the Oak Ridges Moraine, situated north of the city, flowed southeast towards Glacial Lake Iroquois; carving through nearly of soil, alluvial soft sand, gravel, and clay till to form the ravine valleys. Most of the meltwater flowed southeast along shallow ice-scrapped depressions towards the glacial lake, creating small ponds north of Toronto. However, the early Don and

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between ...

rivers are notable exceptions, with these waterways flowing along the compacted channels of the former Laurentian River System, an ancient river system that was scoured and buried during the Last Glacial Period. After the glacial ice had retreated north of the St. Lawrence Valley approximately 9,000 years ago, the water level of glacial Lake Iroquois began to recede. The drop in water levels saw new waterways formed as the water meandered through the former lakebed into the newly formed

Lake Admiralty Admiralty Lake was a proglacial lake in the basin of what is now Lake Ontario. The shoreline of Admiralty Lake was about lower than Lake Ontario. The shoreline of Glacial Lake Iroquois, an earlier proglacial lake, was much higher than Lake O ...

; with the two main branches of the Don River joined at the old shoreline of Lake Iroquois, and new streams having been formed. The new lake existed until approximately 8,000 years ago, when the earth's crust around Quebec and northeastern Ontario began to rebound, having been previously depressed under the weight of the glacial ice that had since retreated from that area. Water levels in the lake gradually rose as the earth's crust near the lake's outlet to the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

rebounded. Major plateaus in the system, such as the lower Don Valley, were formed during this period; as rising water levels from

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 ...

pushed into the lower valley, and sediment washed down from the upper valley accumulated in the lower waterbed. The flooding of the lower ravine system also resulted in the formation of several spits,

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...

s, and

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

s near Toronto's shoreline. Castle Frank, by Elizabeth Simcoe, 1796-Archives-of-Ontario

Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the landscape from Lake Ontario to the Oak Ridge Moraine was dominated by forests of maple, beech, and hemlock trees; while its low-lying areas were made up of forests and shrub swamps, with extensive marches along the Toronto shoreline. A large number of the trees surrounding the Town of York were logged in the early 19th century, including a number of trees in the ravine system. However, portions of the ravine system saw limited human developments, with flood-prone areas of the ravine having prevented large-scale urban developments. As a result, the ravine system holds the largest collection of trees in the city that predates European colonization. The ravine system also saw significant alterations as a result of human activity in the 19th and early 20th century; as several natural valleys were filled in, rivers rechannelled or buried entirely, and wetlands drained in order to facilitate new developments. The Don River was altered near the mouth of the river, with a concrete channel created to prevent the Port Lands from flooding. Creeks and ravines within

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Str ...

were also buried during this period, including

Garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...

and Taddle Creek. As a result of these changes, the Don River, and a small portion of Taddle Creek was the only remaining waterways that flowed into Toronto Bay by the mid-20th century. The surviving portions of Toronto's ravine system primarily surround four waterways, the Don River, Highland Creek, Humber River, and the Rouge River; although smaller ravines can also be found along the other waterways of Toronto, including Etobicoke Creek and Mimico Creek.

Locations

The ravine system is situated on the north shore of Lake Ontario, straddling the Carolinian forest and the

Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, or simply St. Lawrence Lowlands, is a physiographic region of Eastern Canada that comprises a section of southern Ontario bounded on the north by the Canadian Shield and by 3 of the Great Lakes — Lake Huro ...

. The landscape of the ravine system includes large river valleys and smaller creeks. Many of the larger waterways are surrounded by narrow steep-sided valleys, with the waterways having eroded the soft deposits around it to reveal large exposures of

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

rocks; many of these rocks visible along the stream banks. The ravine system forms a part of a larger network of ravines that extends towards the Oak Ridges Moraine, located north of Toronto. The largest ravines surround the rivers running south from the moraine towards Lake Ontario, the Don, Humber, and Rouge rivers. The present ravine system is a protected natural landform under the ''Ravine and Natural Feature Protection Bylaw''. The bylaw defines a ravine as a distinct landform with a minimum of change in grade between "the highest and lowest points of elevation," has vegetation cover, and has or once had water flowing through or adjacent to the landform. In addition to these landforms, buffer areas and some other environmentally significant areas are also covered under this act. In total, the act protects approximately 17 per cent of the land in the city, or about of land. The system contains at least 150 ravines; constituting the largest ravine system in any city in the world. The edge of the ravine system throughout the city collectively amounts to over , ten times the length of the Toronto waterfront. The system is primarily surrounded by residential areas. Rouge National Urban Park-Finch Meander Trail-Toronto-Ontario

Rouge National Urban Park-Finch Meander Trail-Toronto-Ontario

Approximately 60 per cent of the protected land is publicly owned, whereas the remaining 40 per cent is held privately. Within this area there are 86 municipally-recognized "Environmentally Significant Areas" and 1,500 urban parks. Most of the ravine system remains in a naturalized state for flood control purposes, given the high variability in the water levels of the rivers and streams. During the late summer, many of the smaller streams will slow to a trickle or even disappear completely. During the spring and after major storms, creeks in the ravine will often overflow their banks. More than two-thirds of the publicly-owned portions of the ravine system are forests, with its remaining portions being beaches, meadows, open water, successional lands, and wetlands. The ravine system accounts for approximately 36 per cent of the city's total

tree cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...

. Nearly the entire ravine system forms a part of the city's green space and natural heritage system, with municipal bylaws for those areas largely restricting human developments, with exceptions for compatible recreational and cultural facilities and essential public works. Legal ordinances that restrict developments within the ravine system include the ''Ravine and Natural Feature Protection Bylaw'', which restricts the destruction of any tree in the system without a permit from the city; and TRCA Regulation 166/06, which prohibits any man-made alterations or filling of the ravine system's waterways or wetlands without a permit from the

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is a conservation authority in southern Ontario, Canada. It owns about of land in the Toronto region, and it employs more than 400 full-time employees and coordinates more than 3,000 volunt ...

(TRCA).

Waterways

The Toronto ravine system forms a part of a larger regional watershed system that encompasses the Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt and the Oak Ridges Moraine. The ravine system contains seven watersheds, the Don River, Etobicoke Creek, Highland Creek, Humber River, Mimico Creek, Petticoat Creek, and the Rouge River. The Humber watershed is the largest of the seven watersheds, although the Don watershed constitutes the largest percentage of the city's land area, making up 32.5 per cent of the city. In total, there is approximately of watercourses that flow through the city and its ravine. Topographical Map of Toronto

Most of the smaller creeks and streams are situated within the city limits of Toronto, although the source for the larger three rivers of the ravine system, the Don, Humber, and Rouge, originates from the Oak Ridges Moraine, a moraine located north of the city. The point where the Humber, Don, and Rouge River watersheds meet is near the intersection of Bathurst Street and Jefferson Sideroad at the Vaughan- Richmond Hill boundary. Many of the ravines that surround these waterways branch off into smaller ravines, winding through commercial, industrial, and residential neighbourhoods of the city. The shape of streams within the ravine system are subject to constant change, with large storms causing the area to flood, and erosion to occur on river banks and meanders. In particular, waterways in narrow ravines, and straightened/rechannelled waterways are particularly susceptible to change due to erosion. As a result of heavy urbanization around Black Creek, the water quality of the creek is considerably lower in comparison to the other watersheds of the ravine system.

Fauna and flora

The ravine system holds the greatest variety of ecosystems, species and genetic diversity within the city. The variety in species is a result of the mosaic of ecosystems that exists within the system, including forests, wetlands, rivers and streams. The connected nature of these habitats helps supports the extensive biodiversity within ravines. The ravine system serves as a habitat for approximately 1,700 species of animals and plants; including a number of locally, regionally, and provincially sensitive species and species at risk. Approximately 90 per cent of animals that reside in Toronto inhabit the ravine system. In addition to providing a habitat in an urban environment, the ravine system also acts as a

, permitting the animals that live within it to travel from one area of the city to another. The corridors are of particular importance for wild mammals, as they provide the only safe passage for them to traverse from one part of the city to another to find new mates and establish their own homes. The ravine system is one of the northernmost Carolinian forests found in North America, consisting of mixed woodlands and southern traces of the

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...

. Around 1,000 plant species may be found in the ravine system, making up approximately 25 per cent of all plant species that can be found in Ontario. Most flora that is native to the area, such as the oak, have the genetic diversity that makes them more adaptable and resilient to extreme climate events and pest infestations. Poison ivy and nettles are also abundant. However, a decline in the quality of vegetation composition had been observed between 2009 and 2019; with

invasive plant species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

spreading throughout the ravine system. At least one of 15 identified high-risk invasive plant species was found in 75 per cent of areas surveyed. Norway Maples are an invasive tree species that is found in the ravine system and out-competing native vegetation. A study of the ravine system's ecology in 2018 indicated that the native flora in the ravine system faced extirpation if action wasn't taken against the invasive flora; with certain invasive species such as the Norway maple seizing large portions of the ravine system by killing off native undergrowth and saplings.

Human history

A number of artifacts dating to the

Archaic period in North America In the classification of the archaeological cultures of North America, the Archaic period in North America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000 BC in the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by the '' ...

have been found in the ravine system. After the introduction of corn in southern Ontario circa 500 CE, the ancestral

Wyandot people The Wyandot people, or Wyandotte and Waⁿdát, are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. The Wyandot are Iroquoian Indigenous peoples of North America who emerged as a confederacy of tribes around the north shore of Lake Ontario ...

s began to raise the crop by clearing the floodplains. By the 14th century, the area held a number of Wyandot and

Petun The Petun (from french: pétun), also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati ("People Among the Hills/Mountains"), were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the woodlands of eastern North America. Their last known traditional homeland was sou ...

communities around the Don, Humber, and Rouge drainage system. A large amount of timber needed to house these communities were typically extracted from nearby cedar swamps. However by the end of the 16th century, most of these communities had moved northward to other Petun and Huron communities around present-day

Simcoe County Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...

. The areas was later occupied by the Seneca in the 1600s, with early European explorers having noted the existence of a Seneca village on the Humber, and another on the Rouge rivers in the 1660s. The first Europeans to arrive in the area were primarily explorers, fur traders, and missionaries; with a French Sulpician mission established at the mouth of the Rouge River by 1669. From the 17th century to 19th century, the ravine system formed a part of the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, a major canoe-and-portage route used by fur traders to reach the upper Great Lakes. Brick Works Wetlands September 2010 Toronto

Brick Works Wetlands September 2010 Toronto

The first sawmill opened in Toronto at the Don River valley in 1795. Due to the limited lumber supply the British had during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, and the abundance of old-growth pines in the ravine system, portions of the Rouge Valley were logged to support the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

's shipbuilding efforts. From the late-18th and 19th century, portions of the ravine system was logged for building materials, leaving few trees in Toronto that date to before the end of logging around 1850. From the late 18th to 20th century, clay was also extracted from the ravine system, with the first brickworks opened in the ravine system in 1796. The

Don Valley Brick Works The Don Valley Brick Works (often referred to as the Evergreen Brick Works) is a former quarry and industrial site located in the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Don Valley Brick Works operated for nearly 100 years and provide ...

was major brickwork that served as a major quarry and source of building material for the city until 1984. Clay excavations at the Don Valley Brick Works have provided researchers with the best-known preserved interglacial record in northern North America. Urban developments within the ravines were largely limited in the early 19th century, as the muddy glacial sediment that made up the ravine valley acted as a major obstacle to construction. However, the cleared portions of the ravine system saw several dump sites, farms, mills, and landscaped parks established in the 19th and 20th centuries. By the mid-19th century, the Don Valley gained a reputation as a "space for undesirables," with residents of the city perceiving the ravine as an area that harboured and facilitated lawlessness. The perception of the ravine system during the mid-19th century led developers to build low-end neighbourhoods near the ravine system; an area situated on the periphery of 19th-century Toronto and near its industrial lands. During the late 19th century, a number of wetlands and lagoons at the mouths of the Don River were infilled, as the shallowness of Ashbride's Marsh made the area optimal for redevelopment as the Port Lands. The Don River around the river's mouth was also straightened, in an effort to attract shipping upriver. Some smaller waterways in Toronto were also buried during this period after public health officials prompted the municipal government to cover the smaller waterways being used by residents as a receptacle for trash and human waste. The city's sewage system and water filtration plant was also built into the ravine system during the late-19th century. Many of Toronto's

storm drain A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada), surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from impervious surfa ...

s continue to empty into the ravines, with large parts of the city's infrastructure still reliant on the ravine system to absorb and filter stormwater in case of overflow. Hurricane Hazel -- Lawrence Avenue

By the mid-1950s, several plans had emerged to create public parks within the ravine system, and protect the system from further human development. Developments in the ravine system were largely halted after

passed through Toronto in 1954; with the hurricane destroying a number of homes and leaving 1,868 families homeless. A number of the homes that were destroyed were situated in the rechannelled rivers and streams of the ravine system, areas already threatened by flooding from heavy rainfalls. The TRCA was formed under the provincial ''

Conservation Authorities Act The ''Conservation Authorities Act'' (french: Loi sur les offices de protection de la nature) was created by the Ontario Provincial Legislature in 1946 to ensure the conservation, restoration and responsible management of hydrological features th ...

'' as a result of the disaster. The TRCA established several flood control and water management policies that saw major developments halted within the ravine system. As a result, most of the ravine system that remained from the 1950s was preserved, with the construction of the

Don Valley Parkway The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway ...

being the only major exception. Prince Edward Viaduct (4672897942)

The municipal government proceeded with its plan to create several parks in the ravine system, although they were built further upstream; adjacent to the TRCA's designated reservoirs and watersheds. Efforts to restore the ravine system to its natural state were launched in the 1990s, with citizen task forces such as the

Task Force to Bring Back the Don The Task Force to Bring Back the Don was a citizen advisory committee that advised the city council of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on issues concerning the Don River and its watershed. It consisted of up to 20 citizen members and 3 council members ...

formed to help facilitate tree planting and wetland creation projects.

21st century

In 2002, the

municipal government of Toronto The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the '' City of Toro ...

enacted a bylaw to formally protect the ravine system from human development. The ravines were also home to a considerable number of

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

people, some of them living in fairly elaborate temporary structures. In 2001, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' ran a three-part series titled "The Outsiders" tracing the life of the homeless residents of the ravines over the course of nearly a year. It won a National Newspaper Award for best feature writing. During the 2000s, illegal dumping of garbage in the ravines became an issue for forestry officials in the city. A report published in 2018 estimated that the ravine system provided the city with C$822 million in eco-system services in 2017. Eco-services provided by the ravine include aesthetics,

, flood mitigation, the regulation of temperature and noise, and recreation. In the report, it was estimated that the ravine system is responsible for the sequestration of 14,542 tonnes of carbon per year. Work on new bypass tunnels to capture

combined sewer overflow A combined sewer is a type of gravity sewer with a system of pipes, tunnels, pump stations etc. to transport sewage and urban runoff together to a sewage treatment plant or disposal site. This means that during rain events, the sewage gets dil ...

s and prevent their flow into the Don River and Lake Ontario was undertaken beginning in December 2019. The bypass tunnels will divert overflows to

Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant The Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant is the city of Toronto's main sewage treatment facility, and the second largest such plant in Canada after Montreal's Jean-R. Marcotte facility. One of four plants that service the city of Toronto, it t ...

for ultraviolet disinfection.

Recreational use

The municipal government's official ravine strategy identifies the ravine system as areas that should be preserved in their natural state. As a result, recreational activities within the ravine system have been limited to passive recreational activities, including cycling, hiking, and cross-country skiing within the ravine's parks and trails. There exist approximately 1,500 urban parks within the ravine system. However, access to some ravine parks remains limited to pedestrian traffic, most notably ravine parks where its boundary with the sidewalk and roadways has a slope greater than 45 per cent. In addition to small local parks, larger urban parks that encompass large portions of the ravine system have also been established during the 2010s. In 2011, the federal government announced its intention to create a national park around the Rouge River watershed. In order to establish the national park, the land was transferred from the municipal governments of Toronto and the surrounding municipalities to

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...

; with

Rouge National Urban Park Rouge National Urban Park is a national urban park in Ontario, Canada. The park is centred around the Rouge River and its tributaries in the Greater Toronto Area. The southern portion of the park is situated around the mouth of river in Toron ...

formally established on 15 May 2015. As of July 2019, the park has incorporated 95 per cent of the of land committed to it by the municipal, provincial, and federal governments. The Don River Valley Park is another large park in the ravine system opened by the municipal government. The Don River Valley Park encompasses over of the lower Don River valley from Pottery Road to Corktown Common. The creation of the Don River Valley Park formed a part of the larger Lower Don Master Plan, a plan to naturally restore the area. Etobicoke Creek Trail at Centennial Park

Etobicoke Creek Trail at Centennial Park

In 2017, the city introduced new trail signage to provide information for the surrounding area; initially on the trails of the lower Don River. There were 924,486 hikers and 398,240 cyclists who used the trails in the Toronto ravine system in 2017. The heavy use of some trails remains an issue for conservation efforts, with these trails showing signs of accelerated erosion and disruption to wildlife. Certain parts of the ravines are also known as gay cruising areas.

In culture

Toronto's ravines have been presented as central to Toronto's "city within a park" character. Architect Larry Richards describes Toronto as topographically being "

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

turned upside down" in reference to San Francisco's hilly terrain. Sandy M. Smith, a professor of urban forestry at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, has also remarked how the ravine system acts as the "green veins of the city," defining the city landscape and shaping Toronto's road network; with roadways having to conform to the ravine's boundaries.

Anne Michaels Anne Michaels (born 15 April 1958) is a Canadian poet and novelist whose work has been translated and published in over 45 countries. Her books have garnered dozens of international awards including the Orange Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, t ...

' also describes Toronto as a "city of ravines," in her novel ''

Fugitive Pieces ''Fugitive Pieces'' is a novel by Canadian poet and novelist Anne Michaels. The story is divided into two sections. The first centers around Jakob Beer, a Polish Holocaust survivor while the second involves a man named Ben, the son of two Holoc ...

''; describing the ravine system as a place where one could "traverse the city beneath the streets, look up to the floating neighbourhoods, houses built in the treetops". In several literary works, such as

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, ...

's ''

Lady Oracle ''Lady Oracle'' is a novel by Margaret Atwood that parodies Gothic romances and fairy tales. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1976. Plot summary The novel's protagonist, Joan Foster, is a romance novelist who has spent her li ...

'', the ravine system is often depicted as a meeting place where the unruly dense wilderness collided with the tidy streets of suburban Toronto. The unique topography of Toronto was one of the primary reasons

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; hy, Աթոմ Եղոյեան, translit=Atom Yeghoyan; born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in the 1980s from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. Egoyan m ...

chose to set his film '' Chloe'' in the city. Lambton Woods-Park - October 18th, 2015 (22708767871)

The importance of the ravine system to the city's character has influenced the works of a number of Toronto-based artists and authors. Robert Fulford remarked that the "ravines are the chief characteristic of the local terrain, its topographical signature. They are both a tangible (though often hidden) part of our surroundings and a persistent force in our civic imagination. They are the shared subconscious of the municipality, the place where much of our literature is born." Fulford further comments how the ravine system was typically a Torontonian's first glimpse of wilderness, representing for many residents a "savage foreign place," and a "republic of childhood"; as parents warn younger children of the "evils" that lurks within, while adolescents viewed the ravines as the only place where they can "find freedom from the vigilant gaze of adults". It has been suggested by Fulford that the childhood experiences Toronto-based authors had with ravines resulted in them being used as "receptacles of the childhood experiences that they have repressed," and as a "creative, liminal space in which the ambiguities of life can play out". Other artists and authors that have highlighted the Toronto ravine system in their works include Morley Callaghan, Douglas Anthony Cooper,

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

Doris McCarthy Doris McCarthy, LL. D. (July 7, 1910 – November 25, 2010) was a Canadian artist known for her abstracted landscapes. Life and career Born in Calgary, Alberta, McCarthy attended the Ontario College of Art from 1926 to 1930, where she was award ...

, and

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of multiple literary awards such as the Governor General's Award, the Giller P ...

Notes

References

External links

Ravines & Natural Parklands - City of Toronto
{{Parks and squares in Toronto Landforms of Toronto Ravines of Canada