Cedarvale Park (originally known as Cedar Vale) is a park located in

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Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is bordered by very steep hills, and is located in the Cedarvale neighbourhood of Toronto. The

Line 1 Yonge–University Line 1 Yonge–University is a rapid transit line of the Toronto subway. It serves Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, has 38 stations and is in length, making it t ...

subway tunnels underneath it, between St. Clair West and

Eglinton West Little Jamaica, also known as Eglinton West, is an ethnic enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along Eglinton Avenue West, from Marlee Avenue to Keele Street, and is part of four neighbourhoods: Silverthorn, Briar Hill–Belgrav ...

stations; there are several TTC emergency exits in the park. The north end of the park contains the Phil White (Cedarvale) Arena and The Leo Baeck Day School, formerly Arlington Middle School. It is commonly used by dog walkers and students returning from the nearby school. The park contains a

cricket pitch A cricket pitch is the rectangular central strip of a cricket field between the two wickets, where most of the action takes place. It is long (1 Chain (unit), chain) and wide. The surface is flat and is normally covered with extremely sh ...

and soccer goals as permanent fixtures. In the winter, the larger hills within the park are used for

tobogganing A toboggan is a simple sled used in snowy winter recreation. It is also a traditional form of cargo transport used by the Innu, Cree and Ojibwe of North America, sometimes part of a dog train. It is used on snow to carry one or more people ( ...

. South of the fields, the park angles southeast, and becomes more of a deep, naturalized ravine with steep sides, with a heavily used footpath down the middle. Cedarvale ravine contains very sizable cattail wetlands east of Bathurst Street in Forest Hill; the remainder of the natural portion is young regrowth forest (the ravine was largely clearcut during the construction ahead of the proposed Spadina Subway in the 1970s, which was cancelled). The path is heavily used and remains passable even in winter, with foot traffic packing snow down despite the lack of plowing, especially after drainage works in 2006 fixed water pooling and subsequent ice buildup. The park benefits from its proximity to the

Beltline trail The Beltline Trail is a -long cycling and walking rail trail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of three sections, the York Beltline Trail west of Allen Road, the Kay Gardner Beltline Park from the Allen to Mount Pleasant Road, and the R ...

in the north and the Nordheimer Ravine to the south; these join together to form a large trail system through midtown Toronto. The southern entrance of the park is adjacent to a St. Clair West subway station entrance, and an

outdoor gym An outdoor gym is a gym built outside in a public park, with the all-weather construction of its exercise machines somewhat modeled on playground equipment. It is similar to the 1960s–1970s proliferation of fitness trails, which continue to ...

constructed b
Trekfit

History

creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

Castle Frank Brook Castle Frank Brook is a buried creek and south-west flowing tributary of the Don River in central and north-western Toronto, Ontario, originating near the intersection of Lawrence Avenue and Dufferin Street. Residential and industrial developme ...

, used to run through Cedarvale Park, but it is now completely buried.

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

, an

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, often frequented this park's path, which was then used as a cattle path, during his stay in Canada. There were plans in the 1920s and the 1930s to build mansions in the ravine, but the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

in the 1930s halted its construction. The Glen Cedar bridge that spans the ravine portion of the park was built during that time and restored in 1989, after being rescued from demolition. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were plans to build the

Spadina Expressway Allen Road, formally known as William R. Allen Road, is a short municipal expressway and arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue, Eglinton Avenue West, heading north to just south ...

through Cedarvale Park but

Jane Jacobs Jane Isabel Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book ''The Death and Life of Great American Ci ...

successfully lobbied against the government to halt its construction project. Cedarvale Park is located on the right-of-way for the cancelled Spadina Expressway south of Eglinton that was transferred to the province of Ontario in return for the building of

Black Creek Drive Black Creek Drive is a limited-access arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A four-lane route that runs north–south, it connects Weston Road and Humber Boulevard with Highway 401 via Highway 400, the latter of which it forms ...

. Since the 2000s, increasing ecological awareness has changed priorities within the park, with renaturalization projects already underway on slopes near the north end of the park. Cedarvale Ravine has a permanent off-leash area for dogs, but leashes are required in all other areas. Following a string of dog attacks in Cedarvale Ravine, the park is now frequented by bylaw officers who will ticket the owners of off-leash dogs outside the designated area.

References

External links

Friend of Cedarvale Park

Cedarvale Park - Trekfit
{{Parks and squares in Toronto Parks in Toronto