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Over the weekend, a bunch of us went cycling around Tommy Thompson Park. The park is located on Leslie Street Spit, a man-made peninsula that has been growing since the 1950s. Made of construction rubble like bricks, concrete and re-bar, Tommy Thompson Park is now a city park that is great for joggers, cyclists, rollerbladers, birdwatchers, and anglers. It’s about a 10 km round trip from the entry of the park all the way to the lighthouse at the tip, and I find I like cycling the mostly paved pathway more than walking. I once came here with a friend from Newfoundland, and she thought this Toronto lighthouse didn’t really count – I can see her point, since it can’t compare to the lighthouses in the Atlantic and Maritimes.
What makes the park great for cyclists like us is that there are no vehicles or pets allowed. Tommy Thompson Park is an urban wilderness and home to the Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station. On our short ride, we saw dozens of red-winged black birds, a couple swans, a few gulls and Canada geese, hundreds of cormorants, and a goldfinch, even though over 300 species have been sighted in the park. It is also an important habitat for nesting birds and a stopover for migratory birds and insects making their way down to the US. The paths are mostly paved and all flat, which makes Tommy Thompson Park popular with families cycling with young kids.
Normally Tomiko and I will cycle down to the park, but this time we drove since we wanted to do some shopping at the giant T&T grocery store by the docklands. Cherry Beach is also close to the entry to the park, and it is popular for swimming, barbecuing, or having a picnic.
On a clear day, we can see the highrises of Mississauga and the factories of Hamilton across the lake. Tommy Thompson Park also offers a great view of the Toronto skyline, although it is ever-changing due to the multitude of condos springing up – we can barely even see the Skydome!
Visit Tommy Thompson Park:
Open weekends and holidays 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Check out Toronto’s cycling map for bike paths and trails.
[…] cultural festivals, Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, picnics, and afternoons spent cycling. In winter, which in Toronto spans November to March, many people generally hunker down and stay […]