Public Walk – Forks of the Don Winter Trek

Date: Feb 08, 2025 at 10:00
Meeting Location: Shell gas station at Don Mills Road and Gateway Boulevard

Join us on Saturday, February 8th at 10:00 am for a 3 hr, 2.5 km, circular nature walk on mostly unpaved but even surfaces, flat with some gentle slopes.  Some stairs.

Leader: Stephen Smith

Walk Location: ET Seton Park & Taylor Creek Park.

Meeting Point: Shell gas station at Don Mills Road and Gateway Boulevard

Getting There: Take the 100A bus from Broadview Station and get off at the corner of Gateway Blvd. Walk to the gas station. Car parking is available at the gas station.

Walk Details: A 3 hr, 2.5 km, circular nature walk on mostly unpaved but even surfaces, flat with some gentle slopes.  Some stairs.

Accessibility: Some parts of the route are not suitable for mobility devices in winter.

Washrooms: At the beginning and at the end.

Walk description: We will walk south into the valley and explore several community-led stewardship sites while learning to identify plants in winter conditions. The stewards have been active for 25 years or more and have had outstanding results from their years of careful work. We’ll have a look at the Elevated Wetlands public art project and talk about its future. The walk will end where it started or people could park a car in one of the parking lots and leave from the valley.

What to Bring: Warm drinks, winter boots and clothing for very cold days, binoculars, magnifying glass

Other information: The trails may have been packed down to ice by people walking on the snow so wear boots that provide good traction.  Most of the paths are flat but some parts are steeper.

Outings Etiquette

Please follow our Naturalist’s Code of Ethics on outings to minimize our impact on nature. If you plan on taking photos, please read our pamphlet on Ethical Nature Photography Best Practices. Note: Dogs are not allowed on TFN outings, apart from leashed registered service dogs.

Cancellation Policy

An outing will be cancelled if there is a 70% or higher chance of thunderstorm or if other hazardous weather arises. See our full cancellation policy here: https://torontofieldnaturalists.org/walks/tfn-outing-cancellation-policy/

Safety

Please dress for the weather. Bring water with you. Use bug spray and check for ticks when you get home. Do not attend an outing if you are feeling ill.

This walk is only one of more than 140 that TFN will host this year alone! TFN members enjoy a complete listing of walks in our newsletter. Not a member? Learn more about the benefits of membership now!

Please tag any photos you take on this walk with #TFNWalk so that we can all live vicariously through your lens.

Toronto Field Naturalists wishes to acknowledge this Land through which we walk. For thousands of years, the Land has been shared by the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe. Toronto is situated on the Land within the Toronto Purchase, Treaty 13, the traditional and treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is also part of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum, a covenant agreement between Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Wendat peoples and allied nations to peaceably share the land and all its resources. Today, the Land is home to peoples of numerous nations. We are all grateful to have the opportunity to continue to care for and share the beauty of this Land.