Public Walk: Buried Rivers In The Beach

Date: Aug 6, 2026 at 10:00
Meeting Location: Beaches Neighbourhood

Join us on Thursday, August 6th at 10:00 am for a 2.5-hour, 2 km linear nature and heritage walk over mostly paved surfaces with some gentle slopes. Some stairs.

Registration required through EventBrite

Leader: Linda McCaffrey

Description: After the initial grants to pioneer farmers and important people, lands were broken up. Chunks were bought up for country estates, lakeside recreational facilities, housing, and other uses. As the country estates and recreational facilities were sold off, developers snapped up chunks of land and designed small subdivisions. They filled in the rivers for roads with enthusiasm, but they did not always impose a grid pattern on the streets or level the topography. As a result, some random, charming streets following the courses of the buried rivers survive. The ersatz Gardners Cottage in Kew Beach Park is an exquisite example of whimsical architecture. There are other delightful or interesting buildings to view. And many trees.

Meeting Spot: Will be sent to those who register

Getting There: Take subway Line 2 to Woodbine Station, then the 92 bus to Queen St. Or take 501 streetcar to Queen and Woodbine

Washrooms: Along the way

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.