Public walk – Subway Series: Broadview to Castle Frank, Tales of the Don

Date: Jul 05, 2025 at 10:00
Meeting Location: Outside the entrance to the Broadview Subway Station

Join us on Saturday, July 5th at 10 am for a 6-hour, 8-12 km linear nature and heritage walk along mostly unpaved but even surfaces with some steep slopes. Some stairs.

Saturday, July 5th at 10:00 am – Subway Series: Broadview to Castle Frank, Tales of the Don.

Leader: Joanne Doucette

Walk Location: Don Valley

Meeting Point: Outside the entrance to the Broadview Subway Station

Getting There: Parking is limited near both the Castle Frank and Broadview TTC stations. Transit is highly recommended.

Walk Details: A 6-hour, 8-12 km linear nature and heritage walk along mostly unpaved but even surfaces with some steep slopes. Some stairs. There are drop-out points along the route for those not wanting to go the full six hours.

Accessibility: Muddy areas, uneven ground.

Washrooms: At the beginning and along the way

Walk description: This is a hike across the Don Valley, through Riverdale Park, with stops at Riverdale Farm, the Necropolis and St. James Cemetery. The pace will be faster than the usual nature walk and the distance is longer. However, there will be drop out points en route. We will talk about the First Nations history of the Don River, the transformation of the river through channelling, the history of Riverdale Zoo, the oak savannah of the pre-settlement period, and cemeteries as nature refuges.

What to Bring: Water, lunch, hat, sunscreen or umbrella (depending on weather), field guide, binoculars, good walking shoes

Other information: No pets please. Service animals are welcome.

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.