Schedule of Lost River Walks in Toronto

You can find the schedule here.

Below is information from the Lost River web page that you can access at the link in the previous sentence.

You can access the live links by going to the above-noted web page, which is part of the Toronto Green Community website.

Sunday, May 19, 2013, 2 pm – Daylighting Wilson Creek? An Investigation of Lost Watersheds and Water Infrastructure.

Explore a lost watershed with Helen Mills, Michael Cook of vanishingpoint.ca, and Zora Ignjatovic of the Toronto Community Garden Network and vanishingpoint.ca. Consider why this creek had to be buried. http://www.vanishingpoint.ca/why-did-we-bury-this-creek .

Along the way Zora and Helen will point out some interesting green infrastructure and urban agriculture projects tucked into the present day landscape of cars, small industrial buildings and powerlines. Meet at the northwest corner of Victoria Park and Jonesville Crescent (one block north of Eglinton). We will be walking on uneven hummocky terrain. Hiking boots advised.

Sunday May 19, 2013, 2 pm Jewish Heritage on Long Branch. Judah Creek and Saul’s Creek, meeting at Long Branch TTC loop. Led by Ian Wheal.

Monday May 20, 2013, 1:30 pm – Langstaff EcoPark. Meet at Dufferin & Steeles NW corner. Led by Ian Wheal.

Sunday, May 26, 2013, 2 pm, Birds Bees and Butterflies Coming Soon to Dallington Public School. Somer Creek at Leslie and Sheppard, Find out about plans for the Dallington Pollinator Garden, and learn about lost Somer Creek in Dallington Park, where kids once crossed the Hobbit Bridge.

We will discover the East Don Parkland Trail, and find a part of Somer Creek that is still above ground. Walk Leaders, Helen Mills and Wendy Colman. Meet at Dallington Public School, 18 Dallington Drive (Closest Subway is Don Mills).

Tuesday, May 28, 2013, 6:45 pm. Wartime Community Gardens of Dovercourt. Starting at Dovercourt YMCA, Dovercourt and College. Led by Ian Wheal.

Sunday, June 9, 2013, 2 pm – Leslie-Withrow Woodgreen Women’s Military Gardens. World War One heritage. Meet at Chester Subway station, ending at Logan and Queen. Led by Ian Wheal.

Sunday, June 16, 2013, 2 pm – The Garden District. Continue our city centre explorations. Walk the neighbourhood between Carlton, Yonge, Queen and Sherbourne, its parks, gardens and landscapes lost, remnant and manufactured. Meet at the southeast corner of Yonge and Carlton. Led by John Wilson and (invited) Garden District Residents Association members.

Sunday, June 23, 2 pm – Lost Creeks of the Beach with Helen and Martina Rowley, Beach Business Hub, 2181 Queen St.

Sunday, July 21, 2013, 2 pm – Mimico Creek Geology and Natural History. Revisiting a walk last held in 2005, we will meet at Bishop Allen Academy parking lot on Royal York Road opposite Coney Road intersection. Richard Anderson, and Ed Freeman and friends.

Sunday Aug 18, 2013, 2 pm The Meeting of the Waters: Poetry Walk on the Vale of Avoca. Meet on St Clair south side east of Yonge outside the subway. Helen Mills and friends.

There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet,
As the vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet;
Oh, the last rays of feeling and life must depart,
Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart

Thomas Moore (1779-1852)

Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, 9:30 am – First Day of Gov. Simcoe’s 1793 Journey Up the Toronto Carrying Place. Commentary by Madeleine McDowell, in period dress, for the Humber Heritage Committee. Assemble on South Kingsway north of Queensway – Petro Canada station, 8 South Kingsway. A re-enactment of John Graves Simcoe’s expedition in the form of a parade, permitting people to join and leave along the route. Ending before 2:00 pm at the guv’ner’s 1793 campsite at the Humber River and Eglinton. Early drop off at Étienne Brûlé Park (Bloor St).

Plans for walks are constantly been developed. We welcome your suggestions for interesting walks. Maybe you might like to lead walk. Send your suggestion to: The Streamwalker.

NOTE to leaders of walks who plan to bring their groups to join one of our walks. While we always welcome more people to our walks, it would be appreciated if you would make arrangements with the walk leader well before hand. Adding a significant number of people (eight or more) at the last minute can make it difficult to see that all get the benefit of the walk You can e-mail The Streamwalker and he will attempt to get you in touch with the walk leader so you can make special arrangements.

No charge is made for Lost River Walks. Toronto Green Community and Toronto Field Naturalists provide these and other walks and events as a public service. If you would like to support the work of these organizations, you may join TFN or TGC. Information on joining is provided by walk leaders or you may check their websites: Toronto Field Naturalists or Toronto Green Community.

Click to see Archive Files for Past Walks

Other Walks and Events:

Tuesday September 25, 2012, 7 pm Lost Rivers of East York. John Wilson will deliver a presentation to the East York Historical Society at the S. Walter Stewart Public Library, 170 Memorial Park Blvd, near Coxwell.

For further information about:

The Toronto Green Community E-mail: info@torontogreen.ca or The Streamwalker.
Website www.torontogreen.ca

The Toronto Field Naturalists, 2 Carlton Street, #1519, Toronto, ON. M5B 1J3 Phone: (416) 593-2656 Web Site: http://www.torontofieldnaturalists.org

Friends of the Don East (FODE), Calendar on Web Site: Calendar

Taylor Massey Project. http://www.thetmp.org/

Toronto Bay Initiative call 416-598-2277 or check the Toronto Bay Initiative web site.

Return to Lost Rivers Index Page

[End of excerpt]

The topic of lost rivers and lost creeks interests me because I spent part of my childhood playing at what is now a lost creek in Montreal.

As a May 24, 2013 New York Times article notes, the rivers that remain on the surface face characteristic challenges.