What it's like to canoe the Don River through Toronto
Jump in the canoe as we paddle down the Don River in the heart of Toronto during the annual Manulife Paddle the Don. This event is all about having fun, enjoying nature, and celebrating the Don River watershed. For more about this event, visit
The Don River, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Morning Bicycle trip....
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SOUND TRACK:
Summer Night
BY: The 126ers
Don Scenes 1 - 15minute The Don River Watershed
Don River Watershed Toronto Ontario Canada
Copyright ©2013 David P Latchman Toronto
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Cycling Don Valley trail in Toronto with GoPro Action Camera #toronto
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Cycling Don Valley trail in Toronto with GoPro Action Camera
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Biking along Don Valley trail in Toronto
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The Don River valley winds its way through Toronto parks and conservation areas and provides an interesting glimpse into the history of the City of Toronto. It is easy to feel disconnected from the hustle and bustle of city life as nature takes over in an urban area.
The Don Valley stretches 32 km from the Oak Ridges Moraine in the North and south to Lake Ontario and is an important watershed for the city .
There are numerous trails that branch off the multi-use paved trail, taking cyclists to city street access points or other adjacent parks. The Waterfront trail connects trail users to the Don Valley from the lakeside, southern start point.
Many of Toronto’s avid cyclists are aware of our network of bike trails, but for the most part, the slice of pseudo-wilderness cutting a swath through the Don Valley and along Taylor Creek is one of the city’s most woefully neglected attractions. Those who use it may like it that way (its obscurity keeps bike and foot traffic relatively sparse), but we think it’s a treasure that should be celebrated.
Though the route also splits off near Don Mills Road, passing behind the Ontario Science Centre and up to Edwards Gardens, we chose to highlight the easterly jaunt, with its terminus at Dawes Road (near Victoria Park Avenue). Lakeshore Boulevard at the Don Roadway provides the other access point.
What makes this particular course appealing is how it begins with dense foliage and the meandering, rocky river, eventually becoming more urbanized as you head south, kissing the edge of the Don Valley Parkway and passing under rusting expressway ramps near the portlands. The charm lies in quirks like the odd water crossings in Taylor Creek Park, the mammoth foundations of the Prince Edward Viaduct, and experiencing some wetland efforts meant to undo the environmental damage done by the industrialization of the Don River.
Disclaimer: This video is for Entertainment purposes only!
lvfree Adventures
Don River,Flooding.Toronto.
Toronto
Don River Watershed Regeneration-Peter Heinz interview
Please visit for the full article.
Interview with the Don Watershed Regeneration Council's Vice-Chair Peter Heinz on the day of the 2011 'Paddle the Don'
event.
Save the Don River
I grew up less than a mile from the forks of the Don River. I spent many warm summer days swinging from a Tarzan rope and splashing into the refreshing water near Flemington Park Golf Club. Im sure the water wasnt pristine, even back then in the seventies, but I didnt know better. Some old fire hose tied to a sturdy tree limb overhanging the river was all that was needed for a great time.
Many school trips found me in the valley learning to identify trees, orienteering and other activities. A favorite was our yearly visit in Spring to the Maple Sugar bush that was located at the south end of what is now Charles Sauriol Conservation Reserve. The day began with a short bus ride from Selwyn Public School to the cookhouse. Part of the adventure included crossing the river on a small footbridge with no handrailing. This bridge remains in my memory because one of my classmates, Bina, wore her mothers shoes to school on the day of our Sugar Bush trip, fell off the footbridge and was rescued from the river by our teacher. Bina was unhurt, just a little embarrassed. The trip always ended with a sampling of the Maple Sugar. Yum.
The valley was also a second home during most of my teenaged years. A large group of friends would play a game of team tag we called Crest and the Cavity Creeps, with the Crest team hunting the Cavity Creeps through the valley. (who says teens dont have a sense of humour) We also went on many extensive hikes that we referred to as safaris, along the river. During my later teenage years the valley was a refuge from the eyes and ears of our parents, neighbours and law enforcement officials, when we wished to indulge in the barley and hop experience.
As a young adult I continued to cherish the valley and began to understand the decline it suffered through neglect and indifference. It wasnt until the 90s, when I began to notice deer tracks and see hawks, turtles and foxes re-populating the valley that I realized how much the ecosystem had diminished during my childhood.
As a maturing adult I now appreciate the important work individuals like Charles Sauriol and many volunteers and nature enthusiasts have done for the valley. I continue to take full advantage of the Don Valley daily, through cycling and blading the trails of Taylor Creek, Serena Gundy, Edwards Gardens and Sunnybrooke parks. Hiking in Charles Sauriol Conservation Reserve is a treat not many people take advantage of. I love the Don Valley and hope it will be revitalized and protected for kids and adults to enjoy forever.
Toronto's Revitalized Waterfront: The New Don River
What will our waterfront look like when revitalization is complete? This 30-second animation gives an idea of what the naturalized mouth of the Don River and nearby neighbourhoods might look like in a decade's time.
Don River Valley, Toronto, March 2008. Part 1
Walking 11 k along the Don Valley area in Toronto.
Salmon Jump in East Don River, Toronto
October 4th 2011, East Don River, salmon Jump.Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Turtle Testing at Don River
Inward Bound - The Don River Project
Three young boys go on a mind expanding adventure in Toronto's Don River ecosystem.
Pollution and Wildlife Along The Don River
GreenRavenPhotography.com
Presents:
The Don River
Polluted, undrinkable water before extensive treatment. Home to many species whose habitats are threatened by urban development, industrial pollution, and litter. Visited and enjoyed by millions of citizensalong its paths/trails and adjacent highways and byways; each day hundreds of thousands of cars pass by the Don River, while some people bike or hike along its trails.
Musical credit:
Winter, Four Seasons, Vivaldi
Paddle the Don.mov
This 18th annual Manulife Paddle the Don event brings out 600 paddlers for a canoe adventure through the heart of Toronto. Paddlers navigate the Don River from Eglinton Avenue to the mouth of the Don River at this annual canoeing ritual on Sunday May 1.
The event brings together conservationists, business people and recreational fun-seekers to traverse one of Toronto's most important water courses, the Don River, while raising awareness that we all need to be involved in the protection, restoration and regeneration of the river.
Funds raised go directly towards Toronto and Region Conservation's (TRCA) regeneration and naturalization projects in the Don watershed.
For more information, visit:
Salmon Jump, East Don River, Toronto 2011
Successful Salmon Jump over an Artificial Waterfall in Toronto
Don River Park
Waterfront Toronto, with funding from the Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto, is building a new 7.3-hectare (18 acre) park in the evolving new West Don Lands community. Don River Park, designed by the New York City-based landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, will connect the long neglected area southeast of downtown to the rest of the city. Courtesy of Waterfront Toronto (waterfrontoronto.ca)
Old Pictures of the Humber River Toronto, Ontario
Vintage scenes from old postcards of the Humber River located in Southern Ontario, Canada. The Humber is one of two major rivers on either side of the city of Toronto, the other being the Don River to the east. It was designated a Canadian Heritage River on September 24, 1999.
CSI Toronto - The Brick Works Mystery
This is a science project we had to do about a watershed conservation area in Toronto. We chose to do Brick Works and we made it into a CSI kinda thing. I hope you like it and no haterz please. Thanks :3
Fish jumping at the Humber River, Old Mill, Toronto each October
The development of fisheries management plans for the Don and Humber Rivers in the 1990s identified in-stream barriers as one of the limitations to the health of the aquatic community. Mill dams, weirs, and in some cases, roads and culverts, considerably reduce the ability of many fish species to move freely within each watershed and to access spawning areas. Migratory rainbow trout and chinook salmon were only able to access the lower 3 km of the Don and Humber Rivers and due to environmental conditions in these areas, spawning was unsuccessful.
More than ten barrier mitigation projects have been completed in rivers within the TRCA's jurisdiction in the past four years. Three different designs - rocky ramps, Denil fishways and notching - have been used to achieve fish passage in these projects.