The Don Valley

This is the view looking north from the Viaduct in yesterday's post, so we are looking away from Lake Ontario. The Don Valley is one of the wonderful ravines that crisscross Toronto giving us acres of treed lands and parks to explore. The valley is about 400 metres (~1,300 ft) wide although the Don River which carved it out during the ice age is now only about 15 metres (50 ft) wide and in this location is far to the left. The highway here is the Don Valley Parkway which was finished in the 1960s and takes traffic into the downtown core from the east end of the city. When we get very heavy rains the Don River is prone to flooding and often floods right over the highway. The valley at one time had many mills and farms as well as a brickworks which produced most of the bricks used to construct the older parts of the city but is now all parkland or roadway. The Brickworks is now a restored site with markets and historical industrial displays.