"Houses are prostheses, substitutes for developing the skill to thrive in nature; a healthy ecosystem is a hospitable home."
Let's develop skills & techniques to launch an "Outdoor B&B".
Inspired Economies knows anarcho-communism is the natural offspring of deep ecology. Therefore we wish to make wilderness accessible to urbanites.
Contents
Bringing Wilderness to Toronto
Alternatives to Algonquin
Canoeing
Swimming
Toronto Islands
Group Wilderness Expedition
Planning
Wilderness Safety
Non-Wilderness Ecological
Experiences
Links
Seeking wilderness areas or campgrounds around Toronto, most are accessible
only by car, and are intended primarily for people to have a day or two
vacation, still using the same old urban technologies (canned food or hot dogs
or store-bought fresh food). No wilderness areas in or around Toronto are
good for swimming or fishing or permaculture food harvesting, and none are
accessible by bike/horseback/canoe/hiking.
Wilderness is the ultimate and only amenity.
Target Organizations / Potential Collaborators:
Toronto Region Conservation Authority
Toronto Parks and Recreation
Toronto Bay Initiative
Waterfront Regeneration Trust
Task Force to Bring Back the Don
Toronto Port Authority
NTGC - Daylighting Lost Rivers
Greenest City
Evergreen
I can't get enough of Algonquin and Killarney, but I want to experience wilderness and live ecologically right here in Toronto.
Glen Rouge Campground
I camped here overnight Sept 1st - Sept 2nd 2003 before
canoeing down the Rouge River with my friend Louise. The grass is mown,
and the RV section takes up most of the campground, but you can almost get a
wilderness experience in the unserviced sites, if you set up your tent and other
obstructions to gain privacy. We canoed down the lower Rouge River,
starting under the bridge, going past the ruins, the walls of vines, the herons,
under the horizontal tree (limbo style), through the reed road (6' tall waving
grasslands on either side of our 10' wide river pathway (no, not
claustrophobic)), into the pond with a million waterlilies, and past the otter
and into Lake Ontario.
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/parks/recreation_facilities/camping/camp_index.htm
Nearby
Metro
Zoo
over 4000
animals at this extraordinary 700-acre (285 hectare) zoological park. Pavilions
representing each continent of the world. Meadowvale Road north of Hwy. #401.
(416) 392-5900. Price is ?too much? $17 per person, or so.
Indian Line Campground
Finch & 427 (Brampton)
"At Indian Line you can swim, fish, canoe or hike" - but it seems
horribly RV-oriented - not wilderness.
Heart Lake Conservation Area
takes its name its spring-fed kettle lake. The
lake is the focus of many activities, including swimming, fishing and canoeing.
The dense forest surrounding the lake makes you feel like you're hours from the
city, even though you're only minutes away.
We strongly recommend going with a guide, at least the first time on each river
if you're skilled, and the first several times on each river if you are a
beginner.
Most of the information below comes from the website for Toronto Canoeing &
Kayaking Adventures; it is organized here to be more user-friendly for our
purposes.
Start just below the Old Mill TTC Subway Station just west of Jane St..
Canoe or kayak down Toronto's own Canadian Heritage River, the Humber River. This is a two hour river adventure that exhibits surprising natural beauty and an abundance of wild-life difficult to imagine within a city of five million. We meander through marsh, flood plain and canopied forest. We have observed deer, fox, beaver, hawks, salmon, lake trout, turtles, blue heron, night heron, white egrets, swans, canadian geese, cormorants, many types of ducks, etc.
The Don River contains hazards like submerged discarded sidewalks, so should
only be canoed/kayaked during the annual "Paddle the Don" event when
the Conservation Authority opens up the dam to raise the water level. Even
then, do not use expensive/fragile boats.
Each year the Don River Conservation Authority sponsors it's annual "Paddle the Don" event in May.
During the "Paddle the Don" event Toronto Adventures rents out canoes & kayaks.
The Don River whitewater paddle is a real hoot during this one day. Book early;
advanced bookings required.
We paddle from Serena Gundy Park (Leslie and Eglinton) to the Keating Channel at Lake Ontario.
To Register and get your starting time please call the Don River Conservation Authority at (416)
661-6600, ext. 5397 For further information please call them at (416) 661-6600, ext. 5283.
http://www.toronto.ca/don/lower_don_map_large.htm
http://www.toronto.ca/don/vision.htm
Toronto Canoeing & Kayaking Adventures mainly uses the Credit River for whitewater experiences.
Entry Level:
Starting where the Credit River passes under Dundas Street W., we paddle down the river, over many swifts and level one rapids down to
the mouth of the river at Port Credit. This trip takes about two hours.
Entry/Intermediate Level:
Starting where the Credit River passes under Eglinton Ave. W., we paddle down the river, over many swifts, level one and sometimes, level two rapids down to where the Credit reaches Dundas Street W.. This trip takes about 1.5 hours.
The Rouge River is a lovely paddle from the Rouge Camp Site at Old Kingston Road down through forest marsh and wilderness, past many types of birds such as the blue heron, etc down to the mouth of the Rouge River at Rouge Beach.
Glen Rouge Campground http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/parks/recreation_facilities/camping/camp_index.htm
Toronto Canoeing & Kayaking Adventures:
$35 per person or $100 per month for unlimited Tues. & Thurs. evening
paddles, or a one-day- group- of- ten $225 with each additional person $25.
Please check their website for updates.
Beaches Water Quality Online - www.city.toronto.on.ca/beach/index.htm
Hotline - starting each June -
416-392-7161
(Pool Hours - 416-338-POOL (7665))
Are there Water Quality Reports for Swimming or Fishing in Rivers?
"WARNING: Polluted Waters. Swim at Your Own Risk. Medical Officer of Health, City of Toronto." The city posts beaches when e-coli levels -- found in animal and human waste -- exceed acceptable provincial limits.
WESTERN BEACHES:
"I definitely wouldn't swim in the Western beaches because it's always posted. Among other water quality problems, the breakwater prevents the bountiful birdshit from washing out of the area. Plus there's all kinds of sediment and runoff coming down the Humber, from industry and agricultural land." City of Toronto health inspector Deborah Cornacchia, 1997
EASTERN BEACHES:
The Eastern beaches fared much better; in 1996 for example, Balmy Beach (the easternmost) was posted just eight days; Beaches Park, Kew and Woodbine beaches were each posted just four days.
TORONTO ISLANDS & CHERRY (Clarke) BEACH:
We drift up to the edge of the Centre Island beach. The water's glassy calm and azure blue, sparkling clear as the Caribbean. 30 kids splash around near the shore. Brian dips the bottle in the lake and I can see it as clear as the air. (At the Humber, once the bottle is below the surface it vanishes.)
The island beaches are not so clean. From 1991-96, Centre Island beach has been posted about half the time; Ward's Island and Hanlan's Point have been posted about one day in four. Cherry Beach, though not so sweet to look at, is one of Toronto's cleanest, posted only one day in 10 since 1991.
On Saturday, Deborah plans to bring her kids -- Alexandra, 3, and Gabriel, 1 -- for a swim at Centre Island beach. "Knowing how the samples have come back, they always end up pretty good over here," she says. "I have no hesitation about bringing my children to swim here."
History - www.city.toronto.on.ca/parks/island/index.htm
Map - Entire Island www.fcn.ca/Images/hanlan.gif
Photographs - Toronto_Islands
- Contact Dance Jam, nature and architecture
Ferry Schedule - www.city.toronto.on.ca/parks/island/ferry.htm#sched
(Check that you are looking at the right Season)
| Summer (2003) | From Toronto | From Island |
| Centre Island | 8 | 11:45 |
| Hanlan's Point | 9 | 11:15 |
| Ward's Island | 6:35 | 11:30 |
Meal Plan
Team Co-ordination Software
Transportation
Equipment
Activities &
Courses & Learning Objectives
Costs
Wilderness Safety - click title to go to page
RIVERDALE FARM Operational turn-of-the-century farm is home to cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and more. 9 am-6 pm daily. Free. 201 Winchester (Gerrard and Sumach). 416-392-6794.
EDWARDS GARDENS Acres of gardens, paths and creeks, dawn to dusk. Guided tours Jul and Aug with a master gardener Tue and Thur, departing Civic Garden Centre at 11 am. Free. Lawrence E and Leslie. 416-397-1340.
