Riverdale Park

Riverdale Park is a large park in Toronto that spreads across both sides of the lower Don River with diverse recreational facilities. It contains sports fields, tennis courts, a swimming pool, and an outdoor hockey rink that serve different uses throughout the year.

The park was founded in 1880 on land that belonged to John Scadding, one of Toronto's first settlers who built a cabin there in 1794. The area transformed from private property into public space as the city grew.

The park serves as a meeting place where neighbors walk, exercise, and gather in the green spaces throughout the year. Summer film nights under the open sky bring families with picnic baskets together for shared entertainment.

The park is accessible via a footbridge that crosses the Don Valley Parkway, connecting both sides of the valley for visitors. A trail along the lower Don River provides a natural pathway through the grounds and to nearby green spaces.

The eastern section served as a landfill in the 1920s, and green exhaust pipes still line Broadview Avenue today to release methane gas. This transformation from waste site to recreational ground shows how former industrial areas are reclaimed.