Toronto built over Garrison Creek in the early 1900s, but the ravine it carved still exists as a sinuous green ribbon through the west end. The trail follows its ghost through Christie Pits, Bickford Park, and Bellwoods, connecting neighbourhoods in a continuous green walk.
Neighbourhood: Davenport · Address: Christie Pits Park, Bloor St W, Toronto, ON · Hours: Open 24 hours · Price Range: Free · Editorial status: Not yet verified
Tracing Garrison Creek’s buried path, this trail threads together a rare, uninterrupted green corridor through Christie Pits, Bickford Park, and Trinity Bellwoods. It's a surprisingly peaceful place for an urban ramble or run, with neighbourhood views you won't get from city streets.
The ravine startup is a literal ghost walk — following the curve of a stream that's now paved over, but whose valley shape remains. Unlike larger ravines like Don or Humber, this one feels entirely woven through lived-in, residential city blocks, with sly sidewalk dips and park links to spot along the way.
Honest Ed’s Mural Alley is one of those Toronto spots that feels more alive because it isn’t polished. It sits behind the old Honest Ed’s site at 581 Bloor West, where the giant bargain store once flashed its carnival-style lights and pulled in everybody from students to families to longtime bargain hunters. The store is gone, the redevelopment is still unfolding, and what’s left in the alley is this open-air gallery that turns a construction-zone backdrop into something worth lingering over. What you actually get here is a long stretch of oversized murals painted onto walls and hoarding, with work by local and international artists that nods to the site’s working-class past and the neighbourhood around it. Some pieces are loud and graphic, with huge faces, bursts of colour, and lettering you can spot from halfway down the lane. Others are more layered, the kind you need to stand with for a minute before you notice the smaller details worked into the paint. There’s a real sense that this place isn’t trying to freeze Honest Ed’s in time. It’s more like the artists are arguing with the past, celebrating it, mourning it a bit, and making something new out of it. If you’re into photography, it’s easy to spend longer here than you meant to. The scale of the murals makes portraits look great, especially if you go when the light is softer in the early morning or late afternoon. Midday works too, but on bright days the contrast can get harsh because parts of the alley fall into shadow while others bounce light off the pale construction surfaces. If you just want to walk through and look, it’s a quick stop. If you like reading walls, taking photos, and spotting references, give yourself at least half an hour. And definitely look closely. A few murals include tributes to Ed Mirvish tucked into the imagery, not in an obvious theme-park way, but as small visual winks. You’ll notice details that feel like they belong to the old store’s personality: bits of signage style, playful theatrical touches, references to discount culture, community, and the weird affection people still have for that building. That’s what makes the alley more than just a backdrop for Instagram. People actually stop, point things out, talk about what used to be here. The atmosphere changes depending on when you go. During the day, it’s a steady mix of locals, U of T students, people walking from Koreatown toward the Annex, and the occasional photographer with a proper camera and tripod. At night, it gets quieter and moodier. It’s open 24 hours, so you can pass through anytime, but if you’re visiting late, I’d still say go with a friend and keep your usual city awareness. It’s a functioning downtown alley, not a museum. It’s free, easy to reach from Bathurst or Spadina station, and worth returning to because the artwork changes as the site develops. That’s really the charm of it. You’re not visiting a finished monument. You’re catching Toronto in the middle of rewriting a familiar corner of itself.
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