Toronto has a hidden staircase network — public stairs climbing the old Lake Iroquois shoreline escarpment and the ravine edges that most people drive past without realizing they could walk up. Baldwin Steps near Casa Loma (110 steps up the ancient lakeshore), Glen Stewart Ravine stairs in the Beach, and the Davenport escarpment paths each offer elevation gain and a view that most of the city doesn't know exists.
Neighbourhood: Davenport / The Beach / Scarborough · Address: Baldwin Steps: Spadina Rd & Davenport. Glen Stewart: Kingston Rd at Glen Stewart Ave · Hours: Public stairs — accessible year-round. Ice warning in winter. · Price Range: Free · Editorial status: Not yet verified
The hidden staircases cut dramatically through ravines and up ancient escarpments, letting you climb Toronto’s prehistory with every step. You’ll get unexpected city views, quick cardio, and glimpses of wildflowers or forest—often only minutes from a main street.
Unlike most urban stairs, these follow the actual edges of Lake Iroquois's glacial shoreline and stand apart for their scale—Baldwin Steps alone climb 30 metres straight up. You’re also walking through small, rugged woodlands right inside the city, which is rare for Toronto infrastructure.
If you want a Toronto walk that feels a little more observant, a little less obvious, spend a morning drifting through the city’s laneways. These back routes were built for deliveries, garages, and horses once upon a time, but a lot of them have turned into outdoor galleries, shortcut corridors, and oddly beautiful slices of city life. They’re not polished. That’s the point. You get brick walls, patched pavement, garage doors covered in paint, delivery trucks squeezing through, cats on fences, and murals that can be completely different a month from now. Start with Graffiti Alley, because yes, it’s the famous one, and it’s famous for a reason. The easiest entrance is off Queen West at Portland, just behind the Soho Metropolitan Hotel. From there, head west through Rush Lane toward Spadina. In late morning, the light lands nicely on the walls instead of washing everything out from above, so it’s one of the better times to shoot. What makes this stretch fun isn’t just the big mural pieces everyone photographs, but the smaller stuff in between: layered tags, paste-ups half torn away, fresh paint over old paint, the occasional doorway that looks like a film set for exactly ten seconds. You’ll see people doing outfit shoots, photographers with proper gear, and plenty of locals just cutting through on their way somewhere else. Then do the loop into Kensington Market, because the mood changes completely. Enter the lanes from Kensington or Augusta and things get scrappier, quieter, more improvised. Less “open-air mural corridor,” more “the city’s backyard, but make it photogenic.” There are painted garage doors, hand-made signs, little garden corners, bicycles chained to anything solid, and that familiar Kensington mix of mess and charm that somehow works. It’s great for slower photography, the kind where you notice textures, colours, and weird little compositions instead of just aiming at the biggest wall. If you’ve got the energy, Corktown’s back lanes are worth a wander too. They feel more residential and a bit more worn-in, with old brick, utility poles, and a softer, less performative street-art presence. Liberty Village’s service alleys are different again—industrial, sharp-edged, full of loading bays and geometric lines. Less romantic, maybe, but very good if you like structure and contrast in your shots. A couple honest tips: these are public laneways, so they’re free and accessible at all hours, but after dark I’d stick to the better-lit ones unless you know the area. Wear shoes you don’t mind getting dusty. Don’t block garage doors or loading entrances just because a wall is good. And if you’re taking photos of people, remember some folks are actually working, not posing in your urban backdrop. What I like most is that it never stays the same. Graffiti Alley gets repainted constantly, and even the quieter lanes shift with the seasons, the light, and whatever someone decided to paint last week. It’s the kind of walk you can repeat without it feeling repetitive.
The Baldwin Steps are a public staircase of approximately 110 steps climbing the Lake Iroquois shoreline escarpment at Spadina Road and Davenport in the Annex/Casa Loma neighbourhood. They follow the ancient beach ridge of glacial Lake Iroquois (which stood about 20 metres higher than modern Lake Ontario) and connect the lower Annex with the Casa Loma escarpment.
The publicly maintained staircases — Baldwin Steps, Glen Stewart Ravine stairs — are safe for regular use. Some informal escarpment paths are unlit and unmaintained — daylight visits are recommended. Use caution in winter when ice can form on exposed steps. The Scarborough Bluffs informal stairs are particularly prone to erosion — stick to designated paths.
WTF Toronto creates guides using independent editorial research, official sources, local knowledge and firsthand experience where available. Commercial relationships are disclosed where applicable.