Highland Creek Trail

Neighbourhood: Scarborough · Address: Colonel Danforth Park, Scarborough, ON · Hours: Daily dawn to dusk · Price Range: Free

Why Visit

Highland Creek Trail feels surprisingly wild for Toronto, cutting through deep ravines and shaded forests that block out the city completely. It's a great spot for anyone craving a quiet, uncrowded walk or run along the water.

What Makes It Unique

Unlike the busier Don or Humber trails, Highland Creek is much less trafficked and has stretches that feel almost untouched. The Colonel Danforth section features steep valleys, old stone bridges, and winding boardwalks—more rugged than most Toronto ravine walks. It's also one of the only trails in the city where you can walk for over an hour without crossing roads or seeing many people.

Highland Creek Trail feels removed from the Toronto most visitors picture, even though it is still in Scarborough. The creek runs through a long ravine of deep shade, steep wooded banks, and stretches where birds, water, and wind rise above traffic. It is a quiet walk with a slower pace and a genuine break from city noise.

The trail follows Highland Creek through a mix of paved sections, packed dirt, boardwalks, and narrower footpaths depending on where you are. Some parts are easy and open, while others feel more tucked away, with tree cover overhead and the creek running lower beside you. The Colonel Danforth Park section is usually the prettiest place to start if you want the classic version of the trail: wooded slopes, scenic bridge crossings, and that feeling of walking through a ravine that has been left alone long enough to feel natural rather than landscaped. In spring, the creek is often fuller and faster-moving, which makes the whole route feel more alive. In fall, the colours can be excellent, especially where the ravine opens up to let in sunlight. Even in summer, when the leaves are dense and green, the shade makes it one of the more comfortable outdoor walks in the east end.

A lot of people use the trail differently. Some are out for a steady jog or trail run, using the longer stretches to get in a quiet workout without worrying about cars or intersections. Others are walking dogs, taking a weekend stroll, or just killing an hour after a grocery run or coffee nearby. You’ll also see birdwatchers, photographers, and the occasional cyclist where the route allows it, though this is really more of a walking and running place than a bike-first trail. On weekends, families sometimes come out with kids, especially in the more accessible sections, but it never gets packed in the way some downtown parks do. That’s part of the appeal. It has enough people to feel safe and active, but not so many that you’re constantly dodging crowds.

The atmosphere changes a lot depending on when you go. Early morning is probably the best time if you want the trail at its calmest. The air is cooler, the creek can be misty, and the bridge crossings look especially good when the fog hangs low over the ravine. If you’ve ever wanted that soft, quiet, almost cinematic Toronto nature moment, that’s when it happens. Midday is still pleasant, though you’ll see more walkers and runners, especially on nice weekends. Late afternoon tends to be beautiful too, with stronger light cutting through the trees, but it can feel busier around parking lots and trail entrances. Once the sun starts dropping, the whole area gets more peaceful again, and the shadows in the ravine make the woods feel deeper and more remote. That said, after dusk isn’t really the time to linger; the trail is meant for daylight use, and once it gets dark, the mood shifts from peaceful to impractical pretty quickly.

What makes Highland Creek Trail different from the better-known ravine systems in Toronto is the feel of the land itself. The Humber has a broader, more open river valley in places, and the Don can feel busy and connected to the city’s cycling network. Highland Creek feels narrower, more tucked in, and a little less polished. You’re often walking beside a smaller waterway that cuts through a more intimate ravine, so the experience feels quieter and more enclosed. It’s not trying to be a big showpiece park. There are sections where the trail feels almost rural, especially if you’re moving away from major roads and toward the quieter woods. And because it’s in Scarborough, it tends to attract more locals than tourists, which keeps the vibe relaxed and practical. People come here to walk, run, think, and reset, not to make a whole day of sightseeing around it.

The Colonel Danforth Trail portion is the one I’d point people to first if they only have time for a short visit. It gives you the strongest sense of what Highland Creek does best: bridge views, tree cover, and that ravine feeling where the city drops away for a bit. Depending on the season and recent weather, you might come across muddy patches, slippery roots, or areas where the path narrows after rain, so it’s worth wearing shoes you don’t mind getting dirty. If you’re planning to go after a storm or during spring thaw, expect damp ground in some spots and a few sections that feel less maintained than the main paved pathways. That’s normal here. It’s not a perfectly groomed promenade, and it’s better for it. Bring water if you’re going to cover more distance, since services aren’t spread out the way they might be in a big urban park.

The neighbourhood context matters too. Highland Creek sits in east Scarborough, so this isn’t a downtown stroll where you can easily pop in and out of cafes, patios, or transit hubs. It’s more of a residential, local-park kind of setting, with quiet streets, school zones, and community roads around the trail entrances. That makes it feel more everyday and less curated. You’re often seeing people who live nearby using the trail as part of their regular routine. If you’re visiting from elsewhere in Toronto, that can be a nice change of pace because it shows you a side of the city that doesn’t revolve around the core. It’s less polished and less performative, but it’s still one of the city’s better nature walks if you care more about trees, water, and quiet than about amenities.

In practical terms, the best strategy is to keep your expectations simple. Don’t come here looking for a big destination park with tons of services, cafes, or obvious landmarks. Come for the walk itself. If you want the best experience, go in spring or fall, start in the morning if you can, and give yourself time to move slowly through the scenic sections rather than trying to cover every inch of trail. Parking and access can vary depending on which part of the system you’re entering from, so it helps to choose a starting point ahead of time rather than assuming you’ll find the ideal entrance on the fly. Crowds are usually manageable, but the more accessible and scenic sections can get a steady flow of local walkers on nice days. It’s not the sort of place where you’ll be shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers, though, and that’s one of the main reasons people keep coming back.

Honestly, if you’re trying to decide whether Highland Creek Trail is worth the trip, I’d say yes if you want a quiet ravine walk with real character. It’s not dramatic in a tourist-attraction way, and it doesn’t need to be. The appeal is in the atmosphere: the shaded paths, the creek moving below, the old bridge crossings, and the feeling that you’ve stepped into a different corner of Toronto for an hour or two. If you like trail running, it’s a good place to get miles without too much interruption. If you like photography, especially in soft morning light, there are some great moments here. If you just want a free outdoor break that feels calm and local, it does that very well.