Get out of town: southeast
As I’ve already noted, the thing with this bike blog thing is that when I have things to write about I’m usually not inside to write it. Well today it’s raining so I’ll write up a ride I did back in July.
One of the projects I gave myself this summer and only half completed was to explore the Toronto waterfront more thoroughly. I know the city lakeshore really well, but not the suburbs, and this part of the Scarborough lakeshore I’d only seen from the train. I accidentally found something else I’ve been searching for: the elusive pleasant bike route out of town to the east, through the dark and dragon-haunted concrete forest of suburban Scarborough. You can see the route on a map here if you want.
I wanted to avoid main streets, but Kingston Road isn’t too bad at the west end so I went direct. Turning south at Ravine Drive, there’s a steep trail down to the lake I explored last fall. If you really wanted to you could turn down, portage along the beach, then get on the gravel access road that goes to the Guild Inn:
But this time I took the streets.
A dirt side path through an empty lot, leading past a factory to the train tracks, is impossible for me to resist. But this one was a trap, and when I stopped to take pictures I put my foot down in poison ivy (to which I’m still, apparently, resistant).
East Point has an interesting little mini beach with mini cliffs. There’s a paved bike path heading east at the end of the pavement on Beechgrove, but being ignorant of it I rode all the way up to Lawrence and back down the bike path in Highland Creek park.
Planning the route on Google Earth I was hoping for a dirt footpath to the rail bridge at the mouth of the river, so I could get across, but the city’s been busy:
They’re still working on the eastern end of the path but you can cross the train tracks and get on Lawrence, which takes you right into Rouge Beach park. The river is the city limits and the bridge leads to Pickering, where the Waterfront Trail apparently continues.
Posted By: Adam