A Bike Ride to the Toronto Islands: Looking at Leslie Street Spit & Pier

On another gorgeous summer day (July 5, 2008) I hopped on my bike and started pedaling towards downtown. Every time I cycle through the Don Valley I am amazed that I am in the middle of Canada's largest city. If it weren't for the traffic noise that you can hear from the Don Valley Parkway, you'd think you are in some rural country setting, cycling peacefully in the wooded areas beside the Don River.




Past the old Portlands and the eastern part of Harbourfront I started to line up for the ferry to the Toronto Islands. At a cost of $6.00 return a trip to the islands is the perfect weekend getaway from the city. The ferry ride takes barely 15 minutes, and when you get out it's like being in a different universe. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the island, except for service and emergency vehicles. Away from the concrete, glass and steel of downtown I started cycling through the bucolic greenery of the islands, which incidentally were connected to the mainland until a storm broke the land barrier in 1858.




The islands consist of Centre Island as well as of Algonquin, South, Olympic and Muggs Islands. The main entertainment options are an amusement park (Centreville), picnic areas, bicycling, inline skating, walking, canoeing, kayaking and swimming, at the Centre Island, Gibraltar Point, Hanlan's Point and Ward's Island Beaches. The Islands are also a popular location for dragon-boating competitions.



Toronto's only clothing optional beach is located a Hanlan's Point on the west side, and 262 cottage homes can still be found on the eastern part of the islands. In the past the islands featured an amusement park and even a baseball stadium. The City decided to turn the islands into parkland; as a result the majority of the cottages were taken down between 1940 and 1970. The Toronto City Centre Airport is located on the north-western tip of the islands, much to the chagrin of local residents. The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse was constructed in the early 1800s and is one of ...

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• bicycling
• biking
• canada
• ferry
• island
• ontario
• toronto