With Spring in full bloom and the last few days show­er­ing us with much needed pre­cip­i­ta­tion, now is the per­fect time to get out and enjoy some of Toronto’s amaz­ing parks. Every neigh­bour­hood in the city has a park that local res­i­dents can be proud of, whether they are small par­kettes with swingsets and jun­gle gyms, the stun­ning ravines or the grand dames like High Park or the Islands.

Most of the signs in Toronto parks are embla­zoned with the logo, “Toronto; A City within a Park” and this is not much of an exag­ger­a­tion. Over four mil­lion trees in pub­lic parks, boule­vards and ravines cou­pled with another six mil­lion trees on pri­vate prop­erty form what is known as the “Urban Forest,” pro­vid­ing relief from the sun, absorb­ing pol­lu­tants and tox­ins, and pro­duc­ing oxy­gen. And of course this ver­dant canopy and the lands under­neath pro­vide a nat­ural habi­tat for birds and urban wildlife; trees cool our homes in the sum­mer and pro­tect us from howl­ing winds in the winter.

And parks them­selves have tra­di­tion­ally been a gath­er­ing place for com­mu­nity events. In the win­ter, many parks have skat­ing rinks, and in the sum­mer, base­ball dia­monds. Some parks have pet­ting zoos and rides, some just offer a quiet space to read or have a pic­nic, far from the madding crowd.

Parks are where you can meet your neigh­bours, walk your dogs or watch your kids splash around in a super­vised wad­ing pool. Many parks in the city offer the oppor­tu­nity to take in out­door movies at night, play ten­nis, bas­ket­ball or soc­cer, buy pro­duce from a farmer’s mar­ket or have a bar­beque by the water­front, all for free! Really an amaz­ing gift. And all any­one really asks is that you respect oth­ers right to enjoy the space, they are, after all pub­lic places. So keep your dogs on a leash unless it is an off-leash area, pick up after your pet, and don’t lit­ter! Litterbugs suck!

For infor­ma­tion on what spe­cial activ­i­ties are avail­able at a park in your neigh­bour­hood, check out this site.

Perhaps you will find an amaz­ing des­ti­na­tion that gets you out of your own hood and lets you dis­cover some of the won­der­ful activ­i­ties that make our city a place we are proud to call home.