East York's New Ravine Trail Gets One Fall Before the Snow, and It Stops at a Road

At the top of the new East Don Trail, the pavement climbs out of the valley beside the Bermondsey Transfer Station. A cyclist writing on Two Wheeled Politics after a May ride described a small patch of gravel where the trail meets Bermondsey Road. Another rider, writing on Biking in a Big City, noted that by the last 0.3 km "you can enjoy the aroma of the nearby transfer station." That top end is just south of Eglinton. Most of the Victoria Village side of East York reaches the trail there.

Below it, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the City of Toronto built something new. A 3.3-kilometre paved trail now runs down through the ravine to the Forks of the Don. It officially opened on July 13, 2026. This is its first fall. It may also be the only stretch of good trail weather it gets before spring. The trail won't be cleared in winter, and the link east from its top end hasn't been built yet. For now it works best as a way down into the valley. It doesn't yet go anywhere new to the east.

The descent, from Bermondsey to the Forks

Walked from the north, the way most East York residents will come at it, the route goes like this:

1. Bermondsey Road, by the transfer station. The trail starts at the top of the slope and heads down into the valley. The Toronto Bruce Trail Club's October 25 Urban Walk was planned to join the trail here and then past Victoria Village Arena.
2. The rail overpass. The route runs beside the Don River and GO's Richmond Hill line. The Midtown Ravines Group wrote that the pedestrian overpass of the rail line "has to be seen to be believed." According to TRCA, Phase 1 includes that steel pedestrian-cycling overpass, a heavy-duty concrete tunnel and five new pedestrian bridges. Together they carry the trail over and under two sections of active Metrolinx rail, utility corridors, the East Don River, and local watercourses and wetlands.
3. The lower ravine near Flemingdon Park Golf Club. The trail follows the Toronto Water access route through the lower part of the ravine. TRCA says the paved trail replaces a network of informal dirt paths that had been eroding soil and disturbing habitat, and that native trees are being planted throughout the project area.
4. Taylor Massey Creek Bridge. This is the last big crossing before the south end.
5. Under the Don Valley Parkway to the Lower Don. The south entrance sits just past the junction of the Lower Don and Taylor Creek trails. The route passes under the DVP about 0.5 km in.

The path is four metres wide and barrier-free. It was designed with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act guidelines for recreational trails in mind. Going down from Bermondsey is the easy direction. Coming back, it's about 3 km uphill to Bermondsey.

Once you're at the bottom, you're on the existing network. The Bruce Trail Club's planned route turns north at the Forks into E.T. Seton Park. It then climbs out of the West Don to Wicksteed Avenue in Leaside, 12 km in total with three uphill climbs. If you want a loop instead of an out-and-back, that's a route a hiking club has already mapped out.

The 6.3 km figure belongs to a different map

Some opening-week coverage, including Global News, described the new section with a 6.3 km figure. TRCA's FAQ uses 6.3 km for the design length of the whole East Don Trail project. The TRCA opening announcement puts Phase 1, the part that opened in July, at 3.3 km.

The gap between those numbers matters, because the whole project is built in three pieces and only two are done. Phase 2 opened earlier and runs from Charles Sauriol Conservation Area near Lawrence Avenue East to Wigmore Park. Phase 3 would connect the two, running from Eglinton Avenue East south to the Gatineau Hydro Corridor. The City lists its construction start as "to be determined." So the East Don Trail is currently two separate trails with a gap between them. The part East York got this summer is the southern one, and its north end is Bermondsey Road.

What happens at the top

TRCA's opening release says the new segment "links east to The Meadoway," the corridor that will eventually reach Rouge National Urban Park. On the ground in fall 2026, getting there means getting off the trail.

The Midtown Ravines Group said the link between the East Don Trail and the Meadoway is an ancillary project scheduled for 2027. The Two Wheeled Politics blog reported that the Bermondsey-to-Eglinton stretch of the Meadoway is now expected to start construction in spring 2027, later than first planned. A group ride on September 27 showed what that means today. According to the Biking in a Big City account of the Link Ride, riders regrouped at the top of the hill by the Bermondsey Transfer Station and crossed Bermondsey together before turning onto the Gatineau Hydro Corridor. The writer called the stretch between the trail's end and the corridor "the first major gap" on the loop.

For anyone living east of Bermondsey, that crossing is the price of using the trail. For anyone living west of it, in Victoria Village or toward Flemingdon Park, it doesn't matter. Their trail starts at the gate and goes down.

The fall punch list

The trail is open, but it isn't finished. TRCA's August 21 update said all major construction and safety components were in place. It listed this work as still to be completed by fall 2026:

• Centreline painting and pavement markings
• Directional and caution signs
• Modifications to the Taylor Massey Creek Bridge
• A removable bollard at the Taylor Massey Creek Bridge entrance to keep unauthorized vehicles out
• A P-gate at Bermondsey Road, for the same reason

TRCA said it would announce intermittent closures as this work required them. That August update is still the latest status on the project page, so check it before setting out, especially if you're heading for the Taylor Massey Creek crossing. Until the directional signs go up, it helps to know the route above, particularly where the south end meets the Lower Don and Taylor Creek trails.

Why this fall is the window

According to TRCA's FAQ, the trail will not get winter maintenance. City Parks, Forestry and Recreation doesn't maintain multi-use trails in winter, and TRCA lists cost, the trail's topography and possible harm to the surrounding natural area as reasons. A route that drops from Bermondsey Road to the valley floor and climbs back again is exactly the kind of terrain where that matters.

That makes late October and November the first and last full stretch of trail season for Phase 1 this year. The leaves come down along a corridor that was a set of informal dirt paths a year ago. The new plantings go through their first season. The trail-walking groups have already found it. The Toronto Field Naturalists put "Exploring the New East Don Trail" on their October walk calendar for the 16th. The Bruce Trail Club's walk on the 25th was set to meet at the Tim Hortons at 150 Wynford Drive, about an 11-minute walk north of Wynford Station on Line 5. Another hiking group, the Toronto Outdoor Club, used Sloane station at Eglinton and Sloane/Bermondsey as a meeting point.

The rules that apply on the way down

The City's parks bylaw enforcement page, last updated September 16, 2026, says pedal-assist e-bikes are treated as bicycles and may use paths. Other electric vehicles are limited to roads where regular vehicles are allowed, with an exception for disability-related use. The Parks bylaw caps bicycles and personal-powered devices at 20 km/h in parks. It requires dogs to be leashed outside posted off-leash areas and closes parks from 12:01 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. unless you have a permit. How these rules apply to a particular stretch of the trail is a question for the City, and this is general information, not legal advice.

The whole thing cost $19.5 million. The Government of Canada put in $9.75 million through the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund, and the City matched it. Councillor Paula Fletcher, MP Rob Oliphant and TRCA CEO John MacKenzie spoke at the July opening. What that bought East York is a paved, step-free way down from Bermondsey Road to the Forks of the Don. The work to link it east is scheduled for 2027. Until that's built, the trail ends at a road crossing.

If you live near either end of the new trail and want to know whether a paved route into the Don Valley shows up in what buyers will pay on your street, Blue Door Realty Group will look at it with actual numbers, not guesses. Request your free home valuation, and we'll walk you through what the trail means for your street.