Deer Park’s eastern boundary is the David Balfour Park and Vale of Avoca – part of Toronto’s extensive ravine system, offering natural green spaces and trails within the neighbourhood, with the Rosehill Resevoir park at the western edge of the ravine providing a large open green space. The ravines offer recreational opportunities like hiking, walking, and jogging, though they also face serious challenges from erosion and invasive species.
Midtown Ravines Group launches two new websites
September 25, 2025
If you want to find out what’s going on with our local ravines, head on over to the two new sites launched by the Midtown Ravines Group, a confederation of ten residents’ associations seeking to revitalize the ravines in Toronto’s midtown core.
Tracking the Health of Yellow Creek
September 25, 2025
Digital Waters is a Toronto-based non-profit developing affordable, made-in-Canada water monitoring technology to better understand and protect our local waterways. We were inspired by Toronto’s ravines. They are amazing veins of nature that stretch across town, always lush and green in the summers and the perfect way to take a break from life. But nothing lives in the waters that carve out Toronto’s ravines.
Parks and ravines – breaking news
July 26, 2025
On July 24, 2025, City Council unanimously passed a motion to provide $1.5M in funding for a new design and plan for the Vale of Avoca to address its accelerating erosion, its trail network and accesses and for ongoing maintenance.
Spare a thought for the Vale of Avoca
March 3, 2024
It’s widely recognized the Toronto’s ravine system is one of our city’s great blessings. So, it is particularly regrettable that a spectacular ravine in our area – the Vale of Avoca – shows the effects of years of cumulative neglect.
Spring brings hope: the Rosehill Garden – building community
March 1, 2021
The Rosehill Garden is part of the David Balfour Park. The park traces its history to 1873 when the area became Toronto’s first reservoir, part of the City’s public water distribution system. The gardens were rebuilt in 2022, after a massive 4-year rehabilitation of the reservoir.