*** Note that the times change to DST this weekend, and if you forget to change your clocks, you will be an hour late. ***
For Sunday, March 8, we will be doing something a little bit different. In honour of the recent changes to regulations allowing alcohol to be served at 9 AM, we will start this walk in a bar. We will meet at Boxcar Social Café Bar - Riverdale, which serves coffee, beer, wine, and whiskey in the morning, as well as pastries. (Sandwiches are not available until 10 AM). Please allow extra time to get to the start as it is not close to a subway station, and will likely require a streetcar ride.
Please meet at 10:00 AM (or earlier, to allow you to consume the beverage of your choice before we leave) at Boxcar Social - Riverdale, 4 Boulton Ave, which is in the Queen – Broadview area. According to Google maps it is an 11-minute streetcar ride (with 10 minute service) from Queen station, or an 11 to 15 minute streetcar ride and walk (with about 6 minute service) from Broadview station.
We will walk 10.2 Km to Bloor-Yonge station, with a planned coffee stop at Riverdale Perk (which may be quite busy), a couple of bathroom stops, and a lunch stop at The Quail: A Firkin Pub, before continuing to Bloor-Yonge station. Note that there are as not as many early exit points as there are on some other walks that are in the downtown area.
The walk will be on city streets and some paved or gravel multi-use paths, so be sure to wear appropriate footwear. Please note that there will be some steeper than usual hills on this walk, with climbs of 5% on Milkman’s Lane, and a downhill of 8% on Pottery Road.
Points of interest and early exits along the way include:
- 0.0 Km – Boxcar Social (coffee, beer, wine, whiskey, bathrooms)
- 1.5 Km – Gerrard Square (bathrooms)
- 2.5 Km – Riverdale Perk (coffee)
- 3.3 Km – Danforth Ave (200 m to early exit to Chester Station)
- 6.5 Km – Evergreen Brickworks (bathrooms, bus to Davisville Station (30 minute service))
- 7.7 Km – Craigliegh Gardens (500 m to early exit at Castle Frank Station)
- 9.3 Km – early exit to Rosedale Station
- 9.3 Km – The Quail: A Firkin Pub (lunch stop)
- 10.2 Km – Bloor-Yonge Station (end of walk, bathrooms)
The route is available on Ride with GPS at: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32059693
There is a “revised” scheduled subway outage this weekend, with no service between Sheppard-Yonge and Eglinton, in case this affects your travel plans, but please check https://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Subway_closures/index.jsp in case there are any changes.
Non-members are welcome. They will be asked to sign the waiver form but will not be charged the non-member fee.
If you have trouble finding us at the start, please call my cell at 416-917-8866. If I don't answer, try again, as I may miss the first call.
For more information check the TBN website under PROGRAMS - FALL/WINTER - CITY WALKS (https://tbn.ca/programs/fallwinter/citywalks) for a description of the Winter Walk program. If you have any questions, email me at citywalks@tbn.ca.
John Burdett - City Walk Coordinator
