Category Archives: Scarborough Bluffs

The Scarborough Bluffs

Sunday, December 27, 2020

The Scarborough Bluffs that we see today have changed significantly since 1793 when Elizabeth Simcoe named them while exploring the area around the newly founded town of York. Through her diaries we have the records of the original hiker in the area. The bluffs have been receding inland for the past 12,000 years ever since their exposure at the end of the last ice age. As York grew into Toronto and then expanded to the GTA the bluffs continued to erode and they way they appear today will most certainly change in the future.

The article below contains links to the eleven stories we wrote as we explored the various sections of the bluffs. They are arranged from west to east which is roughly the sequence in which they were written. Before we get started though, we present a new photograph that was taken on December 15th 2020 at Bluffer’s Park. Notice the dark pile of sand at the water’s edge and the horizontal shelf about two thirds of the way up. This is the remnant of a slide that took place on August 24, 2020.

The picture below was taken in January 2016 before the slide took place. In the right of the picture is a section of sand that is topped by two pointed spires. In the recent picture one of those spires is missing and the other is much more rounded.

We now present the detailed blogs about each of the sections of the Scarborough Bluffs. Click on the link to find more pictures and the stories behind each section.

Rosetta McClain Gardens sit on top of the western end of the bluffs and is one of the most beautiful places in the city. The gardens were laid out by Rosetta McClain and her husband and have been in use as a city park since 1959. Aside from all the birds that can be seen in the park it has a view from on top of the Bluffs out over the lake.

Sand Castles was the first one written and tells the geology of the formation of the Bluffs. It also looks at the section of the Bluffs that can be accessed to the west of Bluffers Park.

Erosion at Cathedral Bluffs describes some of the forces effecting the stability of the bluffs and follows them to the east of Bluffers Park.

The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein is located just west of the Gates Gully access to the bottom of the Bluffs. Several houses have fallen prey to the forces of erosion as the land has disappeared out from underneath them. The house in this story used to belong to Billy Van who starred in many roles in the TV show The House of Frightenstein. Just a few years ago the property owners were cutting the grass in the back yard of this house which today is almost completely destroyed.

Gates Gully provides a trail to the bottom of the Bluffs and has quite the history of its own. Along with stories of smugglers and sunken ships it also claims to have buried treasure from 1813. The trail through the gully is named after Dorthy McCarthy who was one of the early artists to take up residence on the Bluffs. The artwork at the bottom of the trail is known as the Passage.

The Alexandria was a steamship

South Marine Park Drive is an old construction road that has been turned into a linear park that runs west from the access road beside the Guild Inn. The road was used to create what is known as a hard shoreline which is intended to slow down the erosion of the Bluffs. Old construction materials and parts of demolished buildings were dumped along the shore destroying the natural interface between the lake and the land.

Guildwood Park sits on top of the Scarborough Bluffs and contains a newly restored Guild Inn. It is also home to pieces that were salvaged from early Toronto buildings that were demolished. These are presented as artwork throughout the property.

Beachcombers is the title we selected for the section of the Bluffs that runs east from the Guild Inn toward East Point Park. Up until now this section of the Bluffs has a natural beach that allows the lake to deposit a wide variety of stuff onto the beach. We met a couple who regularly walk this section looking for the most recent treasures. It sounds like the Toronto Region Conservation Authority will be going ahead with a plan to hardline this shore, thereby destroying one of the last natural sections of the Bluffs.

East Point Park has an upper meadow, wetlands, a segment of the Scarborough Bluffs and a lengthy beach. The meadow is a staging area for Monarch Butterflies as they prepare to migrate south for the winter.

Highland Creek marks the eastern end of the Scarborough Bluffs and has plenty of natural spaces which provide homes to its varied wildlife.

It isn’t possible to hike from one end of the Bluffs to the other at water level because of places where the lake and bluffs meet but you can explore most of it by approaching it in sections.

Google Maps Links are provided in each individual story.

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Rosetta McClain Gardens 2019

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Sunday, August 11, 2019

Rosetta McClain Gardens sits atop the Scarborough Bluffs and although it was once a private garden it is now open to the public for everyone to enjoy. We have previously visited the gardens but having seen the pictures of hummingbirds on the Friends of Rosetta McClain Gardens Facebook page it seemed like a good idea to stop by again. Our earlier visit contains more details about the history of the property and so it will be linked at the end of this post rather than repeating all of that here.

Monarch butterfly caterpillars go through five distinct stages of growth, molting after each one. Each stage is known as an instar and the first stage is translucent. By the third stage it grows longer tentacles and has the familiar yellow, white and black banding. This caterpillar below is a third stage instar and in the next two stages it will have white patches on the legs. The fifth instar will be 2000 times the weight of the first one. The caterpillar then molts into a chrysalis from which the butterfly will emerge in 8-15 days. Caterpillars that are seen in late August are the generation that will fly south for the winter.

Hummingbirds are the smallest family of birds with the bee hummingbird weighing just 2 grams. They get their name from the noise their wings make during flight while they beat between 12 and 80 times per second. Due to their high metabolism they consume energy at a substantial rate. To preserve body mass, every night they enter a state of torpor that is similar to hibernation. Even in their state of torpor they lose up to 10% of their body mass every night.

The gardens feature several of the ten species of coneflowers. The coneflower is formally known as echinacea and has long been used for its immunological effects. There are studies which show that it can be effective in treating and preventing respiratory infections related to the common cold. The cone flower is being pollinated by a black swallowtail butterfly.

Dryad’s Saddle is a large polypore that can grow as large as 12 inches across. These young ones are just getting started. They are edible but can be very tough so people will eat the small ones or cut off the outer edges of the cap on larger ones. This mushroom is also known as Pheasant’s Back.

The underside of butterfly wings often displays a much different pattern than the top side of the wing. The Painted Lady below tends to be found in areas where there are thistles as the larvae feed on thistles and burdocks.

The remains of the McClain house add an interesting atmosphere to the gardens. Most of the roof is gone as are parts of the walls but what is left makes for some unusual photographs.

The view from the top of the Scarborough Bluffs out across Lake Ontario often reveals pleasure boats near shore and the smaller shadows on the horizon of the larger ships.

Rosetta McClain Gardens is one of the best places in the city to photograph birds, flowers and butterflies. The story of the gardens can be found in our earlier post which is available at this link.

Google Maps Link: Rosetta McClain Gardens

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The Alexandria

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Sunday, January, 6, 2019

There are estimates that over 6,000 ships have sunk in the Great Lakes. Lake Ontario seems pretty calm but it has claimed over 200 ships since the arrival of Europeans. One of those lies near the shore at the foot of the Scarborough Bluffs. As it is the only one that can be easily located, it makes a great place to connect with a piece of our local history.

There weren’t very many birds out on this day but I did see a couple of red-tailed hawks. One of them was hunting along the edge of the bluffs, riding the wind as it looked for food.

The Doris McCarthy Trail runs from free parking on Ravine Drive down to Lake Ontario. It descends about 90 metres over a length of 900 metres, making it a fairly steep trail. The trail runs through a ravine known as Gates Gully which has a number of historical features, including the allure of buried treasure. The trail gives great views of the lake as you make your approach to the beach.

Sections of the beach trail can be pretty muddy but I think that is preferable to a shingle beach of eroded bricks.

The Alexandria was a steamer built in Hull, Quebec in 1866. The 508 ton vessel was over 170 feet long and 30 feet wide. It was built as a freighter and later had passenger decks added in Montreal. It worked the route along the north shore of Lake Ontario, occasionally making trips to Rochester, New York. On this fateful night the ship was carrying 300 tons of sugar, beans, vinegar and tomatoes.

On the afternoon of August 3rd, 1915 there was a storm raging with heavy winds blowing along the shore of the lake. The steamer was blown closer and closer to the Scarborough Bluffs until it ran aground 200 yards from shore and began to sink. Her crew of 22 was rescued and led to safety up Gates Gully. The remains of the Alexandria are rusting badly and you can now see through several layers of metal near the waterline. Eventually the parts of the ship that remain above water will rust away and slip into the lake leaving little trace of the majestic ship that lies below.

For the next two days souvenir hunters scoured the beach carrying away anything that could be put to use. Many people were able to fill up their pantry with food from the wreck. Due to the extreme damage the ship had taken it was decided that there was no point in doing any kind of salvage work. There is a lot of ship still below the waterline and in the 1930’s it was very popular to go diving around the wreck looking for artifacts.

Waterbirds are common along the shore of the lake. Mallards and Canada Geese can be seen on almost every visit. Sometimes you get to see some of the less common ducks and there was a trio of long-tailed ducks swimming near the sunken steamer.

This section of the bluffs is continuing to erode and the shore line has not been completely modified with armour stone. This is one of the few remaining “natural” sections of the bluffs and we hope that current plans to modify it don’t come to pass. Near the top of the bluffs a sign warning people to keep back from the edge because it isn’t stable, has itself fallen over the edge.

The sky looked like our neighbours on the south side of the lake might not be having quite as nice of a day as we were.

The view along the side of the bluffs is always interesting and ever changing. It makes it worth returning time and again.

The thing about visiting a site at the bottom of a hill is the certainty that you will have to climb back up. With the slippery footing this was an interesting challenge. In the summer this trail is a great place to jog or bike uphill to increase your stamina.

The Scarborough Bluffs are a unique geological feature that we get to enjoy in the GTA and one of my favourite places to pass a few hours and enjoy being outside.

Google Maps Link: Gates Gully

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Rosetta McClain Gardens

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Monday, July 3, 2017

Rosetta McClain Gardens is a jewel along the Scarborough Bluffs. The gardens have been transformed into a place for all to enjoy, especially the handicapped. Close to the parking lot is a sign showing the layout of the park. The sign has Braille on it and is laid out in relief so that everyone can find their way around with ease. The walkways and paths have been created out of different types of material so that the handicapped can find their way around more easily. Cobblestone, bricks and interlocking stones each create a path that feels and sounds different to aid the visually impaired.

In 1904 Thomas McDonald West bought 40 acres of land over looking the Scarborough Bluffs. When he passed away he divided it among his four children with each one getting about 10 acres. His daughter, Rosetta, and her husband Robert Watson McClain made many improvements to their property in the form of gardens and walkways.

When Rosetta died in 1940 her husband wanted to find a way to commemorate her and in 1959 he offered the city the land for a park to be named after her. In 1977 the land was conveyed to the care and control of Toronto Region Conservation Authority. They’ve added parcels of land three times, incorporating other parts of the original homestead) to bring the total to 22 acres. To add to the enjoyment of the visually impaired the gardens have been laid out as scent gardens. There are extensive rose gardens which were, unfortunately, a little past their prime.

The old McClain house still stands, although in ruins, on the property. Efforts have been made to preserve the remnants by adding concrete along the top edge of some of the crumbling walls.

Rosetta McClain Gardens have a good view of Lake Ontario from the top of the Scarborough Bluffs but there is no access to the lake. A fence keeps people from getting too close to an earlier fence which is no longer moored to the eroding sand. The concrete pole anchor has been left hanging high above the lake while it waits to eventually fall. Access to the lake and the view of the Scarborough Bluffs can be found just east of Rosetta McClain Gardens at the foot of Brimley Road in Bluffer’s Park.

The extensive gardens and a wide variety of trees make it an excellent place for birdwatchers to observe their feathered friends.

Google Maps Link: Rosetta McClain Gardens

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Beachcombers – Scarborough Bluffs

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Saturday, January 7, 2017

The beach along the Scarborough Bluffs is an ever changing environment. It is eroded by wind, rain and waves. Objects are washed ashore, washed down the bluffs or dumped here. As such it is a great place to look for treasures, each of which has a story to tell or a little bit of history to reveal.

This hike set out to investigate the Scarborough Bluffs, specifically the section from The Guild Inn through to East Point Park. There is a small parking lot for The Guild Inn at the end of Galloway Road and Guildwood Parkway that will provide access to the beach via an old construction road which was used to harden the shore west of here in an attempt to prevent erosion. The picture below shows the view from the top of The Bluffs looking west.

The morning was bright and sunny but the beach was virtually deserted.

East Point Park is one of the places that is known for its Monarch Butterfly migrations. Milkweed is essential to the lifecycle of this species of butterflies and it is encouraging to see milkweed seeds scattered along the bluffs. The flat brown oval seeds are attached to the white fluff that helps them to be spread by the wind.

The vegetation on the top of the bluffs slows erosion down but doesn’t stop it. The roots are holding a thin layer of soil above where the sand has vanished below. Walking along the top of the bluffs it is, therefore, necessary to stay back from the edge so that you don’t have the ground disappear below your feet. The cover photo shows a fence that was installed to keep people away from the edge. The fence is now falling over the edge itself.

The area of Leslieville was situated on clay deposits that were excellent for brick making. As a result, Greenwood Avenue in 1914 had seven brickyards including that of Albert Wagstaff. When Wastaff died in 1931 he left the brickyards to his drinking buddy Albert Harper who operated the brickyards while the family contested the will. When the will was found to be valid he closed the yards down and the pit was turned into the town dump. The name Harper on the brick below was his way of stating his claim to the company while the will was being reviewed.

The ravine at Greyabbey Park is one of the places where there is a flow of water from the top of the bluffs to the bottom. Tall invasive phragmites grow in wetlands all along the sides of the bluffs, sometimes as much as half way up. These ravines provide homes for the white-tailed deer, coyotes and other animals that call the bluffs home.

As we walked along the beach we met a local couple who walk there daily. We noted that they were combing the beach looking for interesting objects, as were we. They collect antique bottles and glass and display them on an Instagram account. Their treasures can be seen at this location. The picture below shows several pieces of glass, including a couple of Coke bottle bottoms, that have been tumbled by the water and sand until they are well rounded.

The Toronto Brick Company was stamped onto bricks produced at The Don Valley Brick Works, one of Toronto’s largest manufacturers. Their bricks may also read TPB Co for Toronto Pressed Brick Company. Much of the early Toronto skyline was made of buildings constructed using bricks from this brickyard. Much of the beach along The Bluffs is also made up of bricks from this brickyard now that old construction debris has been used for fill and for hardening the shoreline.

Rose hips provide a splash of colour in the winter and can also be eaten if you avoid the seeds. It is said that they help to reduce inflammation and they contain 50% more vitamin C than oranges do.

It’s hard to say where this plastic elephant got tossed away at because the lake may have carried it a long distance before depositing it here. It may also have come from the top of the bluffs. Unlike some of the glass on the beach, plastic has little chance of being taken home.

The rusting remains of a milk chum, or milk can, lie behind a log on the beach. Starting in the 1850’s metal cans were introduced for milk collection so it could be taken to the dairy. By the 1970’s collection was converted to tanker trucks and the cans became collected for their antique value.

There is a movement to pave a trail along this section of the bluffs and add armour stone to the shore to slow down the erosion of the bluffs. Nature will continue to have its way and the bluffs will continue to recede. The vegetation that is growing along the shoreline and up the sides of the bluffs will go a long way toward slowing the process down.

This post brings the total along the Scarborough Bluffs to 8 which cover much of the distance between Bluffer’s Park and Highland Creek. From the west to the east the adventure began with Sand Castles in Bluffer’s Park. That story looks at the geology of the bluffs. Erosion investigates the effect of the lake, the wind and rain on the bluffs. Gates Gully is the most famous ravine along the bluffs with a sunken ship and stories of buried treasure. South Marine Park Drive follows the lakeshore between the sunken Alexandria and The Guild Inn. The Inn is a former artist guild and preserves some of Toronto’s early architecture. This post fills the gap between the Inn and East Point Park where there is a Monarch Butterfly migration point. Highland Creek is the eastern most point of The Bluffs.

There’s still Greyabbey Park on the top of the Bluffs to be explored at some time in the future.

Google Maps link: The Bluffs

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South Marine Drive Park

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Sunday August 21, 2016

The Scarborough Bluffs run for fifteen kilometers from Victoria Avenue east to Highland Creek. At their highest point they rise ninety meters above the water and have been described as a geological wonder. They are the only bluffs of their kind in North America.

Hiking the GTA has made several visits to the bluffs starting with Guidwood Park in April 2015. At that time the historic inn sat closed and in need of repairs. The Guild Inn is currently undergoing restoration along with the addition of a multi-purpose event hall. It was time to go and see how that was coming along as well as explore the construction roadway that leads down to the bottom of the Scarborough Bluffs. The $20 million dollar restoration will include a 40,000 square foot addition to the original inn. The Guild was the only Depression Era artist colony in Canada. Over the years the Guild had been expanded with several additions, including a hotel tower. After the inn closed in 2001 the tower was removed. The current restoration strips the inn back to it’s original building and adds new structures to both ends.

The restoration is scheduled for completion in December 2016. The city is paying for the removal of mold and asbestos while the developer will pay to renovate the inn to it’s 1932 appearance. A banquet hall is being built on the one end while an outdoor pavilion is going on the other end. The developer has signed a 40 year agreement with the city.

Parking is currently restricted to a lot on the east side of the old construction roadway. The road was littered with old leaves and this Northern Crescent butterfly was quite well disguised among them. I only caught sight of it when it moved. It feeds on many species of the aster family of which we have many in Ontario. The Northern Crescent has only recently been recognized as a separate species from the Pearl Crescent. The latter of which has black lines in the large orange patches on the hind wings.

There are only a couple of places where a vehicle can get to the bottom of the bluffs. Bluffer’s Park is one of them and it sits near the western end of the bluffs. This roadway is not open to public vehicles and is currently in use for heavy construction equipment. One of the ways in which the city is trying to slow down the erosion of the bluffs is to create hard shorelines and South Marine Drive was created for that purpose. Old construction material, demolished buildings and slabs of pavement are known as rip rap when dumped along the shoreline as seen below. There is a project currently in process on the shoreline in front of The Guild.

This roadway has been turned into a linear park known as South Marine Drive Park. It runs for several kilometers along the south edge of the bluffs and was largely abandoned this morning except for a couple of hikers and a few cyclists. With the views of the bluffs, and the breeze off the lake, I was surprised to see so few people. Access is very limited though as you must come in from one end or the other.

The sand in the bluffs was laid down in a river delta prior to the last ice age. The melting ice sheet created a larger lake where Lake Ontario is today and this was known as Lake Iroquois. It cut through the old river delta and exposed the bluffs. This lake suddenly drained into a smaller lake known as Lake Admiralty which has since become Lake Ontario. The exposed sand face has been eroding quickly ever since and in spite of all our efforts, continues to do so. The roots of the trees and grasses hold the top layer together but when the sand below disappears it is only a matter of time before the tree crashes down the hill side. The sand will make its way into the lake and eventually come to rest on one of Toronto’s many beaches, all of which are west of the bluffs. The lake has a slow rotation that means that water takes six years to make its way around the lake and out into the St. Lawrence River.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit can live up to 100 years. The corm, similar to an onion, grows underground and it will produce one flower if it is male or two if it is female. The plant has the ability to change sex over it’s lifetime with only the female plant producing berries. These berries will turn bright red and provide food for wild turkeys and wood thrushes. The berries are listed as toxic to humans most likely because of the raphides of calcium oxalate that are present in the plant. The sap of the plant makes an instant pain reliever when applied to a wound. The natives used the plant in this way as well as making a red dye from the berries. The picture below shows the unripe green berries in their cluster.

The trees along this section of the bluffs are hanging over the edge as they start their journey to the bottom.

Milkweed provides the only home for monarch butterfly larvae and the park has quite a large number of the plants growing along the side of the roadway. The seed pods are getting ripe. They will soon pop open sending the little white seeds floating on the wind.

Following the trail will bring you to Gates Gully where the Doris McCarthy Trail leads back up to the Kingston Road. Just before you reach the gully one section of a sunken ship can be seen sticking out of the lake. On August 3, 1915 the steamship Alexandria was wrecked near the entrance to the gully. The Alexandria was built in 1866 and served both as a passenger ship and a cargo ship. On this night it was bringing 300 tons of beans and tomatoes when it was blown too close to the shore and was grounded. The ship broke into sections and was completely destroyed. The locals made short work of stripping everything of value above the water line. They say that many cellars were well stocked with sugar, vinegar and canned goods for the coming winter. In maritime tradition Captain William Bloomfield was the last man off the ship at about 2:00 am the following morning. All passengers were brought to safety and led up the bluffs through Gates Gully. The steamer remains in the lake 100 years later, just to the east of the gully. The picture below shows the wrecked ship as seen from the shore. The cover photo shows the ship in close up. There is a place rusted through the rectangular part of the hull right at the waterline. A rounded piece of hull on the left of this is briefly exposed with each rolling wave.

There are plenty of places where the slopes of the bluffs are covered with shrubs and trees. This helps to stabilize the slopes and you will notice on the return trip that this section has some well vegetated areas.

Having reached this point it is about a 45 minute walk back to the parking lot at the Guild.

Other posts in our Scarborough Bluffs Series: Guildwood Park, Sand Castles (Bluffer’s Park), Erosion(Cathedral Bluffs), Gates Gully, East Point Park

Google Maps link: South Marine Drive Park

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