Wilket Creek Park Fall Colors

Wilket Creek Park is one of the best all season parks that you can visit in Toronto. It follows the Toronto’s ravine system and along the creek that gave it its name. The path meanders along the creek itself through wooded areas that are slowly being naturalized. The creek itself is picturesque with its stones and rocks jutting out of the water. In many places the creek forms small cascades where you can hear the water bubbling merrily. The surrounding woods overhangs the creek in some places giving some picture-perfect spots. If you enter from the south the trail ends at Edwards Gardens allowing you to enjoy the landscaped gardens and flowerbeds making it on of the best places to spend a day in Toronto. Watch the video below for more:

The summer is over and the long dreary Canadian winter is coming but nature has a one last show of color and beauty ready to show us. The trees of Wilket Creek Park are suddenly metamorphosized from green to hues of gold, bronze, copper, oranges, reds and vibrant yellows as they glow in the sunlight. Stands of mature Sugar Maple, Red Oak, Eastern Hemlock, American Beech, and Hop Hornbeams grow and thrive along the valley’s sides. Rare plants such as the Canada Sicklepod, Snakerod, New York Fern also grow here.

Wildlife in this small park thrives too. Sometimes deer come to graze in the woodland. Squirrels, chipmunks, and groundhogs can be found. The creek is home to numerous species of minnows, carp, and other fish. Maybe as the naturalization process continues, we will see salmon running and trout in the park with a bit more care for its environment it won’t be so far fetched an idea as salmon already run on some branches of the Don river which Wilket creek flows into. Birds are another visitor to this park and they are particularly easy to see in early spring. It is common to see cardinals, robins, hawks, blue jays, herons and wild ducks in the area just to name a few.

Wilket Creek was named after Paul Wilcott an immigrant from Pennsylvania who came to live here in 1793. He had initially applied for a tavern license in the town of York (now part of the GTA) but was refused. Instead he built a sawmill on the creek near Cummer Ave. In 1799 his brother Jonathan Wilcott bought land on the east side of Yonge Street and the brook that ran through this lot was called by Wilcot, Wilkot or Wilket Creek. In 1818 the creek was a fast flowing stream capable of running sawmills from the West Don to Cummer Avenue. As urbanization increased the watershed area of the creek slowly decreased and the flow of water also decreased and the mills were no longer able to run. Today the Toronto Botanical Garden’s Edward Gardens now stands where this once was and Wilket Creek Park bears the name of the Wilcott family.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post wishing you the best, this is my amazing Canada!!!