Earl Bales Park

Last updated
Earl Bales Park
Earl Bales Park-Toronto-2010-10-30.jpg
Earl Bales Park
Location4169 Bathurst Street
Coordinates 43°45′12″N79°26′01″W / 43.75336°N 79.43368°W / 43.75336; -79.43368
Area127 acres (51 ha)
Created1969-1975
Operated by Toronto Parks
Open1975
Website Earl Bales Park

Earl Bales Park is a large park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The West Don River runs through it. It was named after Robert Earl Bales, a former reeve of the North York township. The park contains a ski centre, community centre, dog park, amphitheatre and holocaust memorial. [1] There are many forested trails going through the park, as well as a 3.2 hectares (7.9 acres) stormwater management pond. [2]

Contents

History

The 51 hectares (130 acres) park was built on farm land owned by John Bales, which later became York Downs Golf and Country Club in 1922. [3] The land was saved from development after the sale of the club which relocated in 1969 to Unionville, Ontario and was turned into an urban park [4] in 1975. [5] Don Valley Golf Course is located to the east and south of the park.

John Bales House, which dates back to 1824, was used as the greenskeeper's home from 1922 to 1969. [6]

The park is named for former Reeve of North York Township (1934-1940) Robert Earl Bales (and great-grandson of John Bales). [7]

Services

Besides being a city park, it is also home to:

North York Ski Centre

North York Ski Centre
Location Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates 43°45′14″N79°25′47.20″W / 43.75389°N 79.4297778°W / 43.75389; -79.4297778
Night skiing yes
Website Earl Bales Ski & Snowboard Centre

North York Ski Centre (also known as the Earl Bales Ski & Snowboard Centre) is a small alpine skiing hill located in Earl Bales Park, close to the intersection of Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue in Toronto. It features one quad chair and a rope tow, serving three intermediate slopes and one beginner slope. It is now the only alpine skiing centre located within the boundaries of Toronto, after the closure of Centennial Park in 2022. [8] The hills are a natural formation from the edge of the Don River.

In 2011 and 2012, repeated failures of the now-retired double chair brought up talks of closing the centre. Instead, the city decided to revitalize the club by adding a quad chair. The double chair is still in place but is unused. [9]

Roads

The park has one named road, Raoul Wallenberg Road, named after Raoul Wallenberg, which connects Bathurst Street with the parking lot at the Earl Bales Community Centre. [10] The park also has one unnamed road connecting Raoul Wallenberg road with the ski hill parking lots as well as many trails running in the forest.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North York</span> District of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

North York is a former township and city and is now one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the northern area of Toronto, centred around Yonge Street, north of Ontario Highway 401. It is bounded by York Region to the north at Steeles Avenue, on the west by the Humber River, on the east by Victoria Park Avenue. Its southern boundary corresponds to the northern boundaries of the former municipalities of Toronto: York, Old Toronto and East York. As of the 2016 Census, the district has a population of 644,685.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thorncliffe Park</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Thorncliffe Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the former Borough of East York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathurst Manor</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Bathurst Manor is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in northern Toronto in the former suburb of North York. It sits on a plateau bounded on the north by Finch Avenue West, on the west by Dufferin Street, on the east by the Don River, and on the south by Sheppard Avenue West. The area is also regarded as part of the Downsview postal area as designated by Canada Post. It is part of the former city of North York, which merged with five other municipalities and a regional government to form the new "City of Toronto" in 1998. It is part of the federal and provincial electoral district York Centre, and Toronto electoral ward 10: York Centre (East). In 2006, it had a population of 14,615.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eglinton Avenue</span> Road in Toronto and Mississauga, Canada

Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 at the western limits of Mississauga, as a continuation of Lower Baseline in Milton. It traverses the midsection of both cities and ends at Kingston Road. Eglinton Avenue is the only street to cross all six former cities and boroughs of Metropolitan Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathurst Street (Toronto)</span> Street in Toronto and York Region in Ontario, Canada

Bathurst Street is a main north–south thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It begins at an intersection of the Queens Quay roadway, just north of the Lake Ontario shoreline. It continues north through Toronto to the Toronto boundary at Steeles Avenue. It is a four-lane thoroughfare throughout Toronto. The roadway continues north into York Region where it is known as York Regional Road 38.

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is a conservation authority in southern Ontario, Canada. It owns about 16,000 hectares of land in the Toronto region, and it employs more than 400 full-time employees and coordinates more than 3,000 volunteers each year. TRCA's area of jurisdiction is watershed-based and includes 3,467 square kilometres (1,339 sq mi) – 2,506 on land and 961 water-based in Lake Ontario. This area comprises nine watersheds from west to east – Etobicoke Creek, Mimico Creek, Humber River, Don River, Highland Creek, Petticoat Creek, Rouge River, Duffins Creek and Carruthers Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division</span>

Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation (PFR) is the division of Toronto's municipal government responsible for maintaining the municipal park system and natural spaces, regulation of and provision of urban forestry services, and the delivery of recreational programming in city-operated facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto</span> Private Jewish day school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Anne & Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, also known as CHAT and TanenbaumCHAT, is a private Jewish high school in Toronto, Ontario, established in 1960. As of 2012, it was the largest private high school in Canada. A second campus of TanenbaumCHAT existed from 2000 to 2017 in the York Region, known as the Kimel Family Education Centre.

Uplands Ski Centre is a small ski area located in Thornhill, Ontario, just north of Toronto, Ontario and operated by the Uplands Golf Club. It has one ski lift—a quad chair starting in the 2012-2013 season. It has four runs averaging 300 m in length and has about 100 feet of vertical Uplands is open from 9:00 a.m. (Friday-Sunday) or noon (Monday-Thursday) until 6:00 p.m. (Weekends) or 9:00 p.m. (Weekdays).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Manor</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Lawrence Manor is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This neighbourhood is bounded by Bathurst Street on the east, Highway 401 to the north, the Allen to the west, and Lawrence Avenue to the south. The western side of the area borders along Bathurst Heights and the large public housing project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clanton Park, Toronto</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Clanton Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the district of North York, it is part of federal and provincial electoral district York Centre, and Toronto electoral wards 9: York Centre (West) and 10: York Centre (East). In 2016, it had a population of 16,472, a 12.7% rise from 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lansing, Toronto</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Lansing is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It originated as a minor settlement of a store, other services and a post office at the corner of Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue and later got consolidated with Toronto as sprawling development took place. A larger area was designated as the postal village of Lansing. The City of Toronto labels it as Lansing-Westgate for neighbourhood planning purposes with the boundaries Yonge Street to the east, Highway 401 to the south, Bathurst Street to the west and Burnett Avenue to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centennial Park (Toronto)</span>

Centennial Park is a large municipal park with many sports facilities, maintained by the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Horseshoe Resort, formerly Horseshoe Valley Ski Club, is an Ontario ski resort and four season vacation destination. Located north of Barrie, the resort is about 1 hour 15 minutes driving time from Toronto. The resort enjoys a long ski season due to snow making abilities. Acquired by Freed Hotels and Resorts in 2021, Horseshoe Resort is spread out over 680 acres (280 ha) of land. The resort offers 28 ski runs, over 30 kilometres of Nordic trails, 12-hole Valley golf course, Amba Spa, 101 rooms at the on-site inn, 40 condo-style suites, two year-round restaurants, 16,000 square feet (1,500 m2) of meeting and banquet facilities, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a full gym, and over 25 miles (40 km) of trails connected to the Copeland Forest suitable for hiking, biking and snowshoeing.

Catamount Ski Area is a ski resort located on Mount Fray of the Taconic Mountains in Hillsdale, New York and South Egremont, Massachusetts. Catamount is one of three ski areas in the southern Berkshires; the others are Butternut in Great Barrington, and Otis Ridge in Otis. It is one of the few remaining family-owned ski areas in New England. In addition, Catamount is home to one of the largest youth ski race programs in the Northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armour Heights</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Armour Heights is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. It is bounded by Wilson Avenue to the south, Bathurst Street to the west, and the west branch of the Don River to the north and east. Highway 401 cuts through the centre of the neighbourhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burke Brook</span> River in Ontario, Canada

Burke Brook is a small stream in Toronto, Ontario. It is part of the Don River watershield, a major river that flows into Lake Ontario. The north end of the stream begins near Glenview Senior Public School.

References

  1. ↑ Recreation, Toronto Parks, Forestry and. "Earl Bales Park". City of Toronto. Retrieved 2023-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "Earl Bales Stormwater Management Pond". City of Toronto. 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  3. ↑ "York Downs members vote to sell golf course for $412M".
  4. ↑ "Parks, Forestry and Recreation : Earl Bales Park". Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  5. ↑ "York Downs members vote to sell golf course for $412M".
  6. ↑ "Plaque celebrates history of John Bales House". 8 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Parks, Forestry and Recreation : Earl Bales Park". Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  8. ↑ "City of Toronto advances Centennial Park Master Plan, delivering new toboggan space, programs and events this winter". City of Toronto. 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  9. ↑ "Earl Bales Park, ON". Lift Blog. 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  10. ↑ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved December 14, 2017.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.