Guest Post: Adventures on the West Toronto Railpath

Guess who's back #TransitHubbers? Ionatan Waisgluss, with yet another post! This time he recounts a fascinating story about his adventures on the West Toronto Railpath. I'm sure you'll be as inspired as I was!
- Neil Jain


Toronto is a city full of hidden gems; the more I explore it, the more I appreciate what each neighbourhood has to offer. Recently, I discovered the West Toronto RailPath (WTR), which—in addition to being a destination in itself—allows for leisurely travel between two areas of Toronto. The pleasant trail spans roughly 2 km, from The Junction to the northwest corner of the downtown.

The trail, formally opened in October of 2009, is a wonderful stretch to explore. Trail highlights include derelict buildings seen from unusual angles, sporadic art pieces (metal installations by artist John Dickson), various native plantings for the nature geek, and some of the smoothest pavement in Toronto—perfect for everything from wheelchairs to kick-scooters. The path is also crossed by various other transportation routes, forming some fascinating urban topography, and resulting in the sort of dead space that graffiti artists tend to love.

The eerie remnants of the Canadian Hanson & Van Winkle Company Ltd.

Frontier #1 (a public installation by John Dickson)

A happy heart and some urban tranquility, tacked onto a pole.

Street art loves these dead spaces.

Layers of cultural modification.

Interesting style.

Big, goofy, and charismatic.

Comics-inspired, fantastic!

A rat-sized piece.

The path ends rather abruptly, and leaves you at Dundas St. West & Sterling Rd. I must admit, there isn’t much to do around there, but heading back north makes for an interesting walk.

You get to pass by the Toronto headquarters of Nestlé.

There’s even a little bit more street art.

Walking up Sterling Rd. is nowhere near as exciting as walking down the RailPath. Luckily, plans are underway to expand the RailPath in the near future, making our wonderful city even more interconnected. I haven’t heard how long it’ll take, though I’m certainly looking forward to it! In any case, I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and that you make use of this beautiful part of the city. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Happy adventures,

--Ionatan Waisgluss