A Journey to the End of Yonge Street

I’ve always been fascinated by Yonge Street, the arterial road that is often considered the heart of Toronto. Originally constructed in 1796 to give the military access to northern Ontario, Yonge Street begins at Toronto’s southernmost point, on the shoreline of Lake Ontario. It proceeds north through the entirety of the Greater Toronto Area, gradually transitioning from the downtown core to urban, suburban and rural regions.

A few weeks ago, I decided to take a walk through the remote northern section of Yonge Street, armed with a camera and a map book. (“Remote”, of course, is a relative term. The area is sparse and isolated compared to my neighborhood, but it is still familiar to hundreds of local residents). I was curious to see how different life was in the northernmost part of the GTA, and I also wanted to see how the venerable road ended.

My journey begins at Upper Canada Mall (at Yonge & Davis), a large commercial centre in the northwestern part of Newmarket. The mall is approximately 40 kilometers north of Yonge’s southern terminus at Lake Ontario. The road has already passed through all of Toronto, plus the suburbs of Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Oak Ridges and Aurora. The area surrounding the mall is bustling with traffic and retail complexes. Numerous stores and restaurants, large and small, occupy the congested road from Yonge & Davis to Yonge & Green Lane. Business is still booming as far north as Green Lane, which forms Newmarket’s northernmost city limits. Two major complexes (the Green Lane Centre and a Silvercity movie theater) are located just south of the Newmarket city limits. However, as soon as I cross the road at Green Lane, exiting Newmarket, all signs of commercial activity suddenly vanish.

The contrast between the portions of Yonge Street immediately north and south of Green Lane is staggering. Yonge north of Green Lane is a lonely, desolate area. The road is surrounded by muddy or grassy fields, and not much else, on both sides. While traffic is still fairly heavy, there are only a few buildings on that stretch of Yonge. I only see a couple of farm houses and a small residential home in an area otherwise surrounded by farms and fields. It is a strange feeling knowing that only a few hundred meters south, the area is alive with commerce and pedestrians.

My favorite photo shows a farm house several hundred meters north of Yonge & Green Lane. The building appears to be abandoned (though I didn’t investigate further). The bland landscape highlights the sense of isolation during this stretch of Yonge.

The desolate stretch of Yonge ends after a bit more than 1 kilometer. At that point, Yonge intersects with the Morning Sideroad and splits into two separate sections (both named “Yonge Street”). One section of Yonge veers northwest towards the town of Bradford. This portion ends at Bradford’s eastern city limits, where the road is renamed. The other section of Yonge (pictured above) travels north through the village of Holland Landing in the town of East Gwillimbury, ending at the foot of marshland at the city’s northernmost limits. While both paths seemed interesting, I chose to walk the latter route since it was the original path of Yonge Street when it was created in the late 18^th century.

Immediately after choosing to walk to Holland landing, I face another fork in the road. Yonge Street north of the Morning Sideroad was a nearly-abandoned dirt path (pictured above). The narrow road ran downhill through an isolated, dense forest. However, that stretch of Yonge is bypassed by Highway 11B, a modern, paved roadway. Highway 11B starts veering away from Yonge, but joins it at the southernmost part of Holland Landing. The bypass is a clean, wide, heavily-traveled road. Still, I choose to walk down the nearly-abandoned section of Yonge Street since it would be a more adventurous trip, and is consistent with Yonge's historical path.

The abandoned portion of Yonge that approaches Holland Landing is even more isolated than the stretch of Yonge just north of Newmarket. Both portions are about a kilometer long; however the previous section had heavy traffic, while only a single car drives past me during my walk down the gravel road. This stretch only has a few residential homes, but they were deep inside their lots, surrounded by trees. The homeowners took advantage of the thick woods to seclude themselves.

It seems like the abandoned section of Yonge Street has not been maintained for years. The road alternates between cracked pavement and a dirt track. Any driver’s ability to see the road would be limited by the steep decline, sharp curves, and tall, dense trees. This section of Yonge is so isolated that the sound of traffic (from the bypass) is barely audible.

Old Yonge Street (left) and the modern bypass (right) reunite at the southernmost point of Holland Landing, a village with a population of approximately 8,000. Holland Landing is a peaceful, quiet residential area. Even though it is one of the northernmost communities in the Greater Toronto Area, there are no signs of the chaotic lifestyle prevalent many kilometers to the south. Indeed, Holland Landing is fairly isolated, at least by Toronto standards; aside from the tiny community of River Drive Park bordering the western part of the town, the nearest communities are at least a few kilometers away. The voids between the towns are filled by forests, fields and farms. I didn’t have the chance to explore these areas (the walk from Newmarket to the end of Yonge Street was quite long) but I’d imagine that it’s full of interesting scenery.

One of the most striking features of the village is that there seemed to be very few retail stores. Aside from two small plazas at the corner of Yonge & Bradford Street, I can’t find any commercial outlets. Granted, I didn’t investigate every road in the city but Yonge appears to be the largest and most dense street in the village, so it’s reasonable to assume that most business would be concentrated on that roadway. Additionally, while the houses in Holland Landing are approximately the same size as Toronto homes, the lot sizes are considerably larger. Most of the homes in the area have large backyards (some of which backed onto the Holland River). The southern part of the town is full of history. There are several old buildings, including the historic courthouse and unfinished locks on the Holland River. In the northern part of the village, most of the houses are constructed deep inside their lots, and are hiding behind a thick line of trees.

I continue walking north on Yonge. The area becomes even more quiet and sparse north of the Doane Road. About three hours into my walk, I discover that, technically, Yonge Street ends in a T-intersection with the Queensville Sideroad. A red farmhouse sits at the northernmost edge of Yonge, more than 50 kilometers north of Lake Ontario. However, my map book shows that Yonge Street resumes and continues north for another 1.5 kilometers, about 100 meters west of the T-intersection. Thus, I walk west on the Queensville Sideroad for a minute, and continue onwards.

The final stretch of Yonge Street, a dead-end which extends north from the Queensville Sideroad, is a serene and secluded locale. The area features large homes reclusively situated deep inside tree-lined lots; the road is surrounded by culverts on both sides. The Holland River runs parallel to the road, only a few hundred meters to the west. There are no exits in this section; Morgans Road is the only street that branches out from this passage of Yonge, and it only runs for a few hundred meters before ending at the Holland River. I’m nearly attacked by two dogs during this section of the road; the first encounter ruins a great picture I was about to take. I suppose that people who live here value their privacy.

Surprisingly, Yonge Street remains residential, albeit sparse, almost all the way to the end. North of Morgans Road, address numbers exceed 21,000. There is a large golf course a few hundred meters from the end, but it’s so deep behind trees that I probably would have missed it had it not been in the map book. The final stretch of Yonge Street is a narrow, cracked road, surrounded by trees and water from the Holland Marsh. The two warning signs indicate that no road maintenance occurs beyond this point, and that no dumping of rubbish is permitted.

The very end of Yonge Street is a gravel track, situated approximately 55 kilometers north of Lake Ontario. A metal barrier and yellow warning sign indicate that the paved road has ended. This portion of Yonge is located within the Holland Marsh, an area of fertile farming grounds and extensive wetlands. The end of Yonge is surrounded on three sides by tall trees, thick vegetation, and water flowing south from the marsh. The area is secluded and peaceful; I can only hear a faint whirring sound emanating from the golf course. Yonge Street’s major landmarks, including the Eaton Centre, Mel Lastman Square, and the TTC subway, are distant memories.

Looking south from the end of Yonge Street, I can almost see the shoreline of Lake Ontario.

The journey to the end of Yonge Street was very interesting. On one hand, the area was foreign to me and would probably feel the same way to any Torontonian. It was a unique experience to see the heart of Toronto twist and turn through an isolated forest, then abruptly end at the foot of marshland. On the other hand, Yonge seemed familiar throughout. Yonge is an integral part of the GTA because it fosters a sense of community and brings people together. Thus, it wasn’t surprising to see that Yonge remained inhabited all the way to the end.

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This trip was partially inspired by another Torontonian who took a similar trip.