Yonge Street: The Saga Ends

Last week, I walked north on Yonge Street from Steeles Avenue to Highway 9. Thus, I passed through Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Oak Ridges, Aurora and Newmarket in a single day. The walk was approximately 32 km long and took 5.75 hours.

The walk allowed me to appreciate the size and beauty of the vast, rural stretches of Yonge Street between the various communities. The area between Richmond Hill and Oak Ridges was especially barren. The rural sections of Yonge feature large, lush forests, running ravines and sapphire lakes. There are several public parks and private golf courses in the voids between cities. The Oak Ridges Moraine, a vast landform covering nearly 2,000 km^2 of southern Ontario, spans from northern Richmond Hill to southern Aurora and dictates the ecological structure of the region.

Still, nearly the entire street was being developed to some degree. For example, Jefferson Sideroad is currently surrounded by forests and fields, though it does feature a small housing development. One day, the area will be transformed into a suburban community with 3,000 homes. Similarly, the southeast corner of Bloomington Road currently features large, rolling hills. In fact, it’s so remote that there’s a sign warning motorists and pedestrians to watch out for deer. Still, this rustic area has a sign proclaiming that a “premier” shopping centre will be constructed there soon. Demand for such a remote mall would be low now, but I’m sure there will be further developments in the area in the near future.

I have now walked along every single meter of Yonge Street, from its southern terminus at the shore of Lake Ontario in Toronto to its quiet ending at the foot of marshland in Holland Landing. I covered the entire distance (~55 km) in just three walking trips. The gradual transition from urban to surburban to rural regions shows a lot about Toronto’s history and culture; I wonder if the people who go to strip clubs and heavy metal stores near Dundas Square ever think that, a few dozen kilometers up the road, there are empty fields, abandoned farmhouses and impassable marshland. Furthermore, I wonder how many people, aside from Colonel Simcoe’s soldiers, have ever walked the entire length of Yonge Street.