THE QUANDARY OF AN OLD QUARRY

It’s quite the juxtaposition: Stressed out in noisy downtown traffic at Bay and Bloor one minute, and then 15 minutes later, blissed out on a stream-side path with the soothing sounds of trickling water and a woodpecker tapping on a giant oak surrounded by spring wildflowers. Both scenes co-exist in Canada’s largest city.

This is a ravine, part of a network of woodlands and green spaces that persists within the otherwise paved-over home of 4 million people. Toronto’s ravines provide a four-seasons escape for the urban dwellers—dog walkers, joggers, cyclists, fishermen and cross-country skiers. Here,