Tommy Thompson Park (aka Leslie Street Spit)

Gord and I have been wanting to explore Tommy Thompson Park (aka Leslie Street Spit).

We had tried in June but discovered when we got there that it's only open on weekends and holidays (we'd gone on a Tuesday).

The Leslie Street Spit is North America's most remarkable public urban wilderness. It is a 5-kilometre long peninsula, built by lakefilling, that juts into Lake Ontario close to downtown Toronto. Started 40 years ago, it was intended to be a breakwater for harbour expansion, which was not needed due to a decrease in lake shipping. Now, the Spit - as it is lovingly called by the people of Toronto - has been transformed by nature into an extraordinary wildlife reserve, where humans can find a car-free refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy a quiet time amid unmanicured vegetation.

And off we went! There were lots of walkers and cyclists.

This is looking towards downtown.

They dump old hydro poles here.

We walked the loop, starting with the east trail and came back along the west trail.

Here's the wetland.

This is looking towards downtown across the wetland.

We went off the trail and walked along a path to Pipit Point.

This is looking across to the lighthouse from Pipit Point ... our ultimate destination.

And this is looking towards downtown from Pipit Point.

We headed back on the path ...

... that would lead us to a bigger path to get back on the trail.

And there's the lighthouse up on the hill!

It is an automated lighthouse at Vicki Keith Point, is one of three lighthouses in Toronto and the only active one in the city.

This is looking back at Pipit Point, where we'd just been ...

Nice view of downtown from next to the lighthouse.

And here are me and Gord ... this was about two hours into the walk.

Here's the lighthouse ...

We had brought a picnic lunch (chicken, salads and wine) and had it here sitting on the log ...

This was our view ... looking at the Toronto Islands and downtown.

We got back on the trail and headed back.

Looks like a nice place to sit and chat.

We had to cross a lift bridge on the way back.

This is looking back at downtown on our way back ...

There were tons of birds in the air ... their flight pattern was amazing!

One last look before we got to our car to head home ...

What a great afternoon!

We were there for over four hours and walked about 12.5km.

It's definitely a place I'll go back to.