High Park

High Park, 399 acres of peace and recreation and playing fields and picnic areas, has a way of making you forget the city beyond. Grenadier Pond, a tranquil body of water that runs along the park’s western border, is favored by runners. The Jamie Bell Adventure Park is an impressive playground with castle structures for climbing and sliding and mayhem. The park zoo, another major draw for families, houses peacocks, buffalo, and capybaras, among other animals. In springtime, all of Toronto flocks here to see the cherry blossoms, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it event. Come summer, budding thespians and lovers of the arts crowd in for Shakespeare in the Park, the longest-running outdoor theater in the country.