High Park Toronto: The Zoo, Trails, Blossoms and Getting There

High Park Toronto is 399 acres, it is free, and it is open all year. The part that trips people up is access: the animal display is closed until spring 2027, you can only drive in on weekdays, and the shuttle bus that runs inside the park stopped for the season on 1 November.

Here is what is actually open, what it costs, and how to get in. Every hour, price and closure below was checked against the City of Toronto and the TTC in November 2026.

What’s open and what’s closed right now

What	Status	Cost
Trails, gardens, Grenadier Pond	Open year round	Free
High Park Animal Display (the zoo)	Closed to spring 2027	Free when open
Colborne Lodge	Wed to Sun, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.	Free
Skating rink	November to March	Free
Trackless train	Spring, summer and fall only	$9 adult, $6 child or senior
Jamie Bell Adventure Playground	Open year round	Free
203 High Park bus	Suspended for the season	n/a

The closure to know about is the zoo. The City is rebuilding the upper section of Deer Pen Road, the primary access route to the High Park Animal Display, and the display closed to visitors on 13 October. The City expects it to reopen in spring 2027. That matters more than it sounds: the display has been running since 1893, the City calls it Canada’s oldest animal attraction, and it takes over 600,000 visitors a year, so plenty of older roundups still send families straight there. When it reopens you get bison, llamas, peacocks, reindeer, West Highland cattle, yaks, emus, capybaras, Barbary sheep and mouflon sheep, all free.

If you came to Toronto for a free animal stop, Riverdale Farm is the stand-in, and our guide to free things to do in Toronto covers it alongside the rest of the no-cost list.

Getting to High Park Toronto without a car

Transit is the better call here most of the year, and from 1 November it is the only call if you want to be dropped close to the middle of the park.

Line 2 to High Park station. Walk south from Bloor and you are in the park. This is the simplest route and it works every day.
506 Carlton streetcar. It runs between Main Street station and the High Park Loop at the park’s north end.
203 High Park. This is the seasonal bus that runs inside the park from High Park station. The TTC suspended seasonal service on the 200-series routes, including the 203, on 1 November 2026 because of reduced demand. It normally returns in May. Until then, budget for the walk.

That walk is the thing to plan for. The park runs from Bloor Street down to The Queensway, and Colborne Lodge sits near the south end, so getting from the subway to the lodge and back is a real outing rather than a stroll. If you are new to the system, our TTC beginner’s guide covers fares and transfers.

Driving and parking

Visitor vehicles are allowed inside High Park Monday to Friday only, and not on statutory holidays or during peak cherry blossom. There are 276 spaces in total:

Grenadier Cafe: 142 spaces, 10 of them accessible, weekdays
High Park Zoo lot: 79 spaces, weekdays
Colborne Lodge Drive: 34 parallel spaces, weekdays
Spring Road: 21 spaces, seven days a week

So on a Saturday, those 21 Spring Road spaces are it. The main vehicle entrance is at Parkside Drive and High Park Boulevard, and the main exit is at Bloor Street West and High Park Avenue.

What’s worth your time in the park

Grenadier Pond is the one most people walk to. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry designated it a Provincially Significant Wetland Complex in 2022. Fishing is allowed along a designated stretch of shoreline, from the Maple Leaf Garden down to the park entrance at The Queensway and Colborne Lodge Drive, under Ontario fishing regulations.

The Black Oak Savannah is the part almost nobody is told about. High Park holds roughly 23 hectares of tallgrass savannah, prairie and woodland, which the City says is the most significant such area in Toronto. Less than three per cent of this ecosystem survived European settlement. Stay on the trails through it, because that is the whole reason it is still there.

The gardens are scattered rather than concentrated: a Japanese garden and rockery, the Maple Leaf Gardens, Hillside Gardens, the Sunken Gardens, pollinator habitat gardens, a children’s garden and the heritage gardens at Colborne Lodge.

Colborne Lodge is the free museum in the park, and it is the best value in it. The house was built in 1837 and named after Sir John Colborne, then Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. General admission is free, it is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 11 Colborne Lodge Drive, and the historic house is seen by guided tour only, at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The 1855 Coach House you can see without a tour. The John Howard Memorial Tomb sits across the road. If free museums are your thing, our guide to Toronto museums free days maps out the rest.

One correction worth making: the High Park Nature Centre is not a drop-in visitor centre. Its office runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday and its work is programs, school trips, camps, nature clubs and free Youth Rangers and Adult Rangers stewardship sessions. Book something, or don’t plan your afternoon around walking in.

High Park Toronto history, in short

John and Jemima Howard came from England in 1832. Howard built Colborne Lodge in 1837 on the bluff above the lake. In 1873 the Howards transferred their 165-acre property to the City, on the condition that it remain, in the deed’s words, “for the free use, benefit and enjoyment of the citizens of Toronto” and that it be called High Park. The City bought up more land in 1876 and 1930, which brought it to the 399 acres you walk today.

The cherry trees came much later and from much further away. Tokyo gave Toronto 2,000 trees in 1959, with more donated in 1984, 2001, 2006 and again in 2019 for the sixtieth anniversary. About 50 of the newest trees, planted in 2017 and 2018, cluster on the east side of Grenadier Pond.

When to go

Late April to early May: cherry blossoms. Peak bloom runs four to ten days and there is no visitor vehicle or parking access at all during it. Only TTC buses and Wheel-Trans are let in, so take the subway. The City lists the blossoms at 1873 Bloor St W, the main cherry blossom area, Hillside Gardens, picnic site 26, Grenadier Pond and the High Park-Swansea section.
Summer: the trackless train runs daily from 10:30 a.m. to dusk, weather permitting, and Canadian Stage puts on Dream in High Park at the open-air amphitheatre. Check canadianstage.com for the season’s dates and show.
Fall: the best time to walk it. Fall colour through the savannah and the ravine, no crowds, and the train is still running.
November to March: the artificial ice rink north of the outdoor pool on Colborne Lodge Drive. All City drop-in skating is free. The City says outdoor artificial rinks typically open in late November, so check before you carry skates across the park. Our guide to Toronto skating rinks has the downtown options too.

There are three cafes in the park, the Grenadier, the Black Oak and the All Star, plus dog off-leash areas on the east side of Colborne Lodge Drive, north of Centre Road and near the east edge of Allotment Lane. Six paved entrances get you onto the trail network.

Prices and hours in Toronto move constantly, which is why we check every guide against the venue’s own page and date it. More on how we work is on our about page.

Quick answers

Is High Park Toronto free?

Yes. There is no admission to the park, the trails, the gardens or Grenadier Pond, and Colborne Lodge has free general admission too. The only things inside the park that charge are the trackless train, the cafes and the summer theatre at the amphitheatre.

Is the High Park zoo open?

No. The High Park Animal Display closed on 13 October while the City rebuilds the upper section of Deer Pen Road, which is the main way in, and the City expects it to reopen in spring 2027. The rest of the park is open and unaffected.

How do you get to High Park by TTC?

Take Line 2 to High Park station and walk south into the park, or take the 506 Carlton streetcar, which runs between Main Street station and the High Park Loop. The seasonal 203 High Park bus that runs inside the park was suspended for the season on 1 November 2026.

Can you drive into High Park?

Only on weekdays. The City permits visitor vehicles inside High Park Monday to Friday, with no access on statutory holidays or during the peak cherry blossom period. There are 276 spaces, and only the 21 on Spring Road are open seven days a week.

When do the cherry blossoms bloom in High Park?

Usually the end of April into early May, and peak bloom lasts somewhere between four and ten days. There is no visitor vehicle or parking access to the park during peak bloom. Only TTC buses and Wheel-Trans get in.

How big is High Park and who gave it to the city?

It covers 399 acres. John and Jemima Howard handed over their 165-acre property in 1873 on the condition that it stay free for the people of Toronto and be called High Park. The City added the rest in 1876 and 1930.

Sources

Prices, hours and schedules change. Check the official site before you go. Spot something out of date? Email info@truecitytourism.com. Some links may be affiliate links. Disclosure.