Equipment by KSL.
Surface: woodchips.
Toronto’s western waterfront is strikingly different from its eastern waterfront.
In the east, nearly three kilometres of sandy (and busy) beaches eventually give way to Scarborough’s bluffs. The east is for those who like sand, majestic cliffs, and places that are crowded.
The west is a very different story.
There are some sandy beaches along the Lakeshore, especially around Sunnyside, but once you get out to Mimico / New Toronto / Long Branch it’s a much more relaxed scene. Out there, the numbered streets end at the lake with tiny, nondescript parkettes offering gradually more and more distant views of the skyline.
But down at the end of Eleventh Street you’ll find the wonderful Rotary Peace Park, equipped with a nice playground and many other options for outdoor play.
Let’s start with the playground itself. It’s not magnificent, but I like it because the equipment is by KSL, whose equipment is a relatively rare find in Toronto. KSL is a Canadian company that hasn’t exactly shut down but appears to have decided to narrow its focus, manufacturing only accessible swings as of this writing, which means that their existing playgrounds (like this one) have the added allure of being limited edition.
The main feature of the play structure is one that I think they called the “Rainbow Climber” – a rope climber that arches over a twisting steel piece studded with traditional climbing holds. On either side of the rope climber are sections equipped with multiple slides; for smaller kids on one side, larger kids on the other. I especially like the triple slide, where riders start out sitting next to one another but split off in three different directions like planes in an airshow.
The playground also includes some swings and a sandbox, but the park itself has much more to offer. There’s the outdoor pool (the warmest we’ve been to all summer) which is connected to small splash pad (which, with its surrounding bars and harsh concrete pavement looks the way a splash pad might look if it were built in a prison yard), tennis courts, and a baseball diamond.
There's also a lovely path down to the lake where you can skip stones or be jealous of people whose property backs right onto the lake. Keep walking and you’ll come to a little point where you can walk along the big rocks and gaze out into the blue.
The funny thing is that because of the shape of the coastline just to the east, you can’t actually see Toronto’s skyline, so it really feels like you’re out of town. What we did see on our visit was a little muskrat, who scrambled along the rocks right near my son before darting down into the darkness before I could snap a picture of it.
So while it’s not the best playground in this part of the city (that title probably goes to Mimico’s Amos Waites Park) this one is definitely a beautiful place to spend a summer’s day.
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