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This Toronto park is over 20 times bigger than Central Park and has breathtaking views
There are so many trails to explore.
You don't need to go far from Toronto to discover open air and endless trails. This massive park is a gorgeous spot for a hike, and it will have you forgetting you're anywhere near the city.
Open year-round, it's a dreamy destination to soak up the last of the fall colours, or enjoy a snowy-weather stroll once winter sets in.
Rouge National Urban Park is one of the largest urban parks in North America, according to Parks Canada, spanning Toronto, Markham, Pickering and the Township of Uxbridge.
Covering more than 19 square miles, the sprawling natural area is 23 times bigger than New York City's Central Park.
Before planning your visit, though, there are a few access restrictions to keep in mind.
The Zoo Road Day Use Area is closed for construction of a new visitor centre until 2027, and Rouge Beach and Marsh is also closed for construction. While other areas of the park remain open, some popular trailheads and parking options are affected, so it's worth checking your route before heading out.
There are several trails to choose from, with hikes ranging from a quick 15-minute stroll to a four-hour adventure. Here are a few worth adding to your bucket list:
- Vista Trail: This route is a favourite for soaking up the season's vibrant colours, thanks to its two-level viewing platform overlooking the Rouge Valley.
- Orchard Trail: You can wander through a landscape filled with wetlands and traces of the area's early European settlers, including historic orchards, former residences and a mill.
- Woodland Trail: With a mix of forests, meadows and water, this trail is a good pick if you want a more relaxed hike.
- Glen Eagles Vista Trail: Short on time? This 15- to 30-minute walk leads to a scenic lookout where you can take in views of the Rouge River and Little Rouge Creek, framed by colourful autumn leaves. Keep in mind that the Glen Eagles Vista parking lot closes seasonally from November 1 to May 1, so it's not an option for parking during an early-November visit.
- Northeast Trail: At over 10 kilometres one-way, this longer route winds through marshes and farmland. Along the way, you'll encounter seven boardwalks and a pergola overlooking the marsh.
The park offers free admission year-round and free guided walks on select days. Upcoming events include a spooky Halloween walk and an autumn senses experience.
During the winter, you can enjoy snowy hikes, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and more, so it's worth keeping this spot in mind for some cold-weather adventures.
Planning your trip from Toronto? Rouge National Urban Park has multiple access points, but getting to a specific trail may take a little extra planning right now.
For the Vista and Orchard trails, Twyn Rivers Day Use Area remains open and can be reached from the Altona Road side in Pickering.
However, parking is limited, particularly on weekends, and the walk from nearby transit stops can involve a stretch of road without a sidewalk.
Check the official Parks Canada directions and current park bulletins before leaving, as closures and access conditions can change.
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Fact File: Claims about fraudulent results in Alberta referendum false, expert says
Fact File: No evidence of referendum vote dump
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amanda May Erickson
Posts questioning the results in Alberta's referendum spread on the social media platform X this week as the numbers were released. One claimed that hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots were dumped to answer just one of the questions put to voters — the 10th question asking about independence. Another concluded more people had voted than the number of registered voters. Elections Alberta and one expert say the people making these claims either misunderstood or deliberately misrepresented the vote-counting process.
THE CLAIM
An Oct. 20 post on X alleged that hundreds of thousands of special ballots were dumped to tilt the outcome of the independence referendum question in favour of Alberta remaining in Canada.
“Look at the dump of mail in votes for the Alberta Referendum. Almost all ... the mail in ballots appear to only have answered question 10," it said, posting screenshots of live preliminary results for each referendum question from the Elections Alberta site. The figures in the screenshot showed substantially more votes tallied for the independence question than for the others.
"That smells of corruption," the post, which had received close to 67,000 views hours it was posted, continued.
THE FACTS
Duane Bratt, a professor of political science at Mount Royal University in Calgary, described the claim about a mail-in ballot dump as "ridiculous."
He said the sudden appearance of the results for the independence question after the polls closed was expected, as the government had said results for that question would be announced first, and workers had begun counting the ballots hours before polls closed.
"They had been counting the advanced polls and the mail-in votes since 5 o'clock that afternoon, so it's not surprising that there was a whole bunch of results, the moment that they could officially release them," Bratt said.
Bratt referred to Elections Alberta releasing the initial results for the question minutes after the last poll closed, with the results showing a sizable lead for Alberta remaining in Canada over the option of a referendum on leaving the country.
Soon afterwards, the results for the remaining questions also began to trickle out.
In an emailed statement Tuesday from Elections Alberta, the office said that there was no mail-in ballot dump, and that they had announced the order in which results would be released on May 29.
The office added that it received 519,082 special ballots on the independence question. The Elections Alberta live results web page on Wednesday showed 2,021,521 total votes cast for this question, with 95 per cent of locations reporting.
"This allegation now is disinformation at best and an attempt to deliberately undermine faith in the democratic process at worst," an Elections Alberta spokesperson said.
Bratt added that, while the polling stations workers were counting the ballots for the independence question, they would also count the ballots for the remaining questions.
"In each polling station, they counted Question 10 first, then they went through one to nine. That is why there was a discrepancy, and there continues to be a discrepancy in the totals that emerged," he said in an interview Tuesday.
Bratt added that another reason for the discrepancy was that some voters may have found the wording of the remaining questions confusing and skipped them, and others were encouraged to vote only on the independence question. Voters were free to answer as many referendum question as they chose.
"If you were to vote in person, you don't have to take all 10, you don't have to drop off all 10. It's the same thing with the special ballots," he said. "You could submit one ballot or you could submit 10 ballots."
THE CLAIM
Another Oct. 20 post on X questioned the number of votes processed compared to the number of eligible voters, appearing to equate each valid vote cast with a voter and alleging there might be an "election fraud."
"Elections Alberta noted in advance that the province had 3,148,343 eligible voters," the post said. "The problem is that the numbers below add up to 4,352,679 votes cast."
The post, which received more than 190,000 views in the hours after it appeared, claimed there were 1.2 million more votes than eligible voters, adding that it was hard to believe 100 per cent of eligible voters took part in the referendum.
THE FACTS
Elections Alberta's referendum results website provides a clear distinction between the number of eligible voters and the number of votes cast.
The vote total represents "valid votes cast across 10 questions," in which each ballot submitted counts as one vote. For this referendum, each voter received 10 ballots, one for each question, so in theory the maximum number of votes cast is 10 times the number of voters.
The official results for all 10 questions are expected to be released and finalized on Oct. 29, according to the web page.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
By Timon Johnson | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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B.C. billionaire's real estate firms allege 'pattern of misconduct' by CRA in tax row
B.C. billionaire's firms fight ballooning tax bill
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Companies controlled by billionaire B.C. property developer Terry Hui allege that the Canada Revenue Agency has engaged in a "pattern of misconduct" in its attempts to collect on ballooning tax debts dating as far back as 2007.
Five companies within Hui's real estate development group are targeted in the audit by the CRA, including Adex Securities, One West Holdings, a B.C. numbered company and two Luxembourg-based shell companies.
The companies filed an application in Federal Court this month, claiming the government has wrongfully moved to collect on tax debts totalling nearly $330 million, most of which is accrued interest.
The application says the group is involved in capital-intensive real estate projects in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary and the audit, initiated in 2013, focused on transactions that relied on Canada's tax treaty with Luxembourg.
The companies say in the application that they've received tax debt assessments this year, with Adex owing $45 million and interest of more than $65 million, while the two Luxembourg based companies owe together more than $92 million and $127 million in interest.
They want the court to stop the government from collecting on the debts until a related case filed earlier this year is concluded, while objecting to the CRA wanting $115 million security payment from Adex.
Requiring a payment that large and not allowing the company to defer will cause the real estate group to "lose significant capital that is currently being used to fund active development projects."
The application is one of at least three filed in Federal Court this year related to the dispute, where they claim that being forced to pay will cause "irreparable harm" and that no advance notice from the CRA means that they "could not have reasonably planned for a debt … of this magnitude."
The companies claim the revenue agency has exhibited a "pattern of misconduct," alleging its officers acted outside established policies and procedures and "without regard to the impact of their actions on taxpayer businesses."
Lawyers for the companies were not immediately available for comment, but Justin Kutyan with KPMG Law in Toronto told The Canadian Press earlier this year that the transactions in the case were similar to a tax structure upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2021.
The court ruled 6-3 in favour of Alta Energy Luxembourg, which had claimed a tax exemption on a capital gain of more than $380 million under Canada's treaty with Luxembourg, described in the decision as being "well known as an international tax haven."
The court found in Alta's favour, ruling that Canadian tax authorities couldn't use anti-tax avoidance rules to "judicially amend or renegotiate a treaty."
The dissenting justices in the case, however, said "the federal government did not deliberately set out to create the conditions for unlimited tax avoidance by means of schemes" used by the company.
The dissenters wrote that "the court should not legitimize such blatantly abusive tax avoidance based on the view that Canada should have negotiated different treaty terms."
The CRA said it did not have a spokesperson available for an interview to comment on tax treaty abuse.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
By Darryl Greer | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Jessie Nadeau et Marie Gagné partagent une photo pour dénoncer le « slut shaming »
Les réseaux sociaux, comme Instagram, servent souvent de tribune afin d'exprimer ses convictions. Le 23 janvier, Jessie Nadeau, influenceuse et ancienne candidate d'OD, y a passé un message contre le slut shaming.
Dans une photo accompagnée de son amoureuse Marie Gagné, Jessie dévoile son derrière avec une légende qui emprunte des mots aux commentaires faits pas Marie-Lyne Joncas sur la nudité en ligne.
La sélection de l'éditeur : Élisabeth Rioux visite des maisons au Mexique et voici ce qu'elle compte faire
Dans un balado de Jerr Allain, Marie-Lyne était revenue sur une controverse de 2018 à propos d’une de ses publications où on pouvait lire : « Ga moé, belle comme le jour. Pis j’ai pas le cul à l’air ».
Dans ce retour fait le 20 janvier 2021, elle explique qu'elle souhaite voir plus que des corps dénudés en ligne :
« Toi tu travailles, t'as des amis, peut-être que tu cuisines bien… Peux-tu nous montrer tout ce que t'es, plutôt que juste nous montrer le fait que t'es une très belle fille... »
Le message de Jessie, qui accompagne sa photo, se lit donc comme suit :
« "Montrer son cul sur Instagram, un moment donné on a fait le tour."
« On n’est pas JUSTE ça t’sais. On fait pas du motocross, mais on fait ben d’autres autres affaires en plus de prendre des photos devant notre miroir belles comme le jour. »
[rebelmouse-image 26006779 photo_credit="jessie.nadeau | Instagram" expand=1 original_size="802x1434"] jessie.nadeau | Instagram
Suite à cette publication, Jessie a également partagé une story soulignant le fait que selon elle, les commentaires sous l'image démontrent une certaine évolution dans les perceptions des gens sur le droit des femmes sur leurs corps.
Cela dit, elle a aussi remarqué qu'il y a encore du chemin à faire du côté de l'éducation sur les enjeux féministes.
Elle a donc partagé plusieurs suggestions de contenu en ligne afin d'en apprendre plus sur le sujet, en plus de révéler des commentaires qu'elle trouve problématiques.