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Ashbridges Bay Park
Categories: Active Life Beaches Active Life Parks Beaches, Parks [Edit]
1681 Lakeshore Blvd EToronto, ON M4L 3W6
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
15 reviews for Ashbridges Bay Park
15 reviews in English
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Review from Charlotte W.
North York, ON
2/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
My parents condo is right across this park so we love it. Summers are busy and Sundays can be a zoo here. During the winter though the boardwalk is nice and empty. I came here walking with my boyfriend and it took us an hour back and forth. Come here for some fresh air!
Listed in: February Food-Free 2012
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Review from Madelaine D.
Toronto, ON
7/28/2011 1 photo
Ashbridges Bay is one of the places in Toronto that makes you truly appreciate this great city.
With more than 90 beach volleyball courts available to the public the bay is a great place to spend a day (you have to bring your own net, ball and lines if you want to play volleyball). And be forewarned, on weeknights from 6:30-8 a lot of the courts are used by OVA (Ontario Volleyball Association) for their league. There are also often tournaments going on on the weekends but you should be able to find a court none the less. There are certainly enough of them.
There is also a big sandy beach where you can find lifeguards, sunbathers and swimmers. There are bike paths and walking paths, picnic benches, play structures, water fountains, washroom and change room facilities.
Parking is a nightmare if you arrive around 6pm on a week night. Finding a spot isn't the problem, it's the 15-30 minute wait to pay the $3 for your ticket that drives me crazy. It's free before 5pm and after 9pm.
There's a nice pub in the park too, perfect for grabbing a bite or beverage, but if you're really smart you'll bring a cooler and pack a picnic.
Check Ashbridges Bay out if you haven't been, especially around sunset, it's beautiful.Listed in: Places to work off the…
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Review from William T.
Scarborough, ON
7/18/2011
Ashbridges Bay is always bustling with activity from people & pets, there is an elevated Olympic sized pool that it pretty neat & has diving towers that can be a bit daunting to jump off of the first time.
The beach itself is quite nice but I advise against actual swimming in the water. Things I noticed, lots of paths that take you around the bay & the piers along one of the walkways have not yet been repaired as they have been destroyed by seasons of ice heaving up against it...also the volleyball area is beach combed & leveled for optimum foot work whilst volleying balls.
*noteworthy* detail
The parking lot nearest the launch ramp for boats has FREE parking during the week BEFORE 5 PM.
Go have yourselves a wonderful time at this very popular area!Listed in: Good for Groupies
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Review from Rita C.
Saanich, BC
8/1/2009 ROTD 8/9/2009
As the other reviewers have said, this is as close as you can get to a real beach in Toronto. It has great places for volleyball, a nice boardwalk, and-- this is key-- it's great for people watching. Hello, extremely large man! I am sorry for staring, but your belly just jiggles so much!
However, I do have to say that, in Vancouver, water is *blue*. Not green. Your algae level was a bit excessive-- I didn't feel like going into the water. And admittedly, it is a bit crowded, and the washrooms are nasty, but that's true at most beaches I've visited in my life.
But at most beaches, I don't have to wonder whether the lake is cleaner than the bathroom. I ask for too much out of Lake Ontario. Sorry, nature. -
Review from Sahra G.
6/23/2010
Too many yuppies. If you like yuppies, and women with Bugaboo Frog strollers going to post natal yoga classes this is the place for you.
If you don't like these types of folk avoid avoid avoid. These are the kind of people who would flag down a cop if you were hooting on a spliff in the bushes and tattle on you.
If you need a beach in Toronto go to Sunnyside. People there are way more chill and have less large objects shoved up their rear ends. -
Review from Amanda A.
Toronto, ON
8/24/2009
I'm going to be a Debbie-Downer and say that I don't really like this place.
While I understand that Toronto lacks real "beachy" spots - and this place provides lots of sand and sun for volleyball, that is really all it offers, in my opinion.
I get bored here. I wish I could enjoy it more, but I find it crowded, lacking any good spots for food, and the parking is ridiculous on a nice day. The grassy areas are very dirty - I remember hosting a BBQ here one year and 5 of us spent about 30 minutes picking up firework casing, candy wrappers and some unmentionables just because we were worried about what the little ones might get their hands on. I can't imagine what this place was like during the garbage strike.
I do have a good story from this place though. A couple of years ago at a church barbeque, in the middle of the day, a guy came running past us wearing only running shoes. A few minutes later the cops came and wrestled him down, in all of his naked glory, right where all the elders and children of the church were sitting and eating their food. The cops struggled to wrap some garbage bags around him, the children were screaming, the adults didn't know what to do. It was amazing. -
Review from Mike S.
Toronto, ON
9/5/2008
I know that when you think Toronto you probably don't think beaches and for the most part you'd be right, but there is one beach in Toronto, that actually feels like a real beach. Ashbridges Bay beach is by far the closest thing Toronto has to a real beach. It's huge, sandy and it's quite beautiful. If you are like me and are relatively trapped to places which are TTC adjacent this beach is for you. You just have to take the Queen street car East to Kingston road and there you are. This beach is remarkably well groomed and even if you aren't in a swimming mood, it is an excellent place to suntan or just sit by the water. I recommend this beach for anyone who can't get to Wasaga Beach.
Like the review? Check out the link to my blog on my profile. -
Review from Luke A.
Toronto, ON
9/8/2008
Ashbrigde's Bay is the start of the eastern Beaches--which are far superior, at least as beaches for swimming, volleyball, etc., to the western beaches. The park runs along the beach areas, as does a boardwalk. The easternmost kilometres of the Martin Goodman bike trail run through the park, and it's the most pleasant part of the trail to ride through in the entire east end.
At the west end of Ashbridge's Bay is huge water treatment plant, which can really put the whiff of sewage in the air if the wind picks it up. Something to keep in mind if you're thinking of joining the Ashbridge's Bay yacht club. -
Review from Lynda W.
Toronto, ON
9/19/2008
Ashbridges Bay is the closest thing we're going to get to The O.C. And even this doesn't compare to the beautiful sandy beaches on the West coast. But we must make do with what we have.
The beaches, in all accounts are a nice place to spend the day or weekend in the summer. It is always packed in the summer, and lots of beach volleyball and beach bums there. Bring your dog and walk along the boardwalk, or rollerblades in tow, blade West along the nicely paved sidewalk for a good workout.
There is also a park and some green space right across the street (North side) from Ashbridges Bay. Again, a nice place to blade. Parking at the beach can be a bitch, so if you can get there early if you want to have your pick at spaces. The parking there is paid (and monitored), so bring change. -
Review from Cheri D.
7/18/2011 17 Check-ins Here
Ashbridges Bay is truly a staple of the Toronto summer! Even if you don't live in the area, you just gotta find a way to get here a few times during the heat of the summer.
Even when i'm on my way to work in the middle of the day on a weekday the beach is packed with people. So if you're looking for something a little less busy, then stroll east a bit towards the Vic Park end of the Beaches. The beach is HUGE! Ashbridges Bay is the place to come if you wanna play a little volleyball or horseshoes in the sand, or if you just wanna lay out on your beach chair and people watch.
In fact that's my fave activity, people watching. You get ALL KINDS here. The ladies, the men, the puppies!! It's all entertaining.
The park extends further out with some trails and nice picnic areas. It seems there are more vendors this year for food and snacks than there used to be. There is also a big parking area. The lots nearest to the Lakeshore are often full. But if you drive in the park a little deeper there is a couple more lots. So try there as well. If you are taking the TTC, then the 92 Woodbine bus goes from Woodbine Stn. right down to the lakeshore. But it's usually PACKED. So you may have to wait for a few buses to fit on during peak times. I recommend walking up to Queen St and taking the streetie across as a back up.Listed in: Get Outside!
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Review from Steeven L.
Etobicoke, ON
The best beach in Toronto. Made from the eroded sands of the Scarborough bluff, Ashbridges Bay has the largest white sand beach you can find in the city. On warm sunny days the beach is packed with thousands of people but there's still plenty of room to setup a volleyball net and your towels/beach chairs.
The beach is really nice but I wouldn't recommend swimming in the water. Even if it looks inviting, the currents tends to wash up the sludge of the lake right on this beach. After a long day on the beach, it's only a 5 minute walk to Queen St. E and it's multitude of restaurants and patio bars.Listed in: Anniversary date
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Review from Brad W.
Toronto, ON
6/29/2011
Not known for our beaches here in the great white north, well we should be. A great place for everyone with beautiful sand and oodles of V-ball courts and wonderful bodies. Though it is apparently safe to swim there I remember the days when dead salmon lined the banks. The funky smell of rotting something wofts from the treatment plant just to the west. Thought this is park land there is a need for more vendors here. Those that are there charge waaay to much.
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Review from Kwoky L.
8/21/2009
I was hoping that I could see Toronto's skyline from the park but I was wrong. Nevertheless, it's a pretty decent beach area for families and pretty much everyone else. What I like about it is the private spots by the bay, west of the beach. I've seen people making out there. Regardless, it's perfect for people who want some quite moment away from the beach crowd.
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Review from Jimi S.
ON
11/28/2008
there is much to see and do in ashbridges bay park but most exciting about it (i suppose only in the daytime) is being able to get lost inside it. maybe lost isnt quite the word, but shielded might be better...good for a little makeout session perhaps....not that ive ever done that...i mean its public after all. ewww, as it were.
also as an avid bicyclist, (id say cyclist, but then id feel like id have to be a guy who wears those tight shorts and that dinky cap and be part of a racing team or something, and drink coffee at jet fuel cafe on parliament) its a hoot. there is a paved track that weaves in and out of the landscape past girls playing volleyball on the beach (surely there are no guys...), pit stops for popscicles, loungers on the sand, and gabbing mother pairs, lattes in tow swishing their fat bottoms to and fro on the bike track with their strollers instead of the boardwalk provided a hop skip and a jump away.
(hey, if it works for freddie mercury then it works for everyone.)
if you feel like stopping and lounging yourself, there are plenty of benches to stare dreamily at the ocean (i did say dreamily) or check out peeps on the boardwalk.
it really feels like this place is not only part of the beach of course, but of the community as it seems quite intertwined with the local houses, at the very least rhythmically if that makes any sense.
if you keep on that path going westward youll get into more secluded areas that pass by marinas and eventually take you across town. -
Review from Nathan L.
Scarborough, ON
9/5/2009
I love this park with fire works haha!
