North York’s fall colour, park by park.

Status Map

Tap a pin for the park’s reading. Solid pins are parks our editor walked; ringed pins are estimates from satellite or social photos.

• Peak
• Near peak
• Turning
• Early
• Past peak
• Bare
• Solid: walked by our editor
• Ring: satellite or social-photo estimate

Go Now: Parks Ranked

Peak first. Ties go to walked parks, then social photos, then satellite estimates, then to the park with fewer leaves down.

1. PeakWalkedNorth York

   1. Edwards Gardens

   Deep orange · Most leaves still on the branch

   Satellite estimate: peak, ~80% colour, ~10% leaf fall (high confidence)

   Shares a site with the Toronto Botanical Garden, so the two are one entry.

   Walked Oct 24 by our editorVisitor guide →
2. PeakWalkedNorth York

   2. Sunnybrook Park

   Deep orange · Most leaves still on the branch

   Satellite estimate: peak, ~90% colour, ~10% leaf fall (high confidence)

   Walked Oct 24 by our editorTrail details →
3. PeakWalkedNorth York

   3. Wilket Creek Park

   Deep orange · Most leaves still on the branch

   Satellite estimate: peak, ~100% colour, ~20% leaf fall (high confidence)

   Walked Oct 24 by our editorTrail details →
4. PeakSatellite estimateNorth York

   4. Betty Sutherland Trail Park

   Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

   ~80% colour · ~20% leaf fall

   Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22
5. PeakSatellite estimateNorth York

   5. Charles Sauriol Conservation Reserve

   Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

   ~100% colour · ~20% leaf fall

   Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22
6. PeakSatellite estimateNorth York

   6. East Don Parkland

   Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

   ~90% colour · ~20% leaf fall

   Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22
7. PeakSatellite estimateJust outside North York

   7. Kortright Centre for Conservation

   Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

   ~90% colour · ~20% leaf fall

   Woodbridge; run by TRCA.

   Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22
8. PeakSatellite estimateJust outside North York

   8. Rouge National Urban Park

   Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

   ~90% colour · ~10% leaf fall

   Pin marks the Markham 14th Avenue address; the park spans several trailheads.

   Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22
9. PeakSatellite estimateJust outside North York

   9. Taylor Creek Park

   Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

   ~70% colour · ~10% leaf fall

   East York, along the Don Valley south of North York.

   Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22
10. PeakSatellite estimateJust outside North York

    10. Boyd Conservation Park

    Orange · Some leaves down (estimate)

    ~100% colour · ~30% leaf fall

    Vaughan; run by TRCA.

    Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22
11. PeakSatellite estimateNorth York

    11. Earl Bales Park

    Orange · Some leaves down (estimate)

    ~90% colour · ~30% leaf fall

    Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22Trail details →
12. PeakSatellite estimateJust outside North York

    12. German Mills Settlers Park

    Orange · Some leaves down (estimate)

    ~90% colour · ~30% leaf fall

    Just north of the North York boundary, in Thornhill.

    Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22Trail details →
13. Near peakSatellite estimateJust outside North York

    13. Crothers Woods

    Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

    ~60% colour · ~10% leaf fall

    East York, in the lower Don Valley.

    Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22
14. Near peakSatellite estimateNorth York

    14. G. Ross Lord Park

    Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

    ~60% colour · ~10% leaf fall

    Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22Trail details →
15. TurningSatellite estimateNorth York

    15. Downsview Park

    Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

    ~50% colour · ~10% leaf fall

    Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22Trail details →
16. EarlySatellite estimateJust outside North York

    16. High Park

    Yellow/Orange · Most leaves still on the branch (estimate)

    ~10% colour · ~0% leaf fall

    Satellite estimate, Sentinel-2 Oct 22

Park-by-Park Comparison

How We Score It

Every park shows one headline reading from the best source available, in this order: (1) walked by the North York Guide editor, (2) social photos when at least 3 recent public photos agree on a status, and (3) a satellite estimate. A walked reading always overrides the other two. Estimates carry a “~” and the word “estimate” everywhere they appear, and the popup and table show the satellite reading even for walked parks so you can see how the two compare.

Status scale

Early

Mostly green. A few branches have started to turn.

Turning

Colour is spreading through the canopy, but green still dominates.

Near peak

Most trees are showing colour. A few days from the best of it.

Peak

The canopy is at its most saturated, with most leaves still up.

Past peak

Colour is fading and leaf fall is heavy.

Bare

Most leaves are on the ground.

Leaf-fall bands

Low

Most leaves are still on the branch.

Moderate

Some leaves are down; the canopy is thinning in places.

Heavy

Much of the canopy has dropped; the trail floor is deep in leaves.

Bare

Branches are mostly empty.

How the satellite estimate works

The European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites photograph North York in 10-metre pixels about every 5 days, though clouds block some passes. For each park we keep only the clear pixels that sit on tree cover (ESA WorldCover 2021) inside the park boundary, and compare today’s image with clear July and August images of the same trees. Two numbers come out: how far the canopy has shifted from green toward yellow, orange and red, and how much canopy greenness has been lost altogether, which tracks falling leaves.

We calibrate those numbers against the parks our editor walked: Sunnybrook Park, Wilket Creek Park and Edwards Gardens, all at peak with low leaf fall on Oct 24. A park that has changed as much as those three is called at or near peak; a park that has lost clearly more canopy than they have is called past peak. The percentages are rounded to the nearest 10 and are estimates of progress relative to those walked parks, not measurements of individual leaves. The latest image used is from Oct 22, two days before the walks.

What the satellite can’t see

• It sees the top of the canopy, not what is under it or on the trail floor. Leaves on the ground versus on the tree is inferred from canopy loss.
• Mixed 10-metre pixels at urban edges, roads and open fields add noise, and small parks have fewer clear pixels (the popup says “low confidence” when that happens).
• Species matter: oak-heavy woods such as High Park turn later than maple-heavy ravines, so estimates are best read as “how far along compared with the walked parks”.
• A walked reading always replaces the estimate for that park, and any reading older than 7 days is flagged “Over 7 days old”.

Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026. Tree cover: ESA WorldCover 2021. Park boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Send Us a Reading

Been to one of the estimated parks this week? Tell us the park, the day, the main colour and whether most leaves are still up. A photo helps. Reader reports don’t go straight onto the map — we use them to decide which park to walk next, and a walked status replaces the estimate once our editor or a named, dated source confirms it.

Email a reading

Going Farther?

Ontario Parks publishes its own weekly Fall Colour Report for provincial parks. The nearest ones to Toronto — Bronte Creek, Darlington and Forks of the Credit — are 40 to 60+ minutes from North York by car, so they sit outside this report.

Plan the Walk

• Fall hikes in North York — routes, distances and trail surfaces for the parks above.
• Edwards Gardens — hours, parking and what to see.
• North York parks guide — every park, by neighbourhood.