cherry blossoms toronto

Toronto just fenced off the cherry blossoms at Trinity Bellwoods Park

Don't even think about going to Toronto's Trinity Bellwoods Park for the purpose of taking photos with cherry blossom trees right now. You will be disappointed.

Not only have the trees yet to reach peak bloom, they won't be accessible to the public when sakura season hits. Or even right now.

City of Toronto crews were spotted in the popular west-end park on Thursday morning erecting tall fences around what's probably the second-most popular cherry tree grove in the city (after those at High Park, of course.)

This, just one day after the city announced that it would be blocking off the historic sakura trees at High Park to deter crowds from gathering amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anyone who has witnessed just how many people usually visit High Park during cherry blossom season can surely understand why the city would be nervous about potential virus transmission.

Both High Park and Trinity Bellwoods Park are known to attract a crush of tourists every year, many of whom will gather shoulder-to-shoulder in order to get a prime shot of the delicate pink and white blossoms.

With Bellwoods already experiencing a bit of overcrowding amid the latest provincewide shutdown, the park doesn't need something else for people to flock to.

It's not yet known if the city will be setting up cameras to allow for virtual viewings of the blossoms at Trinity Bellwoods, as they will be for those in High Park, but the sakura-tree-lined path off the northwest corner of Queen Street West and Gore Vale Avenue has already been surrounded by tall green fences.cherry blossoms torontoIt's of note that Toronto, like the rest Ontario, is currently under a stay-at-home order, and that "taking selfies with pretty trees" isn't considered an essential activity.

While sucky that this will be the second year in a row during which public access will be restricted to Toronto's hottest spots for cherry blossom viewing, there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Hopefully next year will mark a return to the celebratory sakura peak bloom season we all know and love.

Photos by

Lauren O'Neil


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