One of Toronto's newest parks is built on a former giant mound of trash

Previously serving as a municipal dump for 15 years, the land on which Toronto's new Beare Hill Park is nestled represents one of the city's most extensive environmental restoration projects to date. 

Located near Finch Avenue East and Pickering Townline, the park was once the site of the Beare Road Landfill, which operated from 1967 to 1982. After the landfill closed, the land was capped and graded and has since been revegetated naturally and through community planting. 

Around the world, there are many similar examples of landfill-to-park conversions, including Toronto's Riverdale Park East. 

After over a decade of planning and collaboration, Beare Hill Park finally opened to the public in 2022. The huge parcel of land — which stands at 75 hectares — now includes over six kilometres of trails and provides a home for ground-nesting bird species at risk, including the Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark. 

Through years of revegetation, the park now boasts a thriving natural environment with flourishing meadow, forest, and wetland communities. 

Some of the park's amenities include a granular trail network, a single-track trail network, lookouts with natural seating, a parking lot, and a 60-metre hill that provides 360-degree views of Pickering, Lake Ontario, downtown Toronto, North York, and Markham. 

Although it's not the highest elevation in Toronto, the hill is the highest point in Scarborough. In addition to distant views, the park offers a great vantage point over the nearby Toronto Zoo and Rouge National Urban Park.

In recent years, the City has been working to help control invasive plants at the park while also planting native trees and shrubs. 

You can find Beare Hill Park at 8145 Finch Ave. E. in Scarborough.