Ridiculous Toronto 'attractions' keep getting sarcastic five-star Google reviews

If you're looking for well-recommended Toronto attractions that are off the beaten path, you may end up at some pretty weird sights if you take Google reviews to heart.

There's nothing wrong with a little trolling, and the flurry of tongue-in-cheek five-star reviews that have been pouring in for various different "landmarks" in and around the city are part of a running joke that anyone can get in on.

The destinations in question are quite absurd excuses for must-see spots, ranging from grimy puddles to a random tree named Rodney that has now risen to internet fame.

Here are just a few of the peculiar spots in the GTA that people have sarcastically made into noted places of interest:

Straightest fence in North York

The "straightest fence in North York" has a five-star rating on Google.

While it only has seven reviews at the time of writing, the "straightest fence in North York" is a searchable location on Google Maps, located between parking lots at Sheppard Ave. W and Chesswood Dr.  It also has its own website that reads like a blog from the fence itself, with three posts from an anonymous comedian/fan.

Five-star reviews of the location include "Came here to see the straightest fence, did not disappoint at all. 10/10 would recommend," and "I've never experienced True Level like the Straightest fence. Everything else is crooked now."

McDonald's clock

A McDonald's is a McDonald's is a McDonald's, no matter where in the world you are. But a McDonald's clock? That's something unique.

This may be why the McDonald's-branded time piece in front of the fast food chain's St. Lawrence neighbourhood outpost has its own entry on Google Maps, with more than a dozen reviews; among them, the hilarious "Must see! Recommended for couples, be sure to reserve a time online. The maitre d, Michael, was really nice. Time is of the essence!"

(Unfortunately, two errant ratings have dragged it down from five stars to 4.8 — still not bad.)

Bloordale Beach

Bloordale Beach was the talk of Toronto back in 2020, when lockdown made us all a little loony in our desperation for human contact and normalcy.

The boring old vacant lot near Bloor and Dufferin became something truly special thanks to some jokester who got a laugh out of informally designating the dusty piece of land as the only beach in the neighbourhood (and the only beach without a body of water).

As more DIY signage, installations (like a doggy agility course), a community garden and even poetry popped up around the property, the lore grew, bringing locals together in their creation of it.

Toronto beach made as a joke could now become permanent by name https://t.co/vFlvu1wXHN

— blogTO (@blogTO) January 23, 2024

Sadly, Bloordale Beach has been redeveloped, with nothing able to replace what it meant to us all: a quirky independent space by the people, for the people. The "beach" still has its own Google listing, though it is now marked as permanently closed. It also had a documentary made in its honour.

Lake Timmicaca

"You know we have had a lot of rain this year when the majestic lake Timmicaca shoreline is so high," one Hamilton resident quipped on Reddit 10 months ago about what was already at that point a near-permanent puddle in a local Tim Horton's parking lot.

The pond-sized body of water with a moniker cleverly inspired by a famous lake in South America has lasted through the months and seasons, garnering a whopping 59 Google reviews since someone first put it on the platform.

The serious-sounding Google reviews of Lake Timmicaca are hilarious.

Listed as a "recreation centre," people have jocularly said that Timmicaca is their "favourite lake to go swimming in here in Ontario" and "a wonder of nature and a sight to behold."

Quite a few are written by local guides who understood the assignment, writing, in earnest, things like "They say Hamilton is known for waterfalls, but I'd say its most famous water feature is our sixth great lake" and "Unfortunately after the pandemic, many lakes and waterfalls have had restricted public access, but I'm so happy the city continues to maintain this one for public use!"

Rodney the tree

This very average — nay, even below-average — tree has gotten so famous that even Newsweek wrote about it in March, calling it a "viral tourist attraction."

As the outlet noted, a single Reddit post about Rodney managed to rack up 9.5k upvotes, its user questioning why "someone marked a random tree in Toronto as a tourist attraction" on Google and noting that "the reviews are genuinely taking me out."

Rodney has somehow gotten 194 five-star reviews in two months just for being a tree.

At present, Rodney has 194 glowing reviews, all of them five-star, from residents who went as far as taking pictures with the sapling and calling it their "best friend" and "one of the highlights of Toronto."

Redpath pond

Another puddle-turned-landmark, Redpath Pond was someone's way of poking fun at a pool of water that kept stubbornly accumulating near Eglinton Ave. E. and Mount Pleasant Rd.

While the site no longer has its own entry on Google, it had a five-star run for a while in 2024, with reviews comically calling it an "excellent place for a quick swim before work" that is "tucked perfectly inside the parking lot only to be visited by regulars."

The ironic tone carried into criticisms of how the "pond" got there, with one person writing, "thanks to improper grading and drainage, we now have a large pond in Midtown!"

Honorary mention: dead raccoon memorial

If you were online in 2015, there's a good chance you made a pilgrimage to the dead raccoon memorial to see what all the fuss was about.

It all started when residents noticed a raccoon corpse on the sidewalk near Yonge and Davenport, which the City failed to clean up over the course of many hours.

As the critter remained, people began jokingly crafting a shrine to him, or her, laying down flowers, cards, and even a framed photo of a trash panda. As the monument grew thanks to passersby and word of mouth, it earned its own hashtag, #DeadRaccoonTO, that eventually started trending.

Even local politician Norm Kelly, known for his large social media presence at the time, got in on the antics, tweeting at Animal Services to ask that someone remove the raccoon.

While the tribute was eventually dismantled, it was mimicked after the death of another raccoon in 2020. Its lore also lived on in Halloween costumes, a butter sculpture at the CNE, a museum exhibit and an art installation, among other things.

Honorary mention #2: "Golf" of Mimico

One short-lived map modification that briefly appeared in early 2025 was an attraction tag added to the middle of Humber Bay, which was labelled as the "Golf of Mimico," in what we can only guess was a multilayered joke about Etobicoke's golf culture and Donald Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico.