Evergreen Brick Works
Kilns, herons and the city's best Saturday
⏱ 2-3 hours👤 All agesFree
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The site's history is Toronto's in cross-section: the 1889 brickworks' century (the valley's clay seam fired the city — the quarry's exposed north face remains a geological teaching wall, its interglacial layers tagged for school groups), the 1980s closure and the flood-prone dereliction (the rave-and-ruin decade's lore), and the 2010 Evergreen rebirth (the environmental foundation's adaptive reuse kept the kilns' industrial honesty — the campus won global design recognition for restraint: the buildings were stabilized, not polished). The rewilding chapter: the quarry garden's engineered wetland (the ponds filter the valley's stormwater while hosting the heron-and-turtle theater), the native-meadow program, and the campus's climate-institution role (Evergreen's urban-sustainability programming makes the site a working think-tank behind the market stalls).
The visit craft: Saturday market mornings before 10 for the full vendor roster and civilized aisles (the brunch-stall lines build by 11), the quarry-garden loop's 30 minutes (boardwalks, the teaching wall, the turtle logs), the Governors' viewpoint climb for the skyline-over-wetland frame (15 minutes up the bluff — golden hour flatters it), the kiln hall's installation browse, and the seasonal modes: summer's bike-rental ravine days, October's valley color (the Beltline north run peaks), and the skating-rink winters (rentals on-site; the kiln-lit evening sessions are the atmospheric booking). The family engineering: the children's garden and adventure-play ravine, the turtle-and-heron hunt, market treats and the shuttle-ride novelty — the campus runs the city's best free-range family Saturday.
Practicals and fit: 550 Bayview Avenue in the Don Valley (free shuttle from Broadview station; the Castle Frank ravine walk is the pretty route), grounds free always, market Saturdays year-round, skating ticketed winters. Fit: foodies (the national-rank market), families, trail-and-ravine travelers — and every visitor who wants the city's green conscience with brunch attached.
What to Expect
Format
The 1889 brick factory that built Toronto, reborn as a ravine eco-campus — Saturday's national-rank farmers market in the kiln halls, rewilded quarry ponds with herons and turtles, bluff-top skyline views and winter skating.
Best Time
Saturday mornings before 10 for the market's full roster; golden hour for the Governors' viewpoint; October for valley color; kiln-lit evening skating in winter.
Duration
Two to three hours, market and quarry loop.
Tips
Ride the free shuttle from Broadview — or walk the prettier ravine route from Castle Frank. Climb the 15-minute bluff for the skyline-over-wetland frame. The quarry's north face is a tagged geological teaching wall; read it.
⚡ Quick Picks
Best For
The Saturday ritual — one of Canada's largest farmers markets in an industrial cathedral.
Families
Turtle ponds, adventure-play ravine, market treats and winter skating — the free-range Saturday.
Couples
Market brunch, the quarry boardwalks and the viewpoint's golden hour — the green date.
Pair With
The Beltline Trail north to Mount Pleasant's arboretum; the Lower Don Trail toward the lake.
Time Needed
One Saturday morning into afternoon.
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Get Tickets →Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Brick Works?
The 1889 Don Valley factory whose clay fired the bricks that built old Toronto — Casa Loma and Massey Hall included — abandoned for decades, then reborn in 2010 as Evergreen's eco-campus with the kilns kept raw.
When is the market?
Saturdays year-round — among Canada's largest farmers markets, Ontario-farm vendors plus a global brunch-stall tier in the kiln halls — arrive before 10 for civilized aisles; Sundays rotate artisan markets.
What is the quarry garden?
The old clay pit rewilded into filtering wetlands — heron-and-turtle ponds, marsh boardwalks and meadows — with the exposed quarry face serving as a tagged geological teaching wall.
How do we get there?
The free shuttle loops from Broadview station, the ravine footbridge walk from Castle Frank runs a prettier 20 minutes, and Saturday parking overflows — transit wins.
Is winter worth it?
The skating rink under the kilns (rentals on-site, lit evening sessions) is the city's most atmospheric ice, and the winter market's greenhouse-and-preserves mode keeps Saturdays running.
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