Scarborough Bluffs

The Bluffs run about fifteen kilometres along Lake Ontario and reach ninety metres, and geologists value them because the exposed layers record the last ice age in sequence: sediments from a lake that stood here before the glaciers, then glacial deposits, laid down over the last hundred thousand years or so. Elizabeth Simcoe named them in 1793 for the Scarborough cliffs in Yorkshire. They erode quickly, and homes along the top edge have been lost or moved as the cliff retreats. Bluffer's Park at the base has beaches and a marina; the edge above has viewpoints and unstable, frequently fenced sections.

What you actually see

• The layered cliffs - a hundred thousand years of sediment in exposed strata.
• The Bluffer's Park beach - sand and marina at the foot of the cliffs.
• The clifftop viewpoints - parks along the edge looking down the shore.
• The erosion - retreating edge with fencing and lost properties above.

When to go

April to October; summer weekends fill the beach car park by late morning and it can close. Autumn colour along the top is good. Winter ice makes edge paths dangerous.

Honest expectations

The cliff edge is genuinely unstable and people have died going past fencing for photographs. Access between top and bottom requires a long detour by road. Summer parking is charged and fills early.

Nearby

Rouge park lies east; downtown Toronto is west.