CityBuddy
Spencer Smith Park
Best time to visit
Visit at sunset from May through September, when the sky turns orange over the lake and the day's crowds have thinned out. Weekday mornings offer the calmest water for reflections from the pier before the summer heat builds.
Budget tips
The park is free to enter every day of the year, and so are the June Sound of Music Festival and the July children's festival. Pack a picnic and bring your own drinks to skip the pricey seasonal patio and food-truck markups.
Recommended for
Families, Photography enthusiasts, Sunset chasers, Festival goers
Plan your visit
2-3 hours
About
Quick facts: Roughly 150,000 people pack these lawns every June for Canada's oldest free music festival, the Sound of Music. Set on a 1.5-kilometer stretch of Lake Ontario shoreline, the park pairs a curling 100-meter pier with gardens that get replanted each spring and fall.
Highlights: The 100-meter pier curves so its tip points at the falling sun, and wave spray climbs high enough to cool you off on hot afternoons. On clear evenings, freighters slide through the harbor entrance and spin a sweep of orange light across the water as the sky catches fire.
Insider tips
- Claim a spot on the west end of the pier about 45 minutes before sunset to watch the sky shift color without the crowd.
- Wear shoes you can slip off, the shallow water near the shore warms up fast in July and wading is half the fun.
- Skip busy Saturday afternoons in summer when festival traffic clogs the parking lots, and come on weekday mornings instead.
- The playground and splash pad sit at the north end, so families with kids can park there and avoid trekking the full 1.5-kilometer promenade.
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