The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Markham

German Mills Meadow and Natural Habitat is a beautiful 26-hectare green space in the German Mills community, partly built on the former Sabiston Landfill site along the Don River valley. The area has been cleaned up and transformed into a gorgeous meadow with a network of multi-use trails that are perfect for walking and cycling. It's a great spot to enjoy nature, engage in recreational activities, and connect with nearby parks, while it also plays an important ecological role within the German Mills Creek watershed.

German Mills Creek is a 10-kilometre tributary of the East Branch of the Don River in the Greater Toronto Area. The creek originates on the Peel Plain and passes through residential, commercial, and natural areas, including parklands that protect its wooded ravines, before it joins the Don River near the East Don Parklands. This is a notable spot along the creek, as it winds through its namesake park, paying homage to the history of the German Mills settlement founded by William Berczy in the late 18th century. It’s a great place to appreciate the creek’s natural beauty while reflecting on its cultural heritage.

German Mills Settlers Park is a lovely, linear green space that runs along the corridor of German Mills Creek. There is a network of paved and natural trails that wind through wooded ravines and meadows, connecting nearby neighbourhoods and providing a peaceful corridor for walking, cycling, and nature observation. This area is historically significant as one of Ontario’s earliest German settler communities, established in the 1790s, and the park preserves part of that early settlement landscape.

The Milne Dam creates the Milne Reservoir and helps protect communities downstream of the Rogue River from flooding. Originally associated with the Milne family mills established in the 1820s, this site later became home to Canada’s first concrete-and-steel arch dam, built by Archie Milne in 1911, before the current structure was rebuilt in 1969 after severe damage from Hurricane Hazel. Today, it remains a defining feature of the park and is a scenic focal point along the trail.

Bruce Creek was historically a power source for mills, flowing south from Bruce's Mill toward Unionville. This scenic winding waterway is home to ducks and visited by geese, with sightings of bunnies around the water.

Visitors can walk the entire circumference of Toogood Pond via the Wilbur Latimer Way trail. The pond can be fished for carp, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and largemouth bass, with a large fishing dock on the pond's western edge. This is a man-made pond that formed when Bruce Creek powered a gristmill.

Toogood Park stretches 33.3 hectares around its namesake, Toogood Pond. While strolling through the park you can spot Canada geese, ducks, fish, and many local trees, flowers and plants. This park was built in 1940 on the site of the old Union Grist Mill. The park has paved trails, small wooden bridges spanning the network of waterways, restrooms and benches.

Roxbury Park is a cozy neighbourhood green space with a playground, open fields, and easy access to nearby walking paths. It’s a comfortable spot for families, offering swings, climbing structures, and room to run around, along with sports areas for casual games. Well-kept and quiet, it’s a simple, welcoming park for a relaxed break outdoors.