High Park closed to vehicles as Toronto cherry blossoms peak

Toronto’s cherry blossom trees are set to hit their peak this week, thanks to an early burst of summer-like weather and the city is restricting road access to High Park ahead of the expected crowds.

“To help manage the volume of visitors to the park, vehicle access and parking inside High Park will be restricted starting Thursday, April 20 for the duration of peak bloom, with the exception of TTC Wheel-Trans vehicles,” the city said in a release.

Tens of thousands of people flock to High Park annually to view the beautiful blossoms, which typically peak in early spring.

The blossoms usually last for between four to 10 days, depending on the weather.

While High Park is most closely associated with the cherry blossom, or Sakura trees, they can be found in many other parks across the city. There are 15 parks across Toronto which feature cherry blossom trees. The city has a map to find all of them on its website.

Many of the Sakura trees in High Park date back to 1959 when the Japanese ambassador to Canada presented them to the people of Toronto, on behalf of the people of Tokyo, in appreciation of Toronto accepting relocated Japanese Canadians after world war two.

Today they have become a favourite subject for photographers, and those seeking selfies for social media. Throngs people could already be seen in some Toronto parks gathering around the trees and taking pictures this week.

While the trees are beautiful to look at, the city asks people not to climb on them, pluck the blossoms or shake the branches.