“They are this city’s unspoken national park, spread democratically to all corners. They are slivers of rugged nature, where you can escape the noise and traffic and commune with the trees. You don’t need to drive three hours to Algonquin Park to see wildlife, you can run 10 minutes from Bloor St. and come face to face with a fox.”

Toronto’s ravines are a treasure, but according to anecdotal evidence, the faces of the runners, cyclists, dog walkers and nature lovers enjoying them are overwhelmingly white. In this column for the Toronto Star, Catherine Porter looks at some of the access issues facing both national parks and our city’s greenspaces.