Lord Seaton Park

Equipment by Earthscape, Kompan.

Surface: wood chips.

Wedged between the eternal hum of the 401 and the infinite quiet of suburban North York is Lord Seaton Park, a small and unspectacular park that I’d been curious to visit for quite a while. My curiosity had nothing to do with the fact that it was small and unspectacular, but everything to do with the Canadian equipment manufacturer Earthscape.

If this isn’t your first visit to this site, you’re probably aware that I’m an Earthscape fanboy. We’ve made multiple visits to their playgrounds, several of which occupy spots near the top of my rankings. What’s more, when we visited their workshop and design studio for my daughter’s 4th birthday we discovered that the people behind the equipment are as wonderful as the equipment itself; warm, enthusiastic, and fully-invested playground nerds.

My desire to visit Lord Seaton Park stemmed from the fact it was Earthscape’s first public project in Toronto. And while the equipment here doesn’t compare to their more recent work at places like Biidaasige Park and Raccoon Park, it was fascinating to see. It felt a bit like seeing an early sketch by a famous painter, or a demo album by your favourite band from before they got famous.

Lord Seaton Park features a modest but fun rope-and-wood obstacle course, and a slide accessed by climbing a grouping of wooden stumps. Both are labelled as built for ages 5-to-12, but I can easily see toddlers having a good time here. It’s notable that the wood looks to be in good shape; I mean, it’s not that old yet, having been built in 2017, but it barely looks faded when compared to the photos from Earthscape’s own website when it was brand new.

In addition to the wooden Earthscape elements, there are a couple of swings, two Kompan bowl spinners, and a Trek Fit adult workout station.

One other thing caught our attention: in the massive wall shielding the park from the 401, there is a small square hole, right at kid height, that you can peek through to watch the endless stream of traffic whiz past. So if your kid is into car spotting, that might be a selling point.

The other selling point might be the solitude; tucked away in such a low-density neighbourhood, it feels like this place doesn’t get many visitors, so I would guess that you’re likely to have it to yourself if you decide to go.

Which is fitting, since your favourite band probably had sparse attendance at their first gig too.