Canary Yellow Canoe Tour
Gordon Lightfoot in Toronto
MAPS
Toronto and Other Places
Toronto is really fairly easy to negotiate. The City has been laid out basically in a grid pattern (with a few oddly angled streets, just to make things interesting!) The images on this page have been selected to help you find your way to Gordon Lightfoot specific places and are not intended for anything more than to give you an idea of where things are located in relation to each other. If you are unfamiliar with Toronto, I suggest that you pick up a good map -- one like those printed by Map Art, which includes many places of interest for visitors.
Most of the maps on this page are from the former MapBlast web site (now part of MSN.) A good site for customized maps is Mapquest.
Southern Ontario
The City of Toronto -- or the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), as it is now officially called -- is located in the southwestern corner of the Province of Ontario, Canada, on the western shores of Lake Ontario. (Orillia is due north of Toronto on Lake Simcoe.)
The Riverboat Tavern
One of the clubs which featured Gordon Lightfoot on a regular basis was the Riverboat, which was located in Yorkville, slightly north of the downtown core (west of the intersection of Yonge Street and Bloor Street). Yorkville was the Haight-Ashbury of Canada where all the hippies hung out. In addition to Lightfoot, others such as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young spent time here honing their craft. The Riverboat no longer exists and its actual location remains a mystery to me.
1. General area of The Riverboat Tavern
Massey Hall
This is a map for finding Massey Hall. Tucked away on Victoria Street, just south of Shuter Street, it is off the main thoroughfares, between the Dundas Street and Queen Street subway stations. Not far away is the Eaton Centre and lots of eateries, so...relax, have a good dinner and stroll over to Massey Hall for the concert!
2. Massey Hall
3. Eaton Centre
4. The Steeles Tavern
Walk of Fame Star
Just in front of the Royal Alexandria Theatre on King Street (at Simcoe Street), you'll find Gordon Lightfoot's Star on the Canadian Walk of Fame. The Walk of Fame is fairly recent to the sidewalks of Toronto, but is expected to be expanded in the coming years! See "Walk of Fame" on the Articles Page for a bit more information.
5. Walk of Fame Star (at the Royal Alex)
Record Stores
Many of the record stores which were located in downtown Toronto no longer exist due to lack of demand, owing to the popularity of digital downloads. There are still a few around. See the Record Stores page for the remaining music retailers in Toronto.
ORILLIA
Not to be forgotten, these 4 maps are of Gord's hometown of Orillia. If you should be planning on traveling there, please see the Orillia Page for a bit more information. You may want to walk up Harvey Street, site of the Lightfoot homestead, just west of the Orillia Opera House.
General Location
Closer view showing major routes
6. Lightfoot Family Home: 238 Harvey Street
7. Orillia Opera House