The best outdoor skateparks in Toronto serve as places where skaters they can hone their craft and engage with a community of like-minded people. Many of the skateparks in this city started out as neighbourhood building/petition efforts to get young people more access to different kinds of physical activities, especially in underserved areas.

Here are my picks for the best outdoor skateparks in Toronto.

Ashbridges Bay Skatepark
Located near Woodbine Beach, this is Ontario's largest skatepark, which also makes it one of the most popular spots. You'll find all types of skaters here trying to take advantage of the various gaps, stairs, rails, ledges and other kinds of obstacles/structures as well as the full-sized bowl.

Dunbat Skatepark
This hyper-popular park at Bathurst and Dundas has a simple design with smooth grounding and a couple of annually rotating manual pads, ramps, ledges, banks as well as a mini ramp. This park has a laid back and communal vibe that makes it a great place to skate.

Underpass Skatepark
This quintessentially urban skatepark can be found underneath an expressway ramp, which offers shelter from harsher weather (rainy springs, summer sun, etc.). The terrain is smooth, and there are smaller versions of all the usual skate obstacles.

Dufferin Grove Skatepark
This skatepark is located across the street from Dufferin Mall. It's a small but great spot to skate due to the tireless efforts of the local community members who bring in many of the ramps, rails and pads used to create obstacles. All skill levels are welcome.

Ellesmere Skatepark
This skatepark located at Ellesmere and Warden has much variety for both street and transition skating. Street skaters have the options of ledge, bank, rail choices and more. Transition skaters will find lots of smaller quarter-pipes and banks along the outer ring that they can use to work themselves up to the steeper stuff.

Vanderhoof Skatepark
This Leaside skatepark is well known for its bowl, which is often regarded as the best in Ontario. This area has both a shallow end for beginners and a deep end for more experienced skaters. There's also a smaller area for street skaters with all the basic obstacles/setups.

East York Skatepark
This skatepark has tons of space and something for everyone, whether it be transition skating in the figure eight-shaped bowl or street skating on various rails, stair sets, ledges, pads, banks and more. The community of skaters in the area are very involved with the park's upkeep and help to maintain an interest in skateboarding among locals.

Lawrence Heights Skatepark
This small Lawrence West skatepark is a basic neighbourhood spot complete with all the necessary constructs from a modest-halfpipe and some quarter-pipes to rails, banks, ledges and more. This is a great spot for beginners and intermediate skaters.

Cummer Skatepark
This North York spot isn't huge, but it's a good spot for beginners and and intermediates. They have all the usual suspects when it comes to a skatepark setup (alas, no stairs), It's a mostly quiet place, so great for spending an entire day working on your moves.

West Lions Skatepark
This skatepark in the Weston Rd. neighbourhood is the place to check out for a quarter-pipe, ramp, and rail roundup. There's also a vibrant/welcoming community to skate with no matter your skill level.

Crossroads Skatepark
Also known the Port Union Skatepark, this Lawrence East area skatepark serves its skate community well with an assortment of different obstacles/structures as well as a decent-sized bowl.

Eighth Street Skatepark
This Etobicoke skatepark has a good mixture of street (rails, stairs, manual pads, banks, etc.) and transition (peanut shaped bowl, various quarter-pipes, etc.) areas.

West Lodge Skatepark
This Landsdowne area skatepark is on the small side, but it has some ledges (both wavy and straight), ramps and skate-able grounding. West Lodge is also known to some as Parkdale Skatepark, and is very busy on weekends and weeknights.

Photo of Underpass Park by Natta Summerky.