Erindale Park is the largest park in Mississauga, and one of the best kept nature secrets in the heart of the city. Most people know it’s there — it sits right off Dundas Street West, with a free parking lot that can accommodate over 400 vehicles — but the full scope of what exists inside it surprises almost everyone who actually explores it properly.
The park covers a large swath of land along the Credit River, and the trail system within and connecting from it is one of the most extensive in the GTA. The trail with the most community engagement is the David J. Culham Trail — a 4.4-star rated path on AllTrails with over 1,465 reviews — which runs directly along the Credit River and connects Erindale Park northward through Riverwood Conservancy, through Hewick Meadows, to Streetsville Memorial Park, and eventually to Meadowvale Conservation Area to the north. You’re not just getting a park trail here. You’re getting access to a connected green corridor that runs through the heart of Mississauga along one of Ontario’s best urban rivers.
The Culham Trail at Erindale starts as a paved path from the parking lot, then crosses a long pedestrian bridge over the Credit River before transitioning into a forest dirt path. The river views through the mature trees — particularly in fall when the canopy turns — are the kind of thing that makes regular visitors describe this as “our backyard” in an admiring rather than dismissive way. From the trail, a well-worn path leads down to the river’s edge where you can sit directly at the water, watch it move, or skip stones from the exposed rock.
For mountain bikers, Erindale Park is one of the strongest trail systems in Mississauga — 33 trails total, covering cross-country, all-mountain, and downhill classifications with technical features including berms, jumps, bridges, and drops across IMBA-graded routes. The Culham Sideline trail is the most popular biking route and connects the park seamlessly to the UTM campus on the opposite bank.
The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) Nature Trail adds a second distinct hiking option from Erindale — cross the pedestrian bridge, follow the Credit River north, and the UTM trail takes you up through forest above the river with elevated views of the valley below before connecting to the Sawmill Creek Trail, a quieter 9-kilometre route that follows Sawmill Creek and offers genuine solitude within city limits.
Beyond trails, Erindale Park is one of the few places in Mississauga where you can fish for salmon and trout in the Credit River — the fish runs in fall are well known among local anglers. The park also has an extensive picnic infrastructure: more covered picnic tables with BBQ pits than most parks of any size in the GTA, multiple pavilions, and large open fields used by families, cricket players, and community groups on summer weekends. A tobogganing hill runs in winter, and dogs are welcome throughout the park.
Practical details that matter: the free parking lot off Dundas Street is the main entry point and has washrooms. A second parking area is accessible from Burnhamthorpe Road at the north end — useful for targeting the Riverwood Conservancy connection specifically. On busy summer weekends and holidays, the main lot fills fast — arriving before 10am is the consistently given advice from regular visitors. Canoeing on the Credit River is also an option from the park, though there is no formal rental on site.
What most Mississauga residents don’t fully realize until they hike it is that Erindale Park is not really a standalone park. It’s the southern hub of a connected natural corridor that runs from the lakeshore all the way north toward Brampton along the Credit River — and Erindale is where most people start that journey.
Parking: Free. Two lots — Dundas St W and Burnhamthorpe Rd W entrances. Washrooms: Yes, near main parking lot (open year-round). Dogs: Welcome, on-leash. Cycling: Yes, on designated trails. Fishing: Yes, in Credit River (provincial licence required).
