Hi, Matt, welcome to Toronto!

There was just a whole discussion about places close by for beginner skiiers, so here's the thread to that discussion. Two of these places, Centennial Park and Earl Bales are both accessible off our bus/subway system; they're in town parks.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g155019-i55-k15883…

Try this for Ontario Government's list of Ontario parks: http://www.ontarioparks.com/

Not too far from Toronto, about 45 minutes out, is the Halton region (probably accessible by GO bus, but don't quote me on that, you'd have to check it out. Here's the link to Halton Region Conservatio nauthority; this will give you some cool hiking things to explore. conservationhalton.on.ca/ShowCategory.cfm…

Merry Christmas!

i believe you can go skating outside of city hall estragon can verify that

For sledding try the park on Broadview south of Danforth. Take the subway to Danforth and Broadview and walk or transfer to streetcar south. It's a huge hill into the Don Valley. Now that we've had a thaw the hill will probably be icy, so take care!

Another great hill is the one beside the Riverdale Farm. This farm is in Cabbagetown, take the Gerrard streetcar to Sumach Street (east of Parliament) and walk north to the farm and then east along the parking lot to the big hill. You can say hi to the Scottish Highland cows as you go by.

http://www.toronto.ca/parks/riverdalefarm.htm