The Betty Sutherland Trail follows the meanders of the East Don River from Duncan Mill Road to Sheppard Avenue. A small community called Oriole developed at the Leslie Street and Sheppard Avenue intersection during the late 1800's. It was probably named after the many Baltimore Orioles which inhabited the area during the summer months. Some of the land in this area belonged to George S. Henry, Premier of Ontario from 1930 to 1934. Henry purchased the south-east corner of Sheppard Avenue and Leslie Street from James Stewart in 1898 and established Oriole Lodge Farms, a dairy farm with over eighty Holstein cows. His original farmhouse still overlooks the river valley.

Betty Sutherland served 13 years as an elected representative of the former North York Council until her retirement from politics in 1985. From 1979 to 1985, Mrs. Sutherland was a member of the former Metropolitan Toronto Council and the the former Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. Devoted to the improvement of recreational opportunities for citizens and visitors to Metro Toronto, Mrs. Sutherland was Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto's Parks, Recreation and Property Committee from 1982 to 1985, and a member of the Authority's Don Valley Advisory Board from 1981 to 1984. The trail was named in her honour by the former Metropolitan Toronto Council on March 1, 1988, in recognition of her significant contribution to the development of the regional parks system. Following trail construction, landscape naturalization efforts included the planting of native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. These plantings enhance biodiversity and improve wildlife habitat.