Hiking Trails of Montréal and Beyond Also by Michael Haynes
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Hiking Trails of Montréal and Beyond Also by Michael Haynes Hiking Trails of Mainland Nova Scotia, 9th edition Hiking Trails of Cape Breton, 2nd edition Trails of Halifax Regional Municipality, 2nd edition Hiking Trails of Ottawa, the National Capital Region and Beyond MICHAEL HAYNES Hiking Trails of MONTRÉAL and Beyond Copyright © 2013 by Michael Haynes. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication All rights reserved. No part of this work may be Haynes, Michael, 1955- reproduced or used in any form or by any means, Hiking trails of Montréal and beyond / Michael Haynes. electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any retrieval system, without the prior Includes bibliographical references and index. written permission of the publisher or a licence ISBN 978-0-86492-687-6 from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). To contact Access Copyright, 1. Hiking — Quebec (Province) — Guidebooks. visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call 1-800-893- 2. Montreal Region (Quebec) — Guidebooks. 5777. 3. Eastern Townships (Quebec) — Guidebooks. 4. Laurentians (Quebec) — Guidebooks. I. Title. Edited by Charles Stuart. GV199.44.C22Q8 2013 796.5109714’2 C2012- Cover and interior photographs courtesy of 907162-5 Michael Haynes and Stock.xchng (www.sxc.hu) Maps prepared by Digital Projections. Goose Lane Editions acknowledges the generous support of Cover and page design by Julie Scriver. the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada Printed in Canada. through the Canada Book Fund (CBF), and the Government of 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 New Brunswick through the Department of Tourism, Heritage, and Culture. Goose Lane Editions 500 Beaverbrook Court, Suite 330 Fredericton, New Brunswick CANADA E3B 5X4 www.gooselane.com Contents 7 Preface 9 Introduction 20 Trails at a Glance 27 Montréal – Laval 91 Lanaudière 157 Laurentides (Laurentians) 219 Montérégie 283 Cantons de l’Est (Eastern Townships) 345 Acknowledgements 347 Glossary of French Hiking Terms 349 Web Pages 353 Index of User Tips and Sidebars 355 Index 4. Belvedère Kondiaronk, Parc du Mont-Royal Preface When I was working on Hiking Trails of Ottawa, I was pleased to discover that there appeared to be a large number of hiking trails available in Québec within or close to the National Capital Region. I had already decided that any book about hiking in Ottawa needed to include Gatineau Park — because that was where everybody in Ottawa went to walk — so it also seemed rea- sonable that I include other routes in the Outaouais region within the same radius of the capital city as trails that I would profile in eastern Ontario. What first surprised me, as I began my research, was how little the English-speaking hiking community knew about Québec trails. It seemed that most anglophone hikers I knew did not venture too far outside of Gatineau Park. They could tell me about Algonquin Park, Killarney, and other trails in Ontario many hours of driving away from the city, but almost nothing about the far banks of the Ottawa River. Fortunately, I knew a few people in the Outaouais outdoor community, particularly in Kino-Québec, and they provided a number of excellent suggestions. And the more I hiked in Québec, the more I appreciated that the trail resources in the province were far more extensive than I had real- ized. Indeed, as I trekked into the Laurentides (Laurentian Mountains), the Lanaudière region — which I had never even heard of until I hiked there — and the Cantons de l’Est (Eastern Townships), my surprise and delight grew. What also intensified was the desire to share my discoveries. It seemed as if the many marvellous trails available in Québec were largely unknown to the English-speaking community. They appeared to be a great secret, their existence perhaps obscured by the shyness created by the language divide. As almost all of the Web sites, printed material, and access information are in French only, and most English-speaking Canadians are, like me, essen- tially unilingual, maybe it is no surprise that we had never heard of them. Collected in this book are fifty walking trails found in the province of Québec on or within 150 km (90 mi) of the city of Montréal. They range from municipal parks to wilderness treks to mountain summits overlooking 7 45. Parc national du Mont-Orford – Pic de l’Ours the United States, and include some I am confident that you will find truly wonderful hiking. Yet this Hiking Trails of Montréal and Beyond volume provides only a sample of to be both interesting and informa- what is available to an enthusiastic tive. I especially hope that it inspires rambler. Hopefully, with the assist- you to be adventurous and investi- ance of this work, you will discover gate the many marvellous trails in how much great hiking is possible Québec that are little more than an in Québec, and begin what will hour’s drive from Montréal. be many years of exploration and enjoyment. 8 Hiking Trails of Montréal and Beyond Introduction Canada’s second-largest city, with a metropolitan population of nearly four million, Montréal is also the second-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris. Because of its location at the union of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers, Montréal became early Canada’s principal commercial centre, and the city has long been known as Canada’s cultural capital. For most English-speaking Canadians I know, the province of Québec is largely unexplored. Everyone appears to have visited Montréal, and many have been to Québec City, but outside of the vibrant downtowns of these two metropolises few have ventured far, except perhaps on the occasional ski vacation. Therefore, for almost everyone outside of the province, the hiking trails of Québec are equally unfamiliar. As with travel outside of the major cit- ies, the language difference creates a barrier that too few choose to sur- mount. Consequently, most English-speakers have not investigated many of Québec’s trails. This, as it turns out, is an appalling oversight on our part, because once I began my explorations I quickly discovered that the hiking trail network in Québec is far more extensive than what may be found any- where else in Eastern Canada. Moreover, because of the proximity of the rugged Laurentian Mountains to the north, and the Montérégian hills and Appalachians to the south, there are more mountainous hikes available within a ninety-minute drive of Montréal than in any Canadian city east of Calgary — excepting, perhaps, Québec City. In addition, hikers in Québec are probably the most organized in Canada. Their provincial association, the Fédération québécoise de la marche, has been in existence since 1974, and has been developing a province-spanning footpath that reached 1,000 km (625 mi) in 2012. They also produce excellent reference material, including their book Répertoire des lieux de marche au Québec. All their material, online and in print, is available in French only. Further, trail development and maintenance in Québec is supported by 9 the provincial government far more northern Vermont came within the than in any other province of which distance parameters. I am aware. The province funds new Further, I divided the listings trail development and, perhaps even into five geographic districts, each more importantly, maintenance, and roughly based upon the Région ad- it has long been government policy to ministrative du Québec, and in each promote year-round physical activity of these districts ten hiking paths in the outdoors among the Québec have been profiled. The selections population. The Québec park system have been made to ensure that each is equalled only by that in British region contains a variety of chal- Columbia, if at all. lenges. Of the ten routes in each The more I explored, the more district, some are easy, designed for excited I became about the hiking casual walkers; some are moderately possibilities in Québec, and the more challenging, requiring at least two convinced I was that an English- to three hours and some effort to language guide to some of these complete; and at least one or two are trails would be helpful to introduce more demanding, exceeding 15 km them to visitors and even English- (9.4 mi) in distance and/or of above speaking residents. average difficulty. Hiking Trails of Montréal and Choosing to provide a represent- Beyond profiles fifty walking routes ative sample of the trails available, both within the city and in the sur- rather than presenting a comprehen- rounding environs. In order to pro- sive list, required leaving out some vide an assortment of urban, regional truly excellent treks. The Sentier park, and wilderness footpaths, I national (National Hiking Trail) in initially considered an area within the Lanaudière and the Laurentides roughly 100 km (62.5 mi) measured and the Sentiers de l’Estrie in the from the bridges leaving the island Cantons de l’Est by themselves could of Montréal. As this boundary came have filled an entire book. However, close to, but did not quite include, choosing specific routes only has either Mont-Tremblant or Mont- meant that I have been able to profile Orford parks, I extended my scope each path in considerable detail, in slightly in order to incorporate them order to offer a high level of comfort as well. However, I included only for novices and visitors. trails within Québec, even though The final selection of the routes routes in both eastern Ontario and profiled in Hiking Trails of Montréal 10 Hiking Trails of Montréal and Beyond and Beyond was mine alone. I recog- HOW TO USE THIS BOOK nize that I view the area as a visitor You should begin with the Trails at and tourist, and this coloured my a Glance table (pp.