Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business Gatineau Park is a 361 square kilometre wedge of forest, lakes and ridges just north of Canada's capital. It is the outdoor playground for Ottawa and Gatineau, and it gives you lookouts, beaches, historic ruins and hundreds of kilometres of trails within minutes of the city.
Champlain Lookout
Mackenzie King Estate
King Mountain
Pink Lake
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Few capitals have a wilderness park this close. Gatineau Park stretches north and west from the city of Gatineau, and its main entrance lies only 4 km north of downtown Ottawa.
You can pack a lot in: forest walks, paddling, beaches, a historic estate, big views and some of the region's best cross-country skiing.
The network includes about 165 km of hiking trails and 90 km of mountain bike trails, and the park is home to pileated woodpeckers, common loons, beavers, white-tailed deer and black bears, with two wolf packs in the remote sections.
At the end of the Gatineau Parkway, this lookout gives wide views over the Ottawa River valley from the Eardley Escarpment. It can be reached by car and is a popular place to watch the sunset.
Champlain Lookout overlooks the Ottawa Valley from the Eardley Escarpment. Photo: tsaiproject from Canada, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
The country estate of William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's tenth prime minister, is set in the woods at Kingsmere. You can stroll the gardens and the stone ruins that King collected, see a small waterfall near Moorside and stop at the tea room.
Moorside was the main residence of prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Photo: cjuneau, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Rising almost vertically about 345 metres from the Eardley Escarpment, this was the first triangulation point in Canada. The mountain's position gives a mix of evergreen forest, deciduous forest and windswept savanna, and some of its trees are nearly 600 years old.
King Mountain was the first triangulation point in Canada. Photo: D. Gordon E. Robertson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lac Philippe has four very good beaches, and the three on the north side get busy on peak summer weekends.
Lac Philippe has four beaches and canoe rentals. Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Miguel Andrade assumed (based on copyright claims)., Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Meech Lake offers beaches and swimming, but they are smaller and busier than at Lac Philippe, and camping is not allowed. The Government of Canada conference centre at Willson House hosted the talks that led to the 1987 Meech Lake Accord.
Meech Lake has smaller, busier beaches than Lac Philippe. Photo: Stoneacres, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The farthest lake from the city has a long sandy beach, picnic tables and canoe rentals. You can spend days paddling its bays and streams, and its canoe-only campsites are the park's only canoe camping.
Nearly 200 km of cross-country trails cross the park, and the Gatineau Loppet ski race is held each February. Snowshoe routes suit beginners.
The village of Wakefield is just outside the park on the Gatineau River, and it has cafés, galleries and small shops. Look at the historic covered bridge and have lunch before heading home.
The village of Wakefield sits on the Gatineau River next to the park. Photo: Abel Solana, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Few places inside the park sell food, so plan to eat in nearby Chelsea or Wakefield, which have good cafés and restaurants. Maple taffy, called tire d'érable, is boiled maple syrup poured on snow and lifted on a stick, a Quebec tradition best tried at a sugar shack in late winter.
BeaverTails are fried dough pastries stretched by hand to resemble a beaver's tail, a snack that started in Ontario and opened its first permanent shop in Ottawa's Byward Market in 1980. In Quebec they are sold as Queues de Castor.
Popular dishes to try in Gatineau Park
Chelsea is the closest village to the visitor centre and puts you near Lac Philippe and Meech Lake, with inns, bed and breakfasts and cafés. Wakefield, a bit farther north, is relaxed and artistic and suits couples and anyone wanting a small-town evening.
Gatineau gives easy access from the south side of the park and a broader choice of hotels. Ottawa is the base if you want city sights too, with buses reaching the park's edge.
Where to stay in Gatineau Park
Autumn is the most popular season. The leaves turn yellow, red and orange, and colours peak in late October, with one of the best views from the base of the Eardley Escarpment near the Lusk Falls parking lot.
Winter brings ski trails, snowshoeing and the Gatineau Loppet in February. Spring is a quieter time for hikes and for spotting birds and migrating hawks above the escarpment.
The park lies within a 20-minute drive of both Ottawa and Gatineau. To reach the visitor centre in Chelsea, take the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge from Ottawa and join Autoroute 5, a drive of about 16 km.
STO buses 34 and 59 run from downtown Ottawa to the southern edge of the park, and bus 31 reaches the eastern edge. A car lets you reach the lakes and trailheads, and parking lots fill early on summer weekends and in the fall.
Start at the visitor centre in Chelsea, then drive to Champlain Lookout.
Spend the morning at Lac Philippe for a swim or a canoe, then climb King Mountain or hike a nearby trail.
Paddle at La Pêche Lake, or in winter ski the groomed trails and visit Camp Fortune.
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