I was super excited when I saw that the NCC had added new snowshoe trails this year, leading out to the Carbide Willson Ruins! I love the waterfall beside the ruins and couldn’t wait to see it in winter.
Then I saw the hike would be 12 km round trip and I was a little less excited… but just slightly!
I grabbed a couple of friends recently and slogged through the snow. And it was totally worth it. The ruins and the waterfall are incredibly beautiful in the winter!
Trails 44 and 45 out to the ruins are shared with fat bikes (although we actually saw very few people and no fat bikes on the day we were out).
The ruins and waterfall are gorgeous in winter!
Quick Facts
Length: 12.8 km (according to the NCC’s map)
Difficulty: Moderate. (On a scale of easy-moderate-hard)
Trailhead Coordinates: 45.572369, -75.885280
Washroom at Trailhead: Yes
Dogs Allowed: No
Cell Reception: Good
Wheelchair Accessible: No
Parking: 300 metres from the trailhead, at P16.
Cost: $11
Open in Winter: Yes
We were out on an absolutely beautiful day!
Getting There
The closest parking lot to the trailhead for Trail 45 is Gatineau Park’s P16. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.572369, -75.885280.
The parking lot is huge, with space for at least 75 cars. There’s a small outhouse at the back. There’s also a large map posted, and a spot to pay for your daily trail pass. This year, day passes for snowshoeing cost $11. You can pay in exact cash at the parking lot, or buy one online.
Trailhead
Until you look closely at the NCC’s map, it looks like the trailhead is right at P16. And it’s close enough, just 300 metres away, that it may as well be.
We didn’t bother putting on our snowshoes as we left the parking lot because the road was well plowed. We turned back the way we had arrived on Chemin Pine and then turned right at the stop sign onto Chemin Cowden. After 300 metres the road ended and the trail began!
We put on our snowshoes and headed off down the wide snowshoe trail. Signs as we walked along confirmed our suspicions that this was actually an extension of Chemin Cowden.
Where the trail officially starts.
Trail 45
Hiking along, the trail started out nice and easy. It was also nice and wide, so we could walk side by side to chat. We found ourselves following the NCC’s summer trail markers, which are white and black.
They were placed continuously along the trail, and did a good job of keeping us on track despite the fact that they blend in REALLY well with the snow.
We didn’t see a single snowshoe/fatbike trail marker, which the NCC typically uses in winter. They’re blue and much easier to spot.
The only place we got a bit turned around was around the 1.4 km mark. There were footprints in the snow leading straight ahead of us, as well as off to the right. The Trail 45 marker was a bit buried in a bushy tree, so we accidentally headed off to our right, until we ran into the creek and could go no further. That was a pretty good indication that we had gone the wrong way, so we headed back and tried the other path.
As soon as we had gone a few steps further we saw the hidden trail marker and knew we were headed in the right direction!
This little detour added about 400 m to our hike, but I’ll adjust distances moving forward so this report will be true to your experience.
Summer time trail markers. No sign of winter markers!
Uphill
Soon after the trail split, we began to head uphill. We spent a little bit longer on the wide trail through a landscape of meadows, brush, and trees here and there.
But around the 2 km mark the trail became more forested (and it would remain this way for the rest of our hike).
As it was early in the season, water was still running and we found ourselves having to cross over a handful of tiny creeks. For the most part this was easy to do, but it should still be done carefully as it can be easy to trip in snowshoes and getting wet would be the worst.
We spent about 2 km going uphill, and finally caught a break around the 4.1 km mark. From here the trail to the ruins had a few small hills and was mostly descent.
There was quite a bit of uphill!
Trail 44
After hiking 5.4 km the trail curved sharply to the right, and immediately we spotted a Trail 44 marker so we knew we were getting closer to the ruins.
We did see the back of a trail marker right ahead of us- maybe the NCC is planning for 45 to continue on during the summer months? Anyways, keep an eye out around this point because there was no sign up to catch our attention, just the Trail 44 marker to the right!
There was a fairly steep descent on the way to the ruins, and by the time we got there we had hiked roughly 6.9 km.
The Carbide Willson Ruins
The ruins and the waterfall were GORGEOUS in the winter! And unlike the summer there was no one else there when we visited. We used hiking poles to traverse some of the hills near the ruins as they were really steep on the northeast side of the river.
It was also a lot colder near the ruins than anywhere else on the trail. Probably because the air was damper from the waterflow. We stayed for a few minutes to rest and eat before heading back.
The hills on the way back felt MUCH harder than they had on the way in. It was my first snowshoe of the season and my legs were definitely feeling it.
The Carbide Willson ruins.
Trail Thoughts
By the time we arrived back at the parking lot, we had hiked a total of 14.6 km. It had taken us four and a half hours, and I was very happy to see my car!
Trails 44 and 45 are a beautiful, long walk through the forest. Truthfully, there are no other notable points of interest along the way so I would suggest this combination of trails for two specific experiences: one, to see the ruins in winter if you’re not a skier! They’re also perfect for the kind of winter stroll where you really don’t have to pay attention to much. With essentially just one trail split you can really meander along and not pay attention to much, with very little risk of getting lost.
I’m really glad the NCC added these snowshoe trails and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Pretending to take photos but really I was just taking a break when I shot this.
Map and Elevation Gain
Our GPS tracked route along the trails.
Whenever I’m hiking somewhere new, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of that land before me. I’ve enjoyed using this website as a place to start learning more about the Indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.
Elevation gain along the trail.
Gear I Brought
Links in this section are affiliate links, which means that if you buy anything after clicking them we receive a small commission. This commission is put towards our Camp Kit Program- we loan out camping gear for free in the Ottawa area.
Keen Hiking Boots
Polyester Leggings
Mountain Warehouse Snowpants
Polyester Base Layer
Fjällräven Puffy
Swany Gloves (you can find them at Costco!)
Mountain Warehouse Backpack
Water Bottle
Headlamp
Compass
Rab 4-Person Superlite Emergency Shelter
Thank you for the detailed and insightful post !
Do you need to have snowshoes or can you just walk in the trail?