Pink Lake- A 2.4 km. Hike in Gatineau Park

This hike is part of the Adventure Report Ottawa Hiking Challenge. If you hike this trail, you’re officially working on the Starter Edition!

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I’ve known about the Pink Lake Trail forever, because it’s so popular with hikers in the Ottawa/Gatineau area. But I had never hiked it- until now. I headed out to Pink Lake on a beautiful, sunny Monday in June with my daughter. Of course, I knew there was a beautiful lake somewhere around this trail. And I knew that it was relatively short, but that was about it.

Turns out, the Pink Lake Trail goes all the way AROUND Pink Lake. And, Pink Lake isn’t actually pink, it’s a really neat shade of green, due to tons of microscopic algae in the water. Somebody really dropped the ball on naming this lake, am I right?

The trail itself was super fun to hike because it was constantly changing. One minute we were right down beside the water, and the next we were up high in the trees. At times, we hauled ourselves up steep flights of stairs, and then walked along a level dirt pathway for a break.

Another thing that makes the Pink Lake Trail really great is that you are rewarded with nice open views almost constantly. And, there have been tons of platforms and lookout points constructed so you get the best views.

Dogs are not allowed on this trail. I’m guessing it has something to do with the super unique and sensitive ecosystem in the area, so it really is best to leave your pup at home for this hike.

Looking down Pink Lake.

Getting There                     

The Pink Lake Trail is in Gatineau Park. It can be a bit tricky to figure out where you’re going, because when you type Pink Lake into Google Maps, there are a few different spots that pop up (like the lake itself, and a lookout off of the Gatineau Parkway). In order to get to the actual parking lot for Pink Lake, you can use these coordinates: 45.468643, -75.812193.

Driving along the Gatineau Parkway, there were a TON of cyclists. I did my best to drive super carefully and leave lots of space when I was passing.

There was a sign at the side of the road that announced we had arrived at Pink Lake, and so we turned off to pull into the parking lot. We drove for a few hundred metres before reaching the actual parking lot. When we arrived I noticed there was space for at least thirty cars.

Hard to miss it.

The Trailhead

The trailhead for the Pink Lake Trail was near the back of the parking lot, on the eastern side (on our right as we drove in). On the other side of the lot, Trail 35 headed off into the forest as well.

There was a map posted at each trailhead. The map of Pink Lake was neat because it showed which sections were stairs, versus trail, versus boardwalk.

Make sure you take a look at this map to help decide your route!

I had done a bit of research before heading out and read that there were “dry toilets” at the trailhead. I was wondering to myself, “what the heck is a dry toilet?” Turns out it’s an outhouse, and there were two of them there. There wasn’t much space to spend time here (unlike other lots where there are picnic tables), but that’s okay because there are so many great spots on the trail to rest.

Universally Accessible Area of Pink Lake

The trail around Pink Lake had two entry points from the parking lot. On our left was a ramp leading down to the lookout off of the parking lot. Right in front of us, a set of four stairs got us down to the boardwalk.

There was also an accessible parking spot right next to the ramp. So it seems as though anybody and everybody should be able to head down to the lookout over Pink Lake. Very cool.

This is not the universally accessible side (but it’s where I started).

The Trail

Having looked at the map at the trailhead, I decided we would hike the loop counter-clockwise. It seemed that would leave the “best for last,” as the map noted the lookout, and a mica mine, were on the northern side of the lake. In order to hike counter-clockwise, we had to head to our right just before the lookout, where a small set of stairs brought us onto the trail. This would be the first of MANY sets of stairs on this trail!

We headed downhill quite quickly on a second set of stairs, and soon found ourselves down at the level of the lake. We walked along with the lake on our left hand side. The trail was about a metre wide, so it would be easy for people to walk side by side.

Some sections of the Pink Lake Trail are flat…

After hiking half a kilometre, we arrived at a lookout. There was a sign pointing to our right, and we decided to climb a set of stairs to the top of the lookout. This spot was not noted on the map at the trailhead, and was the one just off of the Gatineau Parkway (where you can park and approach the lookout).

After a quick look, we were back on the trail. The forest floor began to drop away somewhat sharply to our left. The trail meandered back down to bring us closer to the lake, and we were able to see for the first time the unique green color that the lake is known for.

VERY cool green colour in the lake- I wonder if it’s even brighter on some days?

Eastern Shoreline

Once we had hiked about a kilometre, we began to see that we were approaching the end of the lake. We passed a nice big bench on our right, and then the trail began to loop back, in order to stick with the shoreline.

We began to get some nice, open views of the lake as we looped back. There were a few big rocks on the shoreline on this section of the trail, and groups of kids that were taking full advantage. It was actually really cool to look into the lake, because tons of little fish were gathered near the shoreline. And despite the green color of the lake, the water was incredibly clear, so it was really easy to see the fish as they swam around.

We continued walking along, noting that so far, there were fewer stairs on this side of the trail. That was going to change soon enough though.

There are SO many stairs on the Pink Lake Trail. A blessing and a curse.

The Mica Mine

At just under a kilometre and a half in, we reached the first interpretive panel we had seen along the trail. Immediately after, we climbed up a long set of stairs, and soon found ourselves at the mica mine.

The trail split here- we went to the left, and this brought us up onto a little bridge over top of the mine. The mine was fenced off, which is good because there were big drops down to the bottom. We stopped to check out the open rock face, and tried (but failed) to get a good picture of how deep the mine really was.

We carried on, and the trail that had split off to the right BEFORE we reached the mine rejoined our trail on our right. We headed to the left, and found ourselves going deeper into the forest. This was the only section of the trail that really went away from the shoreline quite a bit.

It didn’t last long though, and when we had hiked 1.8 kilometres, the trail brought us back to the shoreline.

Here’s a picture of us, since I didn’t get a good one of the mine!

So Many Stairs

This next section of the trail had tons of stairs bringing us uphill (it FELT like it was all uphill anyways!), and we approached a viewing platform just over the two kilometre mark.

We then found ourselves on a rocky section of trail, with nice big boulders on our right hand side.

Beyond the boulders were more stairs, and another viewing platform. Before we knew it, we had arrived back at the original split in the trail, having hiked 2.4 kilometres. We walked the few feet back to the car.

It took us just over an hour to hike the entire trail. This included lots of little stops along the way to check out something cool.

More stairs.

Trail Thoughts

Now I know why Pink Lake is so popular. It’s short, it’s beautiful, and there’s something for everyone. On the day that we went, there were lots of people there, and just about someone from every demographic. From babies (mine) to families with young kids, teens out in a group, and older folks out for a stroll, everyone seemed to be loving Pink Lake as much as we were.

The color of the lake and the clarity of the water was really neat, and stopping to read the interpretive panels was fun because it helped me learn a lot about the area.

Pink Lake is definitely one of our new favorites.

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Now we get why everyone loves the Pink Lake Trail!

Map and Elevation Gain

Our GPS tracked route of the Pink Lake Trail.

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 and loss on the trail… I hiked it after a tough leg day, and I was feeling it! It’s very manageable though.

Gear We Brought

*I’ve recently discovered that polyester is a micro-plastic, and breaks down when you wash it, sending tiny plastics into the water system! I’ll be reconsidering her wardrobe as she grows, to try and get natural fabrics that can also wick away sweat.

 

 

 

 

 

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