There are a few short trails in Gatineau Park that I’ve been intrigued by for a while, but never made the time to go visit- it’s a long drive to only hike a kilometre! But my husband wanted to go play golf one day in August, so I decided to load up the baby and spend the day in Gatineau Park, checking out some of the shorter trails we hadn’t made it to yet.
First on our list? The Champlain Trail! This little trail starts right near the Champlain Lookout, which is beautiful, so I figured it would be worth the trip. Spoiler alert- I was right.
The trail IS short, but the views are great so if you’re looking for a low key walk in the woods with a cool spot to eat lunch, this just might be it.
On the day that we went, the barrier at the main lookout had collapsed! There was fencing up so that no one would get hurt. Normally, you can stop off at the main lookout, and walk down to another ledge beneath the first barrier. This second ledge was also fenced off and inaccessible, because if more of the barrier were to fall, it would fall down. On anyone who happened to be beneath it. Stay safe when you’re visiting until it’s fixed!
Fortunately, the trail was still open. Dogs are allowed on the trail, so bring your furry friend (the rules say on leash)! The Champlain Trail is not open in the winter.
Looking out from the viewing platform along the Champlain Trail.
Getting There
To get to the Champlain Trail, first you have to get to the Champlain Lookout. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.508024, -75.912695.
Cyclists really enjoy biking up the road to the lookout, so make sure you’re driving carefully on the way there! You really can’t miss it, because you’ll take the Champlain Parkway, and it ends at the lookout. Just keep driving!
There’s a huge parking lot there, with outhouses nearby. The outhouses have been designated as universally accessible by the NCC. I didn’t go inside (sorry!), but I did notice there’s no button that can be used to open the door.
This is the NCC’s map of the Champlain Trail (green).
The Trailhead
The Champlain Trail technically has two trailheads, and you could start hiking at either. I parked and then started walking towards the lookout, noticing a set of stairs leading into the forest on my right hand side. Trail head number one! I kept walking towards the lookout to find the other trailhead, deciding I’d finish closer to the parking lot.
There was a set of big concrete stairs to the right of the barrier (when looking out), and I headed down those to get onto the trail.
Right away, we found ourselves on another set of stairs, this time wooden. Because we were headed down into the forest, our view was obscured almost immediately.
Heading down into the woods on the Champlain Trail.
The Trail
The trail became kind of rocky and root-y as we hiked through the forest, but that was fine by us. We hiked past a section of trail with open rock face, with a little bench built in to it. There was a bit of a lookout in this spot, but the view was partially obscured by brush growing in front of the bench.
Then, we crossed over a rocky section where it was really obvious that a creek ran down the forest floor in wetter months. The stream was dry when we crossed over it, but I’m sure that in the spring there’d be water running along in this spot.
Crossing over the creek bed.
The forest floor had been rising above us on our right hand side, and falling away on our left, for much of the hike. But the drop became more pronounced as we hiked along. Fortunately, there was a sturdy fence up as we hiked the next section of trail. Then, a few tiered boardwalks began to bring us back uphill along the ridge.
We were pleasantly surprised to see a viewing platform off to our left, and stopped off for a look! It had taken us only eleven minutes to get to this point. The views from this spot were absolutely lovely, so we hung out for a bit.
Looking out from the viewing platform.
Heading Back
Carrying on, we began to head uphill a bit. Because we had hiked down to the forest floor, we were getting a really cool feeling of being completely immersed in the forest. I think because there were so many cool, big trees above us?
We crossed over a short footbridge, and soon began to see a break in the treeline. At this point, we had been hiking for what felt like such a short time that I was wondering to myself why there was a break in the trees (because I thought the trail must have been longer). We walked up a set of stairs, and realized that we were back near the parking lot!
It only took us 25 minutes to hike this trail, because it’s such a short one. The total distance we traveled was just over 1.1 kilometres, so this is a great hike for anyone who’s new to the idea of hiking. It’s also perfect if you just want an easy day- head out for some great views and then stop at one of the cute little cafes on the way back!
This section was closed off due to the barrier above having fallen down (summer 2019)!
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!
Map and Elevation Gain
Our GPS tracked route of the Champlain 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 along the trail.
Gear We Brought*
- Running Shoes
- Workout Clothes
- Sunglasses
- Back Carrier
- Pacifier
- Cell Phone*Of course, I had far more than this in the car for the baby! We also sunscreened before heading out on the trail.
