The King Mountain Trail- A 1.9 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 Views Edition!

Join our Hiking Challenge Facebook Group to connect with other hikers working on the challenge, and don’t forget to tag us on social media so we can share your progress!

We were a little bit late for the best of the fall colours in Gatineau Park when we went last weekend. But the King Mountain Trail still looked beautiful! We also went on a cloudy day, so it was way less crowded than we thought it would be- a bonus!

The King Mountain Trail is one of the shorter trails in Gatineau Park, at just 1.9 kilometres. Despite this, I really loved it. There were some great views to be had. Plus, the trail was steep enough at different points that it felt a bit challenging (which I love!). King Mountain is a short loop that alternates between rocky, rugged terrain and built in staircases.

There’s also the option of starting the route from Parking Lot 7, and using the Kingsmere Trail to get to King Mountain Trail. Doing so would add about 4 kilometres onto your trip. We’ll definitely be doing that next time!

Dogs are not allowed on the King Mountain Trail, so we left ours at home. She was NOT impressed.

Getting There

The King Mountain Trail starts at an unnamed parking lot in Gatineau Park, off of the Champlain Parkway. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.492337, -75.861947. The Champlain Parkway is closed in the winter time, and so is the King Mountain Trail. It closes November 15^th.

The parking lot has space for at least fifty cars, but judging from the “no parking” signs the NCC put along the Parkway, I’m guessing things got REALLY crowded during the fall season.

There are picnic tables available to have lunch at, as well as a few benches overlooking the small lake nearby. We spotted two outhouses right near the parking lot. The NCC says that the outhouses and the picnic area are universally accessible.

The Trailhead

The trailhead for the King Mountain Trail is right off the parking lot. There’s a big map at the trailhead, and an interpretation panel that describes the trail.

We set off on the trail with Lac Black below us on our right. Almost immediately, we headed down a short set of stairs.

The Trail

The King Mountain Trail is a loop, and the trail split right at the bottom of the stairs. We chose to head to our right, and turned towards the lake. After just a few steps, we found ourselves heading uphill on a really great stretch of rocky trail. I was wearing running shoes, but hiking boots would be a good idea for certain parts of this trail, especially on wet and muddy days.

There were no trail markers on the King Mountain Trail, but the trail was so well-travelled and wide that it would be nearly impossible to get lost. Plus, there were so many sets of stairs that they basically acted like trail markers- just keep an eye out for the next set!

We walked uphill for most of 0.6 kilometres. Then, we passed a big open rock face on our left. Just beyond that, we walked down a set of stairs, and found ourselves at the first cool lookout of the day.

Lookouts

The NCC’s website says that there are ten lookouts along the King Mountain Trail. I didn’t actually count them, but the south side of this trail definitely had a TON of views.

From the 0.7 kilometre to 1 kilometre mark, the trail basically took us over open rock face with views of the valley the entire way!

After we had hiked for a kilometre, we reached the site of the first geodetic station that was built in Canada. It was cool to read the interpretation panel and learn more about it. Plus, the best view on the trail was at this spot.

All of the lookouts had steep drop offs, so little kids should be kept close by.

Getting Back

After the views at the geodetic station, the trail took us back into the forest, and we started heading downhill. There were way more stairs on this section of the trail. Which I didn’t think was possible! But this part of the trail was definitely steeper than the west side, so the stairs are probably meant to make things a little easier.

After hiking 1.5 kilometre we arrived at another split in the trail. This was where the King Mountain Trail joined the Kingsmere Trail. There was a sign up at the split, so there’s no way that you could miss it if you were looking for it.

We turned to our left, and were back at the parking lot after hiking a total of 1.9 kilometres.

It took us just under an hour to hike that distance, but we were moving pretty slowly, and took some nice long breaks at the lookouts.

The King Mountain Trail was a really great trail for a short, quick hike. The views from the trail were as good as any you can get in Gatineau Park, and the trail itself was really stunning when we went. Having so many sets of stairs around was a nice change of pace, and made it easier to look up and around instead of making sure you don’t trip over a rock or a route.

The King Mountain Trail is a perfect trail for families, or anyone wanting to try hiking and get a feel for what it can be like, without challenging themselves TOO much.

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

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.

Gear We Brought

• Workout Clothes
• Sneakers/Hiking Boots
• Fleece Sweaters
• Fall Jacket
• Cell Phones

Gear We Forgot

• My Fall Jacket (It was a warm day when we went, but weather and wind patterns can change a lot, even in such a short elevation gain! It was chilly near the lookouts).