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With warm weather and clear blue skies in the middle of February, we decided to head over to the Centre de Plein Air du Lac Leamy to check it out. Lac Leamy is a lovely little spot just over the border in Quebec, and we took an easy walk around the entire lake in under 45 minutes.
Since the lake was frozen over, we saw a ton of people ice fishing, which was really cool. There’s also a welcome centre where you can rent cross country skis and snowshoes, with washrooms inside and a few tables to sit at. Above the rental centre was a little restaurant too!
Dogs are allowed on this trail, and we saw lots of pups out enjoying the sunshine as we walked along.
Not what we normally see on our hikes but beautiful nonetheless!
The walk around Lac Leamy was easy and enjoyable. We certainly didn’t feel like we were immersed in nature, but we enjoyed being CLOSE to nature while checking out the cityscape around us.
In the summer, there’s a beach at Lac Leamy, as well as tons of picnic tables, grills, and a playground.
Branching off of the trail around Lac Leamy there are a ton of other trails. Some head along the Gatineau River, and some head into Gatineau Park. So if you wanted a longer hike, you could definitely start at Lac Leamy but decide to head out on one of the other trails.
All the trails in the area! We only walked #2.
Getting There
The Centre de Plein Air du Lac Leamy is super close to Ottawa- it’s just a fifteen minute drive! You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.453117, -75.726566.
We drove past the restaurant, and the road ended at the parking lot. The lot was really big, and we had no trouble finding a spot.
The Welcome Centre was at the back of the parking lot, and we popped in to use the washroom quickly before heading out. Starting the trail right near the centre, we decided to hike around Lac Leamy clockwise (for no real reason).
Starting out from the Welcome Centre.
The Trail
In the winter, the trail was really wide. It was groomed nicely for cross country skiing, and wide enough that people had actually made a second little trail beside the trail, to snowshoe on. Which is actually quite considerate, because that way the grooming doesn’t get messed up.
We walked along the flat trail, taking note of the ice fishers as we went. Some of them had serious set ups going on!
After walking only 400 metres, we arrived at the first of a few bridges we would end up crossing. We turned slightly to our right to cross the bridge. Straight ahead of us before the bridge was the trail that could have taken us all the way to Gatineau Park on the Gatineau River Pathway.
After crossing the bridge there was another trail linked, with a sign announcing that THIS trail would take you to Parliament, if you were prepared to walk 6.3 kilometres to get there.
Almost immediately after the bridge, we arrived at the beach. There were a ton of picnic tables there, and grills for cooking in the summer. There was also a covered picnic spot for days where the weather is less than perfect. We walked alongside a row of change rooms, then for a few feet trees overtook the trail.
This looks like it would be a great spot to swim and gather in the summer!
The Highway
This didn’t last long though, because soon we could hear the highway, and not long after we could see it. The trail ran parallel to the highway for a few steps- just before this there was a trail split with a sign announcing that from this point, parliament was only 5.7 kilometres away.
Despite all the distractions along the trail, we were never at risk of losing our way. The trail stayed with the shoreline of Lac Leamy for the entire length of it, and we had a view out over the lake for the entire length of it.
At the 1.4 kilometre mark the Ruisseau-de-la-Brasserie Pathway linked to the trail we were on. We veered to the right to stick with the shoreline of Lac Leamy.
A few hundred metres later, we crossed a small foot bridge, and then a larger bridge right after. We walked beside the Hilton hotel, noticing that the trail we were on was accessible from their patio.
The Lac Leamy Pathway was nice and flat for the entire length of it.
Trail Thoughts
By the time we had arrived back at the parking lot, we had walked a total of 2.4 kilometres. Because the trail was so flat and easy to follow, it had taken us just 35 minutes.
Lac Leamy is a wonderful little spot in an urban centre, and it really made me appreciate how accessible nature is to us in the Ottawa/Gatineau Region.
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!
Turns out urban hiking is pretty great!
Map and Elevation Gain
Our GPS tracked route along the Lac Leamy Pathway.
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.
No elevation gain along the trail!
Gear We Brought
-Nothing! This trail was so easy and accessible we didn’t need to bring anything with us (besides warm clothes).
Hello, I’m see that you have followed the bike path were most cyclists, dog walkers and elderly use. In the winter it’s for skis and snowshoes. I live beside this lake and hike the many deer trails frequently… lots of old trees, endangered butternut grove, and hand fed local deer, red squirrels and birds. It’s the best place to see newborn deer. There are several Pileated woodpeckers too. We even have fox and one resident Coywolf to keep the population in check. There is also a 40 nest heronry in the park and watching the babies take flight in the spring is awesome. A bald eagle comes to get some baby herons every year too. When I go for a hike I’m in there for 3 hours exploring the flora, fungi and fauna. Please do another review When the weather improves.