This summer my husband and I made a couple of days to head to Mont Tremblant National Park without the kids, so we decided to hike some of their longer trails while we had the opportunity!
On our second day there we hiked the Toit-des-Laurentides trail, and it was… fine. Let me tell you all about it!
The best lookout on the trail.
Quick Facts
Length: 15.4 km
Difficulty: Hard
Trailhead Coordinates: 46.281310, -74.535029
Washroom at Trailhead: Yes
Dogs Allowed: No
Cell Reception: None until you get close to the summit.
Wheelchair Accessible: No
Parking: Across the street from the trailhead.
Cost: $9.85 for a daily access pass to Mont Tremblant National Park
Open in Winter: Yes
Getting There
The trailhead for the Toit-des-Laurentides is near the de la Sablonnière campground, in the Secteur de la Diable. This part of Mont Tremblant National Park is the most southwest part of the park, and closest to Mont Tremblant Village.
Driving into the park along Chemin du Lac-Supérieur, this trailhead is at the first intersection you reach once inside the park. There’s a big wooden sign at the side of the road that lets you know where the trail starts. The parking lot is down the road right across from this, where there’s also an outhouse available.
Driving to the parking lot you’ll cross a short bridge over the Rivière du diable. There’s a small sandy beach here and it’s an amazing spot to jump into the river after a long hike in the summer! The sandy shore drops away quickly once you’re in the river and the current is gentle but persistent, so keep a very close eye on children here.
An easy-to-find trailhead.
The Trail
This will probably be one of my shortest trail reports yet, because despite the length of this trail, there’s not too much to report! It really was just a long trail through the forest to one lookout that was very pretty… but perhaps not entirely worth the 7 km it took to get there (and then all the kilometres back).
Heading out, we immediately began to climb gently uphill. We found ourselves on a thin, well-worn, well-marked trail, and it would essentially continue in this manner for the next 7.7 km.
The trail markers we followed were sometimes yellow squares with black arrows on them, and sometimes orange arrows, but they always led us in the right direction and we never once questioned if we were on the trail or not.
In the first kilometre we crossed a few wet spots that would be very muddy in the spring, and crossed a small stream.
There were lots of wet, muddy spots along this trail.
Waterfalls!
At the 1.1 km mark the trail turned sharply to our right, as there was a deep, rocky chasm to the left. Running water made it’s way through the chasm, and just 100 metres further along the trail there was a short waterfall that you could sit right next to.
It might be worth just stopping here on this trail…
In another 100 metres you could access a section of the stream that had small pools of water and a few nice spots to sit and dip your toes in. Then at the 1.5 km mark the stream ran down wide open rock face – it was really cool to see how the terrain the water followed changed so quickly over just a few hundred metres.
I think hiking out to this stream and having a sit or enjoying lunch beside it might be the real appeal of this trail.
We loved watching how the water ran over rock face and gathered in different places, according to the terrain it was travelling.
Because beyond this we were just walking, slightly uphill, through the forest for the next 5.5 km.
The trail remained easy to navigate, and didn’t demand too much fancy footwork. There were roots to avoid but nothing too demanding. There were also quite a few spots that were narrow and overgrown with shrubs and bushes, so we were happy we had brought our bear bells along.
We also got a lot of breaks along the way as the trail would go gently uphill for a bit, then level off for quite a while before heading back uphill again.
There were quite a few sections like this- somewhat overgrown but still easy to navigate.
The Best Lookout
Close to the 6 km mark the trail began to get a bit rockier, and at 6.75 km there was a section of trail that was rocky, with a few small boulders here and there along the trail. Just past this, at 6.85 km we spotted the best lookout of the entire hike off to our left. You could stop here on this trail and you will have seen the best it has to offer, I promise.
We decided to keep going though, to the peak of Johannsen. At 7.15 km we reached the “official” lookout, the one that’s noted on the map. There was also a lookout sign pointing to it, as it was just a few feet of the trail. This lookout was way less impressive than the first.
Finally, after hiking roughly 7.7 km we reached the summit of Johannsen. This was also completely underwhelming as it’s a wooded summit with no views at all. There’s a big rock and a plaque, so that’s how you’ll know you;ve reached the end of the Toit-des-Laurentides trail. At the summit the trail intersects with a few others, and we chatted with some people who had hiked up from Mont Tremblant Village so that was neat at least.
Heading back, we stopped for lunch at the only good lookout, and than had an easy descent on the return.
The biggest rocks we saw on the trail, most of it was dirt and roots. These rocks announce that you’re getting close to the lookout!
Trail Thoughts
Despite the easy elevation gain on this hike, it’s distance did make it challenging and we were tuckered out by the time we arrived back to the parking lot. In total, we had hiked just under 16 km according to my GPS tracker, although the official distance on this trail is 15.4 km. It took us 6 hours and 5 minutes to hike the whole thing, and we immediately jumped in the river to cool off!
I think it’s clear that this trail wasn’t my favorite, but, like all trails and any time spent outdoors, it does certainly have something to offer… It’s just that maybe the something is sitting by the river a few kilometres in instead of making it to the summit on this particular peak.
Jumping in the river afterwards might have been the best part of the whole hike!
Map and Elevation Gain
My GPS-tracked route.
I acknowledge that I live and recreate on stolen land. You can use this website to learn more about the Indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.
Elevation gain along the trail.
Gear We Brought
Daypacks
5 litres of water (between 2 of us)
Lunch + snacks
Sunscreen
Bug Spray
Hat + Sunglasses
Map
Compass
Headlamp
First Aid Kit
Platypus Water Filter
Hiking Boots
Hiking Poles
Garmin inReach + Whistle
