We are so lucky to have the Greenbelt in Ottawa! We checked out Trail 32 in Pinhey Forest a couple weeks ago on our way to Costco. Honestly! How great is it that we can just stop by the forest on our way to get groceries?
On the day we went, it was warm and had just finished raining. I don’t know if Pinhey Forest felt extra lush and green because of the rain, but it was truly a beautiful walk through the woods.
We brought our little pup along, because Trail 32 is dog friendly. Don’t worry, I stayed in the car with her at Costco!
Trail 32 is also really family friendly, because it’s made up of two connected loops. This allows for people to decide if they want to complete one or both loops, choosing if they want to make their hike shorter or longer.
Trail 32 in Pinhey Forest was super beautiful on a rainy day.
Getting There
One of the best things about Pinhey Forest is how accessible it is. In the West end of Ottawa, both of the trails in Pinhey Forest can be accessed by bus.
In order to walk Trail 32, we headed over to Parking Lot 15. There’s a bus stop at Merivale and Slack Road that’s really close. Or, if you’re driving, you can punch these coordinates into your GPS: 45.322652, -75.727631.
P15 was a smaller parking lot, with room for about 15 cars to park. There were a few picnic tables and a garbage can, so if you wanted to, you could stop there for lunch. The “restoration area” right next to the parking lot wasn’t too beautiful to look at though. It was basically a huge sand dune, roped off, with odd solar panel looking type devices scattered across it. I’m pretty sure the NCC is doing some great work there, but the process wasn’t much to look at.
A restoration area at Pinhey Forest.
There was also an outhouse available at the parking lot.
We stopped for a minute before heading out to look at the big map posted on the bulletin board at the parking lot. Somehow, we still managed to get our route wrong from the get go!
Technically, there are two trailheads that leave from the parking lot. One is right beside the road, on the west side of the lot (to the right when we drove in). The other starts at the back of the parking lot, right beside the bulletin board.
We had wanted to complete the section of the trail that runs close to slack road first, thinking we’d get it out of the way. Unfortunately, we thought that taking the trailhead at the back of the lot would allow us to get there. We were wrong. It all worked out in the end though!
A blurry picture of the trail map at the trailhead.
The Route
We set out on Trail 32, finding ourselves on a wide, flat trail. Immediately, we felt as though we were engulfed by the forest because of how lush and green everything felt.
Pinhey Forest is also called the Pinhey Sand Dunes. The trail itself was fairly unique because of the uniqueness of this area. Instead of the usual dirt or rocks, we found ourselves walking on sandy trails! This made for exceptionally easy hiking, and was really easy on the feet. We saw one family out with a stroller; the trails were certainly flat enough that pushing a stroller would be easy (although the softness of the trail might make it tricky).
A sandy trail right beyond the trailhead.
Trail Markers
The NCC has a pretty good system going when it comes to their maps and trail markers. The map at the trailhead displayed certain points on the trail, marked A through E. On the trail itself, there are big signs at these points announcing that you’ve arrived at each point, and pointing you in the direction of the next.
We reached Point A after hiking for only 200 metres, and it pointed us to the right to continue on to Point B.
A typical NCC waypoint.
As we travelled a little further into the forest, it became clear that the area was well loved. There were tons of trails branching off of the main trail. They looked like trails that had been used repeatedly by bikers, and were worn enough that at certain points it got a bit confusing about which way to go.
We do our best to follow Leave No Trace principles, which most of the time means doing your best to stay on the main trail so you don’t contribute to the degradation of the ecosystem around the trail. For example, you can step off the trail and step on a tiny little pine tree that’s been doing its best to grow, killing it in an instant! How sad would that be?
We stuck with that practice this time around, always choosing the widest trail, and hoped it was keeping us on the right track. Fortunately, it was.
Choosing the wider path kept us on the right track.
The Second Loop
After hiking only 800 metres, we found ourselves at Point B. There, we had a decision to make. We had the option of adding on the second loop at this point, or just sticking with the first loop and starting to make our way back.
It had been such an easy hike so far that we decided we definitely wanted to add on the second loop, so we turned to our left to head towards Point C. If we had wanted to just complete the first loop, we would have turned right to get to Point E.
Point C was just beyond Point B, and the trail split there in order to create the second loop. We continued hiking straight, completing the south side of the loop first. The trail continued to be flat and easy. There were still some small trails coming off of the main trail in this second loop, but it was far less confusing than it had been early on.
We reached Point G after hiking 1.8 kilometres, and kept on the Trail to return to Point C. In total, the second loop was 1.1 kilometres long.
Still wide and flat on the second loop!
Getting a Little Lost
Somewhere on our way back, between Point C and Point B, we veered off to our left, following the trail until it reached Slack Road. We had thought we were headed directly to point E, but ended up west of that point.
The trail turned to our right once we reached Slack road. 200 metres later, we reached point E. Here, we could have crossed Slack road to access Trail 31. Since we were only out for a short walk that day, we kept straight, heading back to the parking lot.
Heading Back
Here is where things got MUDDY. And very wet. There were two spots on the trail where water had pooled after the rain that day, covering the entire trail. As every good hiker knows, when you walk on the edge of the trail, it can damage the plants surrounding the trail. So the best thing to do is stick with the middle, even when it’s wet or muddy. I didn’t go RIGHT down the middle, but I stayed on the trail, and my sneakers were absolutely soaked. I was happy that we hadn’t taken this section of the trail first, like we had wanted to.
A muddy surprise near the end of the trail!
We reached the parking lot after walking for a total of 3 kilometres. We were able to cover that distance in an easy 50 minutes.
Pinhey Forest was absolutely beautiful, and we loved how accessible it was. The length of this trail, and how flat and wide it is, makes it a great choice for families, group walks, or anyone wanting to get away to the forest for just a short time.
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!
Evidence of a good day.
Map and Elevation Gain
Our route in Pinhey Forest.
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 on the trail. Trust me, it felt totally flat.
Gear We Brought
- Workout Clothes
- Sneakers
- Cell Phones
- Dog Leash and Harness
- Dog Waste Bags
