I’m meeting up with a buddy from SoCal after he’s done with a conference in Montreal. It will be my first trip to Montreal and the first time Iv’e been to Canada in nearly 25 years. I’ll spend a few hours Friday exploring the city, then Friday night we’ll be headed north to do some hiking.
Ideally, we’ll find something that isn’t more than a couple of hours from Montreal. The places that seem to be showing up in my research the most are Parc national du Mont-Tremblant, Parc régional des Sept-Chutes, and La Mauricie National Park. Here are some links.
- Parc national du Mont-Tremblant
- Sépaq’s guide to Québec’s national park network (pages 4 & 5)
- Sépaq’s VISITOR’S GUIDE 2017 – PARC NATIONAL DU MONT-TREMBLANT
- Park Map (page 8)
- Hiking Trail Info (page 9)
- Parc régional des Sept-Chutes
- La Mauricie National Park
I haven’t had much time to research any of these places, so I appreciated any recommendations a fellow hiker can provide. If you prefer one of these areas over another, or have a difference area that you’d like to suggest. please comment below.
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Itinerary
The itinerary below will be updated as I get some recommendations and complete some research … at this point I just know that we won’t be leaving Montreal until around 6 p.m Fri and we have to be back at the airport by 1 p.m. Sunday.
(last update 09.09.2017)
- Day 1 (Thu)
- Drive to Montreal after work from Ludlow VT (Google Maps – possible driving route)
- Any POIs along route?
- Drive to Montreal after work from Ludlow VT (Google Maps – possible driving route)
- Day 2 (Fri)
- Leave Montreal around 7 p.m.
- Day 3 (Sat)
- HIKE
- Day 4 (Sun)
- Early morning hike or sightseeing
- Arrive at Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport by 1 p.m. (3 p.m. flight)
- Car Camp somewhere between Montreal and home (Montreal KOA?)
- Day 5 (Mon)
- Drive home (Google Maps – possible driving route)
- Any POIs along route?
Gear
I’ll be supplying gear for myself and for 1 other hiker on this trip. It’s great to be in a position to be able to do this and I am very thankful for the companies that have provided HikingGeek.com with the gear that will be used/tested on this trip. Here’s a quick look at what we’ll be using. A more comprehensive list will be posted with my trip report. Where appropriate, I’ve either linked to a HikingGeek.com review or links where you can read reviews and/or buy the items:
- Katabatic Gear – Helios 55 Backpack || Flex 22 Quilt
- Darn Tough Vermont Socks – Various models, more details later
- Peak Design – CapturePRO Camera Clip & PROpad || Peak Design Shell Rain Cover (Small)
- Hoka ONE ONE – Men’s Tor Summit Mid Hiking Shoes
- Ibex – Hooded Indie
- Seek Outside – Divide 4500
- Minus33 – Kodiak Expedition Full Zip Hoodie
- Black Rock Gear – Original Down Beanie
Isabelle
Hello! I live in Maryland now, but I’m originally from Montreal, so happy to give you all kinds of ideas :-). From hiking to food and stuff to do! There is actually so much to do, I’m not sure where to start. As far as Montreal is concerned, you definitely have to go to the Old Montreal and tour the cobblestone streets. I know you don’t have that much time there, so I would definitely recommend it. Construction is insane in Montreal right now and it’s VERY hard to drive around right now. I don’t know where you are meeting your friend, but if he’s at the conference center, you might consider parking your car there and taking an uber or public transportation to your destination. You must have Poutine at least once and that at the beginning of your stay because you might end up having it at every meal after that. If you wait too long to have it, you’ll regret the missed chances ;-). I have other meal recommendations if your interested. Feel free to email me.
In terms of traveling from Ludlow, VT, I’d suggest taking 89 making your way to Burlington, VT, which is a cool outdoor town. Tons of amazing restaurants, including American Flatbread (http://americanflatbread.com/restaurants/burlington-vt/) have a local stout on me ;-). There are cool coffee shops around if you need a little pick me up to cross the border. Tight Squeeze (http://www.tightsqueezecoffeeshop.com/) is super cool. Then cross the border at Highgate (a laid back border considering others) and your find your way to Montreal via the beautiful country roads of Quebec. It’s very agricultural in that area.
There are tons of neat places on your way to Mont Tremblant. A town that I love is Val David. Pretty much a cool hippie town. THE restaurant to go to there is called Let Petit Poucet (http://aupetitpoucet.ca/). It’s pretty (Quetaine), which is a word that means… ah… Kitch? Cliche? But it has authentic Quebec food and some maple sugar house food as well so it gives you an idea. I think it’s pretty meat-centric and I don’t know what your diet is… You will not have any issues finding vegetarian or vegan food in Val David. Again, hippies… I’ve not spent tons of time in Mont-Tremblant, but I’m sure it’s beautiful and you won’t have any difficulties finding a good trail there. It’s a state parc, even though it says national, so the fee with be from the SEPAQ as I’m sure you figured out. I’m not sure if there was a reason to go west instead of east, but I do love Mont Orford (https://www.sepaq.com/pq/mor/index.dot?language_id=1), it is an amazing place and again tons of places to stay. Check airbnbs for both places as well as local spas and hotels. Remember that the canadian dollar is pretty low. Just get some when you cross the border after Highgate Springs. Just plop that into your GPS 585, route 133, Saint-Sébastien, QC J0J 2C0, Canada, its the address for Caisse Desjardins du Haut-Richelieu, which is a bank where you’ll be able to use your cash card for Canadian dollars. It’s right after route 35, which you’ll want to back track and take to go to Montreal.
So you say car camps between Montreal and home. I’d get out of Montreal ASAP. Mostly because of the construction and traffic. If you want a Montreal experience, get a cheap room in downtown Montreal, but there won’t be any cool car camping place in Montreal or between Montreal and the border actually. You’d have to go back up, east or west. I can’t think of a cool island places for you to stay that’s car camping. Montreal is a huge city and all around are farms. So it’s either you stay in Quebec as much as you can to experience more (then that means driving) or I’d head back south and stay in Burlington, Stowe, or any of the beautiful little towns up there. Or go to Champlain, Lake George, spend some time in the Adirondacks if you want to car camp. It just depends on how much you want to detour here…
I just thought of something. You could always try going to the South Shore of Montreal (Monteregie), there is the St-Bruno National Park and St-Hilaire… I’m sending you a link here of the camping places. Now THAT is probably your best bet if you want to stay in Quebec one more day! 🙂
https://www.campingquebec.com/en/campground-monteregie/
I hope this is helpful. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help! Sorry for the rambling, but hopefully you get some good info out of this!
TheHikingGeek
Hi Isabelle,
I had replied to your comment back in September, but for some reason I’m not seeing it. I just wanted to make sure that you know that I appreciate your thoughtful comment.
Thanks for the help!