Recreo park  and Petite Voie du Fleuve parks are located on an long island separating the St. Lawrence river from the shipping channel and is accessable by public transit. There is a long paved bike/walking path down the middle with nicer side trails off to the side most of the way with many nice spots to stop for a picnic. I started my hike on Nuns' Island and walked across the pedestian ice bridge next to Champlain bringe and then followed the path out to the campground at Recreo park. This was about 13 km walk and  the next day I hiked from Recreo park campground to the casino on Ile Notre-Dame for about 15 km and got the bus back to the city. the When hiking out I found that one section of the trail about 3km from the Champlain bridge seams to be a nude beach (mens only?) area so I skipped this part on the way back. 

The campground is clean with many sites having good privacy and each site has a wooden tent platform, bike rack, picnic table and bench that also works as a lockable storage box. There are showers, bathrooms and a cafe at the main headquarters with comfort stations around the campground with covered picnic tables, clean porta potties, tap water, fire pit (with free wood) and usb chargers. It also has a parking lot nearby with wagons to carry in your gear.

There is also a beach close the the campground that campers get in for half price.

La Toubiere

This trail is a very short 1.6 km hike that was even shorter as part of it  was closed. It is mostly on boardwalk and It starts out through woods then ends up in an area that very much feels like hiking in Newfoundland. 

It has a couple places to sit and relax and the trailhead was an easy walk from the Baie-aux-rats-musques campground.

This is an easy 6 km hike in and out that has a series of waterfalls at the end. the trail also links up to the Sentier National as well if you want to make it a longer hike. Don't stop at the first falls or you will miss the others, keep going until you get the a bridge crossing the river with a sign stating that it is the end of the trail. It is a nice trail the whole way and is worth doing if you are in the park. It was a cool day in May when I hiked it but if it was a warmer day I would have gotten in the water by the falls for sure. 

To get to the trail head you need to drive up a 5 km gravel road that at times I was spinning the cars wheels to get up. 

This is a 5.8 km loup that goes from the lake to the top of the mountain and has a good view point with a picnic table to enjoy. It is rated in the guide book as intermediate but was quite easy and took me just over an hour to do. The trailhead leaves the Anse-a-William campground area. It also links to the Sentier National that goes past and links to Senier Sutherland. I did not follow the Sentier National myself on this trip However they claim thay have done a lot of work on it so it should be good to go.

Green, Green, Green. I hiked this trail late in May on a multi day camping trip and even after being in the woods for over a week this trail really stood out to be so green all around. It is an easy 5.2 km loop that you start at the top so no big elavation change thoughout. There is a lookout with a bench and picnic table with views of Grand lac Touladi. If you are in the park give this trail a try.

This is a trail that goes around the summit of Mont Chauve with several lookouts along the way with places to sit including a helicoptor landing pad at the top. From the Le Bonnallie visitors center it is 10.6 km return hike. I did it from the Le Vollonnier campsites and my watch showed 7.3 km total. Most of the trail is wooded and steep at times but easy to do. I hiked it in late May  was passed by 3 different trail runners and met up with about a dozen other hikers along the way. The park is within a couple hours drive from montreal so it is close enough to do as a day trip. There are no outhouses or places to get water along the way so be prepared. 

This trail is an 11 km round trip from the main visitors center and a few hundred meters climb and goes to the top of the mountain where the telescopes are. The guide book states 5 to 8 hours to complete, but I did it in just under 3 hours with light shoes and hiking poles, however as it was windy and cool on the top of the moutain I did not stop for long breaks. There is a lot of walking on smooth bolders and would be difficult and not so safe when very wet. I hiked on a dry day and it was quite easy. The trail goes mostly though woods with several lookouts along the way with some having benches and picnic tables. There are a couple of outhouses on the trail but the only water is from the brooks and there are not many of them so be prepared. The trail connects to others in the park and you could make a longer hike if you choose.

Within a couple of hours from Montreal, it makes for an easy place to spend a couple days.

There are 4 walk in campsites accessable by foot, bike or canoe/kayak. Each site has a picnic table, fire pit and a steel lock box with your firewood inside (free) and they give you the combination for the lock the before you arrive.  There is also an outhouse and garbage and recycle cans near by. Campsite #4 is the most private but they are all nice especially at night when the day visitors are gone.  From the main parking lot it is about 5 km hike with no hills also  with many side trails you could make it longer hike if you like including hiking in around the south side of the lake that would be about 15km. The sites are close to a small beach that is good for a kayak or canoe but not really suitable for swimming (there is a nice swimming beach by the parking lot). There is also another small parking lot about 1-2 kms from the site if you don't want to walk too far although it it not as sucure.

The only water source is the lake and due to algae problems even boiling or filtering is not safe so you should bring in your own water to drink and cook. This makes multi day stays difficult as water is quite heavy.

When parking use parking lot # 2 and no need to leave any note on the dash. 

La Vallonnier is a group of 14 walk in campsites on the side of the montain in Mont Orford Park  some sites very private and some not. Each site has a wooden platform for your tent so pegs wont be needed just make sure to bring some rope/string to tie down your tent.  There are two shared fire pits and free firewood on site that is nice if you dont mind socialising. There is an outhouse, garbage can and recycle bin as well as a place to hang your food. We brought in our own water just in case but in May and June the brook was flowing with lots of water and I ended up using and filtering some.  

My first time here We walked in from the north and although it is an easy hike there is still a lot of up and down and not suitable for a wagon or cart.  Two guys tried with a 4 wheel wagon full of gear but did not make it in, another ended up carrying their cart. The second time I parked at the main visitors center walked in from the south making for a 6 km hike each way.

The staff were all nice but most did not even know  these sites existed, knew nothing about them and could not help plan for the trip.  There are three parking lots and the hiking distance depends on where you park and when busy they close lots down and you may not have a choice on where to start from.  I had good cell service from the campsites and did not notice any loss of service on any of the trails in the park.

Nice spot to camp and I have been here twice now will go back again although on my May trip the campsites from #7 to 14 were quite muddy and lots of bugs. sites #1 to 5 were much better.

You need to leave a slip on your car dash when parking over night so when you arrive at the park go to the visitors center and they will print one out for you.

Mont Laurier to Mont Tremblant Section

Le P'tit Train du Nord is a multi-use trail that is part of the Trans Canada/Great Trail that used to be railway tracks so no up and downs. Half of the trail is  paved and half crushed gravel making it good for bikes.  I had good cell service even in the more remote northern section. The local tourist information centers have free maps for the trail with enough detail to get you through.

I started the last week of September and took the bus from downtown Montreal to Mont Laurier and hiked south with 10 days off, no distance goal and ended the trip in Mont Tremblant.  During these 10 days I passed many people out for a walk but did not meet any other overnighters. The northern part of the trail is more remote and I was able to find a spot in the woods to set up camp but farther south I went I saw there are a lot of private property/no trespasing signs on the sides of the trail and difficult to find a free spot to camp. There are many car camping sites along the way as well as small hotels although some campgrounds were closed on my trip due to being after labour day and also due to Covid. The first night I found a site in the woods beside the trail. The second night I stayed at Boise Joseph-BB-Gauthier park near Lac Seguay. It is a park right on the side of the trail with 4 free campsites first come first serve with no reservation required. I picked the site farthest in and had the whole park to myself.  It had a wooden platform for the tent, picnic table, fire pit and outhouse. After this I  tried to stay at  Le Boise du Village campground that is right on the trail however due to covid they were closed to tenters so I got a room at a small hotel near the lake. The next night I tried to stay at Fou Du Roi but they had closed on labour day so I stayed at Motel Riviere-Rouge. The next night was at  Iroquois Falls Campground and it was so nice I stayed for two nights. The next day was just a short walk to Camping Labelle et la Rouge. Next was a longer walk to De La Diable campground in Mont Tremblant where I stayed for two nights and took the bus back to Montreal.

Located on the Island of Montreal and accesable by public transit. This park has some trails some in the woods and some along the waterfront and a nice beach as well. Good spot for picnics and a bit of bird watching. I was there on hot day and the beach was packed and they closed down the parking lots so many people were turned away. Even with the parking lot and beach full the trails did not have a lot of people.

A park on the Island of Montreal available by public transit that seems people don't know about as there were very few people around on a holiday.  The trails go mostly through woods with a couple fields and is good for bird watchers and some nice picnic spots. 

A nice place to spend an afternoon and although I was there in the summer it seems they have snowshoe trails in the winter.

A small park on the water front accessable by public transit on the Island of Montreal. Big enough to spend a few hours and nice place for a picnic. 

This park is accesable by public transit from Montreal and is an easy overnight hike if you don't have a car. There are two sections of the campground, one in a field and one in the woods. There is a store on site with ice, firewood and grocery items to the point you could go in and buy all of your food there if you choose. 

Our site, and I think all of them had a picnic table, fire pit, steel lock box and bike rack. It is nice to have a palce to secure your food from animals when you are camping without a car and if you bring a lock you could lock up your gear and go for hike or rent a kayak or canoe. 

It is about 3.5 kms direct hike from the bus stop/parking lot however there are many trails and you could take a longer route if you like.