Gatineau Park
From World travel guide
Gatineau Park is the outdoor playground for Canada's National Capital Region (Ottawa and Gatineau). It offers amazing possibilities for outdoor recreation, within a 20 minutes drive of either city. This includes: skiing (cross-country and downhill), hiking, canoeing, camping, rock-climbing, mountain biking, roller-blading, wildlife watching and leisurely strolls.
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Understand
See
- The fall colours when the leaves turn to bright yellow, red and orange and the hills seem to be on fire. The colours peak late October. Although they are spectacular throughout the park, one of the best views is from the base of of the Eardley Escarpment at the Lusk Falls parking lot.
- Champlain Lookout offers breathtaking views onto the Ottawa River valley from the Eardley Escarpment. The lookout is accessible by car and is a popular spot for watching sunsets.
- Kingsmere used to be the country estate of William Lyon Mackenzie King, the tenth Prime Minister of Canada. Upon his death, King donated the estate to the Canadian Government. The estate now allows the public to take a leisurely walk through gardens and "ruins" collected by King in a woodland setting. A small waterfall also runs down the escarpment near Moorside. After this walk, guests can stop at the tea house for light snacks and refreshments.
- Pink Lake. Contrarily to what its name might imply, this lake takes on a vivid green colour in the summer months. Unlike glacier lakes from the West Coast whose colour is due to mineral suspension, the green hue of Pink Lake comes from tiny algae that thrive because of the lake's meromictic nature. The lake's name comes not from its colour, but from the name of the family who originally owned property in this area. The lake is accessible by car and there is a short hike that takes you around it.
- The village of Wakefield, Quebec is technically not inside the Gatineau park, but it is this nearby and worth the visit. It is located by the shore of the Gatineau River and has neat little shops and cafés. It is also the terminal for the old-fashioned Hull-Wakefield Steam Train which goes through the village twice a day during the summer months.
- Laflèche Caves are technically not in the park either but are also worth a visit. See the cave's Official Site for details.
Do
The park offers a wide variety of outdoors activities.
Beaches
There are three lakes in the park with beaches where you can go for a swim and a picnic. They tend to be crowded on hot weekend days.
- Philippe Lake
- Meech Lake
- Lapêche Lake
Canoeing
Hand Gliding and Para Gliding
Hiking
Mountain Biking
Skiing and Snowshoeing
Wildlife Watching
Eat
There are very few places inside the park that sell food. However, the villages of Wakefield and Chelsea close to the Philippe and Meech Lake areas of the park offers excellent dining options.
Sleep
Budget
There are three places to camp in the park.
- Philippe Lake has a broad range of sites going from walking (short walk) sites for tents only to full-service sites for RVs.
- Taylor Lake a small and quiet campground for tents only. Most sites have access to the lake.
- Lapêche Lake has a number of canoe camping sites.
There used to be a Youth Hostel near the park on Carman Road (just off highway 105). It has been closed for a number of years, but is supposed to reopen some time in 2006.
Mid-range
The nearby villages of Chelsea and Wakefield have a number of inns and bed and breakfasts which are reasonably priced.
Splurge
The Mill Inn in nearby Wakefield offers top-range accommodation.
Contact
Stay safe
External links
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