Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: #5 (green), #27, #7, #15 (blue), #15 (black), #26, #29 (shared), #35, Pink Lake Access, Glide Wax: , Grip Wax:

This was a very enjoyable classic ski, with supremely brilliant scenery, and REAL snow. It's quite an adjustment after the icy stuff of late. We skied the 20 K Keski course, modifying the route on the way back way in favour of the wooded trails instead of the parkway. (I am so sick of parkway skiing!!)

There had been grooming but conditions were very, very slow and soft. On the return trip we found that the tracks had already been obliterated by the numerous skiers, including a few skate skiers. The steep section of trail 15 which leads up to Kingsmere was particularly messy. There was a meter wide swath of deep, churned snow (was this ever groomed?) and an equally wide bobsled run of ice that had been scraped free of snow.

It is a rare treat to have new snow to play in, but Demsis will need to groom and trackset again it as soon as possible, preferably overnight, so that things can firm up a bit.













Gatineau park map


Gatineau Park is ski paradise! The network of ski trails offer machine groomed skate skiing and classic skiing as well as little groomed backcountry trails. Multiple access points allow skiers to access a variety of terrain and scenery. The NCC offers season or daily pay rates.

Gatineau park map

For suggestions on where to ski, excellent trail descriptions, photos and maps checkout Michael McGoldrick`s website about recreational xc-skiing in Canada`s National Capital Region (with an emphasis on the Gatineau Park).

Gatineau park map