Gatineau Park

Trails Skied: Fortune Pkwy, #1, #30, #3, #9, #4, #8, Camp Fortune Race Course, #17, #20, #11, #12, Glide Wax: blue, Grip Wax: extra blue

Beautiful day. I skied out of P7 and mostly toured the backcountry trails. The fresh (soft, dry) powder we got earlier in the week has gotten a little bit crusty in the colder weather but it was still nice to get off the beaten path and ski some of the twisty trails. All the trails had been well skied in and I only found myself breaking trail on one of the lost and forgotten trails.

The main goal today was to ski the old Shamrock trail for obvious reasons. I was clearly not the only one with this thought as - despite it no longer being a marked trail - it was well skied in by others before I got there. From there I just kept pointing the skis in various directions and skiing whatever came to mind. A day where you don't want to go home... but eventually have to.

Used a few of the groomed trails (1, 3, the race course and the Fortune parkway) in order to connect to more of the backcountry trails. They seemed in excellent shape with lots of people out enjoying the sunshine and (somewhat) cold breezes.

I did find a few open water hazards here and there on the backcountry trails. A reminder that we didn't actually get that much new snow. For the most part they were in the usual spots or areas you could see coming so they were manageable.













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