Gatineau Park
Trails Skied: Champlain Pkwy, #1B, Champlain Pkwy, MacKenzie-King Rd , #24, #1 (blue), Glide Wax: Swix Blue, Grip Wax: VR 30
It was the best of skis. It was the worst of skis. Great weather and at least 5 cm of fresh snow. Great grip wax. The tracks were fabulous, but not the classic ones that had to be skied in. There were (guessing) rabbit, fox, wolf, deer and something small all over the trails. The wolf tracks went right up the middle of trail #1 from McKinstry to the Fire Tower.
It was very a very scenic day, but extremely slow and exhausting. Nothing was groomed for classic until I hit the Fortune Parkway on the return trip many, many hours later. There were some narrow skate renovations done on Ridge Road and on the upper Champlain Parkway. 1B was being worked on by 2 snowmobiles when I reached it. It was a lovely kilometer of skiing except for the blue fumes.
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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.
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).
