This hike is part of the Adventure Report Ottawa Hiking Challenge! If you hike this trail, you’re officially working on the Views Edition!

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Adventure Report Ottawa Hiking Challenge Route Specification: Hike Trail #6 and Trail #4.

Mont Cascades has EVERYTHING. And I thought that before I even knew there were hiking trails there. In the summer, there’s a waterpark. In the winter, a ski hill. And now, I’ve discovered they have hiking trails that are open year round!

We went snowshoeing there near the beginning of December. There were a handful of trails we could have chosen, but we decided to put Trail #6 and Trail #4 together to form a loop, and check out the two lookouts in the trail network. They were beautiful, and not that tough to get to! Plus, the ski chalet has a beautiful fireplace and a cafeteria (and indoor washrooms!). It seems that hiking at ski hills has a lot of perks.

All in all, there are about 25 kilometres of hiking trails on the mountain. Parking was free, which was awesome. Dogs are not allowed, and snowshoes are required when the trails are snowy. They rent snowshoes at the ski chalet, but hadn’t started for the season when we visited.

Getting To the Trailhead

Mont Cascades is only half an hour from Ottawa. It was an easy drive there, and we got to drive through Cantley, a little town I haven’t spent much time in.

It was impossible to miss Mont Cascades, because the ski chalet and water park were right beside Chemin du Mont Cascades as we drove in.

You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.592922, -75.850632.

We pulled into the parking lot and found a spot easily, even though it was mid-morning on a Sunday.

The Trailhead

Near the back of the parking lot (the end furthest from the ski chalet) there was a big open field. And at the back of the field, was where the trails started.

At the trailhead, there was a map posted, making it easier to spot from the parking lot than it might have been otherwise. As we approached, we spotted a few other signs as well- some reminded us that snowshoes were mandatory on snowy trails, and other let us know that there might be bears in the area. Hoping they had begun their hibernation, we set off.

Our Route

The trails at Mont Cascades are great because there are a ton of them to choose from, and they could be combined in all sorts of ways, to make your hike shorter or longer (or somewhere in between).

Having looked at the trail map, we knew we wanted to see both lookouts (obviously), so we decided to hike Trail #6 first, and then use Trail #4 to get back. The map let us know our route would be about 5 kilometres long.

After leaving the trailhead, the trail split almost immediately. In order to hop on Trail #6, we went to our right. We continued traveling through the forest for a bit, and then abutted what seemed to be an old logging road, or ATV track. Signs and arrows pointed us to our left, and we began to travel steadily (but gently) downhill.

This section of the trail was kind of wacky. There were tons of rocks and logs scattered about, and small troughs carved into the dirt where it was clear run off travelled in the summer. We zig zagged down the trail in order to stay on solid ground.

Despite the choppiness of the trail, we knew we were headed in the right direction because there were trail markers placed consistently among the trees.

Soon, we noticed a creek on our right hand side. Then, we noticed that a small creek had carved its way into the ground on our left hand side as well. There was a lot of high ground for us to stick with, and we used our hiking poles to make sure we weren’t going to break through the ice at any points we were unsure of.

The River

After hiking just over a kilometre, the trail veered off to our left. But straight ahead of us was the Gatineau River, and we took a few steps further to check out the view.

Following the trail, we had to take off our snowshoes. It skirted the river, and was just too rocky for us to be tromping around in snowshoes with so little snow on the ground. With the water right beside us on our right hand side, we continued following the trail markers through the forest.

The trail markers so far had switched between arrows and Mont Cascade signs. Now, the arrows had a little number 6 on them to confirm that we were on the right track.

Finally Headed Uphill

When we had hiked about 1.6 kilometres, we came across the ruins of a burnt out cabin. Only the chimney was still standing (which was kind of ironic but also awful!). The trail brought us behind the ruins, and we headed up a very steep incline. Time to put our crampons on!

We continued uphill, and passed below a set of power lines. The terrain had changed, and we found ourselves traversing a lot of short but steep hills. The trail markers were plentiful, which was good because the trees were sparse enough that it could have been tricky to follow the trail in some spots.

SO Many Trail Splits!

After hiking 2.1 kilometres, we reached a split in the trail. This was where Trail #3 crossed Trail #6. There was a map posted, so it was easy for us to know that we had to carry on straight ahead. 150 metres later, we came to another trail split, with tons of options. In order to stick with Trail #6, we veered to the right, heading up another small hill. The trail markers leading us up the foot hill (not the first one!) had the number six on them, which was great because we weren’t totally sure we had picked the right direction.

We continued uphill for quite a while, getting breaks here and there as we traveled along. Then, at the 2.8 kilometre mark, we reached a STEEP uphill. Just looking at it, we knew it would be a bit of a grind. Off we went!

The First Lookout

After hiking 3.2 kilometres, things began to level out a bit. The treeline also opened up, and wind started gusting through. Just before the lookout, we reached the split in the trail where #4, #6, #5, and #8 meet. Before taking #4 back, we kept straight to check out the lookout. The map makes it look like the trails meet AT the lookout, but that’s not the case.

The lookout was stunning! With two benches to sit on, we had an amazing view of the Gatineau River.

We saw a chairlift off to our left hand side, but the wind was so strong at the lookout that we didn’t go to explore, choosing instead to beat a hasty retreat.

The Second Lookout!

Returning to the split, we had to turn to our left to get onto trail #4. The trail had been overtaken by water soon after the split. It seemed frozen pretty solidly, but we were still careful as we picked our way along it. It seems there are a lot of sections of these trails that would get really gross and muddy in the spring.

We headed downhill, which was a nice change. We were able to catch glimpses of the stunning Gatineau River through the trees as we hiked along, and at the 3.9 kilometre mark, we found ourselves at our second lookout of the day.

Here, open rock face lead us out to a view over the river. The wind was just as temperamental in this spot! The trail carried on to our right, and we traversed a ridge for a bit before being swallowed up by the trees again.

Trail #7 crossed #4 at 4.5 kilometres. #7 meandered off to the left, and we stuck to the right to stay on #4. After consulting the map that was posted there, of course!

On Our Way Back

After hiking just over 4.8 kilometres, the trail we were on abutted Trail #3 abruptly. There was a map posted, and very confusing trail markers posted as well. One arrow pointed to the left, stating that #3 and #4 were in that direction. Another pointed to the right, stating the exact same thing. We headed to the right so that Trail #4 could bring us back to where we had started.

Just beyond this point, we hiked over the point where Trail #6 and Trail #4 crossed, again. This being our second time in this spot we stayed straight to stick with #4, instead of heading back up the foothill on #6.

The trail began to level out, and widen, and soon we were back at the trailhead. All in all, we had walked 5.6 kilometres. It took us about two and a half hours.

Normally it wouldn’t have taken that long, but one of us had technical difficulties with her gear and her layering. Winter can be tricky for hiking, but the more you practice, the more honed your decisions will be. Thank goodness we have a lot of winter left to practice!

Trail Thoughts

I thought the trails at Mont Cascades were really great. First of all, they were free! The varied terrain made for an interesting hike, and there was definitely enough of an uphill that it could be a nice challenge. The lookouts were stunning, despite the wind, and totally worth the hike. Plus, having so many trails in one area is great when it comes to customizing your hike. There were certain points on the trail where things DID feel a bit confusing because there were so many trails crisscrossing, but the trail marking and the posted maps really helped to clarify things. I would definitely visit again.

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Map and Elevation Gain

Whenever I’m hiking somewhere new, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of that land before me. I’ve enjoyed using this website as a place to start learning more about the indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.

Gear I Brought