Pinhey Forest is a favorite for many in Ottawa, and after exploring Trail 32 this summer, we knew we would be back to check out Trail 31.

Trail 31 winds through the forest behind the Nepean Sportsplex, so it’s right in town. The trail is a little more varied and feels a little more like a “real” hike than Trail 32. Dogs are allowed, so we brought ours. We had set out not long after the tornados touched down, so we had no idea what the state of the trails would be.

Trail 31 is nice because it’s made up of two loops, providing the option of a shorter or longer hike, depending on your mood.

Getting There

There are three spots behind the Nepean Sportsplex that can be used to access the trail. You’ll know that you’re in the right place when you see the football field. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.326065, -75.742171 .

There were washrooms across from the trailhead, which was near the south side of the football field. There was a little “P14” sign there, to signify this was the parking identified on the NCC’s map. Standing and looking at the field, the trailhead would start on your right hand side.

To the left of the field are two other trailheads that could be used to access the trail. If we were to hike this trail again, we would use those instead. I’ll tell you why later.

The Trailhead

There was a big map at the trailhead, which is pretty typical with NCC trails. We stopped for a quick look, and then set out.

After hiking for only 600 metres, we reached a split in the trail that could have allowed us to choose the shorter loop.

There were a few cool workout stations along the trail, although their placement felt kind of sporadic. We came across the monkey bars early into our hike, and thought back to how easy it once was to spend a whole recess “exercising” on the monkey bars.

Easy Hiking

We wanted a longer walk, so we stayed straight instead of heading to our left. Not too far further, we came to a boardwalk that made crossing a wetter section quite easy. Then, we found ourselves walking behind the backyards of several houses. We weren’t getting a real “lost in the forest feel,” but for a trail so close to home, we’ll take what we can get!

We came to another set of boardwalks after hiking 1.6 kilometres. Despite the crazy storm Ottawa had just experienced, the trails weren’t actually too wet. And there wasn’t as much debris down as we had expected (although there was some!).

So far, the trail had been pretty wide, and pretty flat. The NCC does a good job of having a map at a lot of different points along the trail, and this trail was no exception.

After hiking 3.3 kilometres, we left the forest and followed a bike path to our left. We re-entered the forest right beside the football field, under a trailhead sign that said Nepean Fitness Trail.

This is where, if we were to hike this trail again, we would start. It would have just allowed us to stay in the forest for the whole hike, instead of popping in and out.

Getting Back

This last section of the trail brought us behind the football field and back to where we had started. All in all, we walked a total of 3.98 kilometres. We were able to cover that distance in an hour, because we didn’t really stop for breaks.

Trail 31 is a great “coffee” trail, in my mind. Because it’s so close to town, and so easy, there’s no reason you couldn’t walk the whole thing with a cup of coffee in hand. I’m pretty sure I’ll be back to do just that.

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 We Brought