Family friendly activities in the beautiful province of Quebec and surrounding area. Find tips and guides for hiking, traveling, outdoor and indoor time with your kids.
Ski Montagne Coupee is located in Saint-Jean-de-Matha about 1h15 from Montreal. The centre is specialized in winter sports; cross country ski (traditional and skating – 72.3km trails) and snowshoeing (19.5km trails). The center is situated near the Abbaye Val-Notre Dame, a monastery opened in 2009. The trails take you through a pine forest, a valley, hills, and an impressive cliff.
During wintertime, Parc Régional de la Rivière du Nord offers 14.4 km of winter trails, 17.2 km of cross country trails, a mini slope for sledding, and 19.3 km of snowshoeing trails in the forest. During summertime, it offers hiking and cycling trails, and nautical activities.
Why we love this park:
– Nearby Montreal, less than 45 mins drive
– Super nice scenery with the river rapids
– Simple trails, flat terrain, ideal for little hikers and beginners – circular and short trails
– Unique trails such as Sentier des Arts, a short trail with impressive wooden installations, Circuit Historique and Circuit Écologique – short trails with interpretation panels along the path
Parc regional de Val David, located in the Laurentides offers a wonderful family winter hike (available also all year long). This round trail is about 3km. Trail letters are “D” and “C” starting from chalet d’accueil Anne-Piché in Secteur Dufresne Val-David.
Why do we love this hike:
Beautiful scenery and viewpoints throughout the trail
Special large rocks on the trail
Informative signs along the way
Special tubing hill (part of the park)
Nearby Montreal – under 1h15 drive
The park allows dogs! Check website for exact rules
Parc regional de Val David, located in the Laurentides offers a wonderful family winter hike (available also all year long). This round trail is about 3km. Trail letters are “D” and “C” starting from chalet d’accueil Anne-Piché in Secteur Dufresne Val-David.
Why do we love this hike:
Beautiful scenery and viewpoints throughout the trail
Special large rocks on the trail
Informative signs along the way
Special tubing hill (part of the park)
Nearby Montreal – under 1h15 drive
The park allows dogs! Check website for exact rules
The nicest Sepaq park in terms of scenery (out of the 9 we have visited so far), located in the Laurentian Mountains, 50km north from Quebec City. This post is about our 4km loop winter walk “Les Cascades”, a relatively simple walk for families (difference in altitude about 40m). The walk is beside a stream (mostly frozen in the winter) and inside a forest, reaching a viewpoint of the Sautauriski mountain. The first part of the walk is along the Jacques Cartier River, starting at the Sepaq discovery and visitor centre (at km 10).
This all-year trail is a super fun walk, about 1.9km return, part of the Parcs Regionaux MRC Matawinie. It is not suitable for very small kids as the trail during wintertime can be very slippery. There are about 90 stairs to reach the small waterfall. During our visit, it was mostly frozen and impressive to watch from close proximity. The trail is well maintained and has clear indications. Interpretive signs along the trail will explain the wood logging history of this region.
Located in Granby, on the shores of Lake Boivin, this easy trail is suitable for young families all year long. The long wooden deck along the swamps is offering nice views of the surrounding area. Enjoy bird watching and educative information at the centre which offers temporary exhibitions. Lovely way to spend half a day in nature.
Part of the Laurentian Mountains, located between Saint-Sauveur and Mont-Tremblant, Saint – Adolphe D’Howard is the place for snowshoeing and cross country ski, if you are looking for a less crowded place with challenging hills. This place is one of the most organized outdoor space we have visited, in terms of signs along the way. Clear indications every 50 meters showing the trail you’re on and maps, simple junctions with signs how to head back to the starting point. This post is about our winter hike along the snowshoeing trail in the forest, 6km in total.
If you are looking for a relaxed day outdoor with fantastic views of the streaming St-Lawrence river and Montreal city, this small island – Île Saint-Bernard is the place to visit. Located so close from Montreal, Ile Saint-Bernard is a small island facing Dorval across the St-Lawrence river (which is also called in this part Saint-Louis Lake). The reserve has a variety of eco-systems and it is offering 8km of groomed trails where visitors can enjoy observing animals in their natural habitat. Depending on the season, you can observe many birds, deers and foxes. Throughout the reservation there are many bird feeding stations where you can observe many different bird species.
Few weeks ago we were looking for a place to do winter tubing (with a mechanical lift) and a walk in the forest. We found this nice park relatively close to Montreal. The park is offering many other activities like snowshoeing trails, cross country ski, outdoor skating and disc golf.
We decided to try a 2km walk (one way, total 4km) with snowshoes for the first time in beautiful Charlevoix. We took the easiest path in the area, called Sentier des Lacs. During wintertime, the walk is inside the forest, along a frozen lake, truly a majestic walk. The 2km walk is basically parallel to a closed road which leads to parking P2 (accessible by car in the summer), you can stop, eat and start a fire at the refuge and return back to the original starting point or to continue for many other trails with panoramic views of the St Lawrence river.
As a big astronomy fan, I was just waiting to visit Mont Megantic as it is known for its astronomy research, observatory and for the AstroLab museum for families. Megantic and St -Joseph mountains are about 1000 meters high. There is no cable car to go up the mountain and in order to reach the observation area, you will need to climb up the mountain during winter time as the road was not open when we visited in December.
Mont Megantic is known for its astronomy research, observatory and for the AstroLab museum for families. Megantic and St -Joseph mountains are about 1000 meters high. We hiked the family trail ‘Parcours du Soleil’ /’Petite Ourse’ – a 3 km loop trail, an intermediate level in our opinion, to reach a viewpoint (Belvedere) with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.
Mid-December, we were looking for a ski resort to teach the kids how to ski or a place to do snow shoeing but there was not enough snow even though most resorts were open. We called Mont-Orford centre and they recommended this trail for families with young kids. This is part of a cross-country ski trail which was open for hiking as the season did not start yet. The signs along the way indicate that this path is only for cross-county skiers but we assume it is open all year long.
Located only 23km East of downtown Montreal, this National Park is an easy escape for nature and bird lovers at the city’s doorstep. In this post, we visited two short trails at the national park – Sentier Saint-Gabriel and Sentier Petit-Duc. The second walk, Sentir Petit Duc is suitable for snowshoeing. We have hiked it without the equipment this time as there was not enough snow to snowshoeing.
Quebec Family Hikes 