Following the big loop at Parc des Montagnes Noires in Ripon

This is a second visit for me to Parc des Montagnes Noires de Ripon (Ripon’s Black Mountains Park), in the Outaouais region! I visited this park a few years ago, and I hiked to the summit of Mont Grand-Pic, the highest mountain in the park, and also one of the highest in the region.

During this visit, however, I did not climb to the top of the observation tower, because it was under construction at the time. In addition, Parc des Montagnes Noires de Ripon was recently added to the Rando Québec 75S Challenge, a challenge in which I am registered. And since the route suggested as part of the challenge is a little different from the one I hiked last time, I told myself that that was all the more reason to go back!

My partner and I therefore headed to the main parking lot of Parc des Montagnes Noires, we paid the access fee there, then we headed towards Trail 1 (also called Beaver Trail) to begin our hike.

Mont Grand-Pic and its lookout

The route suggested as part of the 75S challenge is called the Big Loop, and as its name suggests, it allows you to follow a large loop of approximately 7 kilometres in the park. This loop first goes to the Mont Grand-Pic lookout, so that’s where we headed.

In fact, when I first came, I followed the same route to get to the top of the mountain. We started by following Trail 1, which passes near a few of the shelters in the park before crossing the road, and a few meters further, we arrived at Trail 7 (also called Lookout Trail). That is where we started our climb up the mountain.

I remembered the climb to the lookout being quite steep, but short, but I think I found it easier a few years ago. It must be said that the trail was muddier than at my last visit, and there were also a few more black flies and mosquitoes, enough to make us want to hurry.

But after a little less than 2 kilometres, we arrived at the summit of Mont Grand-Pic, where there is a lookout offering a nice view of the surrounding area.

At an elevation of 426 metres, Mont Grand-Pic is the highest mountain in the region west of Mont-Tremblant. From its summit, you can see several other mountains in the region, including Mont-Tremblant.

The observation tower

After a short break at the lookout (we could have stayed longer but the black flies were quite intense), we continued our hike on Trail 7. I remember that last time, I really liked this short part which follows the mountain plateau, has a few small climbs and descents in the forest and passes near large erratics. I really enjoyed it again this time, despite the gloomy weather.

Then, after a few metres, we arrived at the famous observation tower, the one I was finally seeing for the first time.

The 12-metre-high tower offers a 360-degree view of the Petite Nation region. I was once again impressed by the beauty of the landscape, despite the gray sky. Coming back to visit Parc des Montagnes Noires de Ripon was definitely worth it, if only to be able to enjoy this view.

But we hadn’t finished our hike yet. We now had to go back down via Trail 12 (Summits Trail), a trail that I had not hiked the last time.

Trail 12 (Summits Trail)

I’m not sure which summits this trail refers to, but it’s aptly named because it started with a fairly steep climb. Fortunately, the trail afterwards begins its descent into the forest.

I really liked this portion too. It wasn’t anything too complicated, but the forest is very pretty, there were still a few erratic boulders, as well as a few footbridges and boardwalks to help across the muddy sections and small streams. There were a few steep descents and Trail 12 was longer than Trail 7, so I feel like the hike would have been more challenging if we would have done it in the other direction.

After taking us down the mountain, Trail 12 eventually crosses the road, then takes us past the Trappeur Shelter. Afterwards, we only had a few metres left to go to get back to the parking lot. In total, our hike totaled 7.3 kilometres, with an elevation gain of 329 metres.

I don’t often revisit places I’ve already visited, but I’m very happy to have returned to Ripon’s Black Mountains Park. Not only was I finally able to climb to the top of the observation tower and hike a trail I hadn’t hiked before, but I also now did one more hike as part of the 75S Challenge!

Watch the video recap of our hike:

***The Big Loop of Parc des Montagnes Noires de Ripon is part of the 75S Challenge, a hiking challenge managed by Rando Québec. To learn more about the challenge or to follow my progress, visit this page.***