Snowshoeing at Parc des Bouleaux in Morin-Heights

Since the beginning of winter, I have mainly taken advantage of my weekends to go cross-country skiing (at Domaine Saint-Bernard and Higley Flow State Park, among other places). It had been a long time since I had taken out my snowshoes and I was very happy to do so when I went to Parc des Bouleaux in Morin-Heights last weekend.

In fact, Parc des Bouleaux has snowshoe trails and cross-country ski trails and when I arrived there, I had not yet decided which activity I was going to do. Looking at the trail map, I realized that the snowshoe trails led to a few lookouts, and would allow me to complete a not too long loop within the park.

So I put on my snowshoes and after paying the access fee online, I set off into the pretty snowy forest!

Parc des Bouleaux is part of the outdoor network of the municipality of Morin-Heights in the Laurentians. The park is located in a wooded area north of the municipality, not far from Parc du Mont Loup-Garou where I also went snowshoeing a few years ago.

I imagine that the park is so named because of the many birch trees (bouleaux, in French) found there. Like elsewhere in the Laurentians, the ecosystems are varied, there are many erratic blocks and the terrain is hilly. The kind of places where I like to go hiking!

I started by following Trail 17 (Bouleaux Trail), a trail that immediately made me gain a bit of elevation. I haven’t done much hiking in the last few months, and I was surprised to realize that my calves suffered from this lack of exercise.

After Trail 17, I followed Trail 15 (L’aventurier), a 1-kilometre detour through the forest, which took me past Green Lake. The trail crosses a few times with the cross-country ski trails, but the trails are well marked and easy to follow.

The last section of Trail 15 took me up towards the top of a small mountain (which is called Lover’s Leap, I think). The climb is relentless, and I had to stop a few times to catch my breath. I definitely haven’t done enough mountain hiking in the last few months!

I followed the signs to the top, then arrived at a rocky ledge from which I had a nice view of this area of ​​Morin-Heights. The kind of view that reminded me why I should definitely do more winter hiking!

I had reached the lookout, but in order to take advantage of my time at Parc des Bouleaux, I decided to continue my hike. I followed Trail 14 (Le Parcours du Loup), a 2-kilometre trail that took me back down the mountain to make a long loop in the forest, before making me gain elevation again.

The map indicated that there was a lookout along Trail 14, but I didn’t find it that impressive (the view is partly blocked by trees). But I still really liked this trail, it was very peaceful with all the snow!

Afterwards, I followed Trail 13 (Le Couloir) to go back to the top of Lover’s Leap. Then I went back down using Trail 12 (L’Enfilade). This one took me past a snowy pond. Trail 12 leads to Route 329, but I decided to take Trail 17 again to return to the parking lot, my starting point.

In total, I covered more than 6 kilometres, with an elevation gain of 320 meters. I didn’t come across any other hikers on the trails until I returned to the parking lot (I was surprised to find that it was almost full, when I came back – the trails had been so quiet!). In short, it was another great winter outing in the Laurentians!