Hiking to the tops of Montagne Verte and Nez-de-l’Indien in the Laurentians

I feel like spring has flown by, and since returning from Mexico City, I’ve had little time to hike. So when my friend Véro suggested we hit the road one Sunday morning to go hike the Montagne Verte and Nez-de-l’Indien trails in the Laurentians, I jumped at the chance.

Especially since I’d been wanting to do this hike for a long time! The trail leading to the summits of Montagne Verte and Nez-de-l’Indien is one of the region’s flagship trails. In fact, this hike is so popular that some days, the large parking lot at the trailhead fills up quickly.

Luckily for us, we arrived early and had no problem finding a spot in the parking lot. The weather seemed perfect for this late-spring day: not too cold, not too hot, and a beautiful, clear blue sky. Perfect conditions to return to this region I love so much!

The Montagne Verte (Green Mountain) and Nez-de-l’Indien (Indian Nose) trail is located in the municipality of Labelle, north of Mont-Tremblant. The trail is divided into two parts: a loop that leads to the summit of Montagne Verte, and an out-and-back trail that leads to Nez-de-l’Indien.

Many hikers come here just to complete the Montagne Verte loop (a hike of just over 3 kilometres). But we wanted to reach the summits of both mountains, so our plan was to start by following the loop until the intersection with the Nez-de-l’Indien trail, follow it, and then return to complete the loop. A total of about 12 kilometres.

The trail gains elevation from the first few metres, but it didn’t seemed too challenging to me. In fact, after several weeks of inactivity, I was really happy to finally be able to stretch my legs!

We climbed at a good pace through the beautiful Laurentian mixed forest. The trail was rocky and a little muddy in places, but the climb felt easy. In fact, so easy that after a kilometre, we reached the open rock face of the summit of Montagne Verte, and realized we had completely missed the intersection with the trail to Nez-de-l’Indien.

We still took a few moments to admire the beautiful view of Lake Tremblant, Mont Tremblant, and, just ahead, the distinctive shape of Nez-de-l’Indien.

Véro and I afterwards retraced our steps, and about a hundred metres further down, we finally found the trail leading to Nez-de-l’Indien. We took this one, which took us back down from Montagne Verte.

For over a kilometre, the trail winds through the dense forest between the two mountains. It was a little muddier than the Montagne Verte Loop, but well-marked and still easy to follow. There were even a few boardwalks in places, which took us around a pretty pond.

The trail eventually began to gain elevation, heading towards the summit of Nez-de-l’Indien. The climb was steep and rocky in places, but we were able to climb at a good pace, and finally reached the rocky summit of the mountain, at an elevation of 472 metres.

The view from the summit was quite beautiful, with the majestic Lake Tremblant and the mountain of the same name on the other side. We took the opportunity to take a long break to have lunch and rest our legs a bit.

The sky clouded over while we were at the summit of Nez-de-l’Indien. Then, as we retraced our steps to return to Montagne Verte, it started to rain. At first, gently, then more intensely. The trail became a little muddier and a little more slippery.

The rain subsided by the time we reached the Montagne Verte Loop. When we got to the summit, at an elevation of 495 metres, the view seemed quite different from that of a few hours earlier. Large, threatening clouds hung over the vast Laurentian landscape.

In better conditions, I probably would have enjoyed the summit of Montagne Verte more. The wide open rock face offer interesting hiking terrain and a nearly 360-degree view of the surrounding landscape. But the rain had made the rocks slippery, and we had to be careful not to lose our footing. We were also starting to get a bit tired by that point.

The trek back down the mountain was therefore slow and arduous. But we completed the loop and returned to the parking lot. In total, with the few detours we took, our hike totaled 12.3 kilometres, with an elevation gain of approximately 800 metres.

And now I can say that the summer hiking season has officially begun!