Hiking: Yamaska National Park

Fees: 8.75$ or SEPAQ Access Card Level: Moderate Parking: Yes Facilities: Yes

Located an hour away from Montreal Yamaska National Park is a great place to spend times outdoors. Part of the SEPAQ , the park has a lot to offer with a multitude of activities both for summer and winter.

They offer a variety of water sports including kayaking, row boat, pedal boat, paddle boat that are available for rental (price can be found on the website). They also offer free activities such as the beach volleyball, swimming and water games. If you’re more of a land type of person there are also several options that the park can offer you such as biking and hiking. Bike rental are available including fat bikes.

I personally went for a day of hiking. You have different trails to choose from depending on the distance you want to hike. The level is considered easy but you should know your limits prior to hitting the trail.

I can easily walk 20 km in the city but I got a bit overly confident on my first time out in years and took ‘’Le Grand-Tour’’. That hike is easy and takes you from the bike trail to smaller paths less frequented but it is a 20 km hike. We were pretty quick and managed to do it in 4 hrs 20 minutes but in all honesty the last 5 km was extremely painful.

There are a few nice points of view that overlook the lake and it’s a beautiful and fun way to spend time in nature. Once you’re done with your activities they have an area where you can have a nice picnic.

If you want to spend the night they also have a campsite and some cottages that are available for rental.

You can also do winter sports in the park like snowshoeing, cross country skiing and winter hiking.

The cost for entry in the park was 8.75$ for adults and it’s free for children under 18 years old. You will have to add parking to your cost that was 8.50$ for the day. Overall it is a rather inexpensive way to spend a day and enjoy some time outside of the city.

You can follow this link to get an idea of the prices for the rental activities Pricing