11 Unbeatable Hikes An Hour Or Less From Montreal

I love a good hike, but I don’t always want to drive 2 hours, hike, and then drive home for 2 hours. That’s why I found the best hikes an hour or less from Montreal!

That way, you can go for a refreshing morning hike, or if you’re having a slower morning, only head out after lunch.

There’s really no reason to drive any further. These hikes near Montreal offer an escape to nature and spectacular mountain top views. Most of them also have several trails that will keep you coming back several times!

If you’re looking for bigger hikes, check out one of the Quebec National Parks near Montreal!

So, without further ado, here are my top 11 hikes around Montreal that are an hour or less away!

Psst! This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through my link it will send a bit extra my way… at no extra cost to you!

Top 11 Hikes Near Montreal

1. Mont St. Bruno National Park

Only a 45 minute drive from Montreal, Mont Saint Bruno National Park offers a good variety of trails. This isn’t your typical uphill mountain hike. You’ll get views from around the lake along the trail, as well as the enormous private homes in the park. The paths are wide and easy to walk making this the perfect hike from Montreal for beginners.

I recommend spending the day at Mont Saint Bruno, packing a picnic lunch and enjoying it in one of the many fields throughout the park. When visiting, make sure to stop by the old water mill that’s now a teahouse. If you’re interested, they also offer canoe and kayak rental at the lakes. 

2. Mont Saint Hilaire: Gault Nature Reserve

Mont Saint Hilaire is also about a 45 minute drive from the city making it one of the most popular hikes near Montreal. Mont Saint Hilaire is actually the city name, so if you want to hike the mountain look for the Gault Nature Reserve.

The Gault Nature Reserve is a part of McGill University as a research site. There are 25 km of hiking trails and 4 trails that will bring you to the summit overlooking Lake Hertel.

Unlike Mont Saint Bruno, this is a real mountain with a peak of 415 meters. But it’s fairly easy and the views are spectacular.

3. Mont Saint Grégoire: CIME Haut-Richelieu

This was the first “steep” hike we did so we were shocked when we found out it was considered an “easy” hike from Montreal. It’s quite a steep uphill climb, and sometimes even required climbing rocks (especially the trail down, which is all rocks).  

Mont Saint Grégoire looks small compared to some of the other nearby mountains (like Mont Saint Hilaire and Bruno). But although it isn’t very wide, it’s quite tall. The summit is 251 meters which is actually taller than Mont Royal and Mont Saint Bruno. The mountain really stands out against it’s entirely flat surroundings.  

Once you arrive at the top, you can sit down on the rocks and walk around for a 360 degree view. You’ll get views of Quebec farms and you’ll even be able to see the surrounding mountains like Mont Saint Hilaire, Saint Bruno, and even the American Adirondacks.

There’s only one path up and down, but it is a loop, so you take a different way down than you took to go up. Although the way down was much harder than the way up, it was much rockier.

4. Mont Rougemont Hike From Montreal

Mont Rougemont is a MASSIVE mountain but you can’t actually hike most of it. The only access you have to the 366 meter peak is through Cidrerie Michel Jodoin.  

Rougemont is a real intermediate hike, especially the trail down. Make sure you check the weather the from the day before hiking this trail. When we went, it had just rained the day before making the path VERY muddy and slippery.

The hike itself is quite steep up and down but it is a loop. There’s also the option to make it about 30 minutes longer if you want.  What I love most about hiking Mont Rougemont is that you’re at an apple orchard and cidery. You can easily spend the entire day here, pick up some local cider on your way out, or make a reservation for a cider tasting!

5. Hikes Near Montreal: Mont Gale (Bromont)

This is a must-do hike from Montreal (especially in the fall)! I’ll be honest that it’s a bit past the hour mark from Montreal, but only by 5 minutes! Plus, those 5 extra minutes driving are hella worth it!  

Mont Gale in Bromont has 7 km of hiking trails, and there’s even a beach and spa that you can relax at afterwards! There are actually two viewpoints at Mont Gale.

To see both, I recommend following G1. Once you reach the summit (which is 363 meters) you can take G1 back down, or make a loop by going to G8. G8 is much steeper to hike than G1… we made the mistake of taking that way up, it was a lot harder! 

Be warned, the map is a bit tricky to understand, and it isn’t helped by the large number of trails. There aren’t any signs pointing to the summit, and sometimes you’ll get to a fork in the road and the same trail continues both ways…

Despite the less than optimal map, Mont Gale is one of my all time favourite fall hikes around Montreal! See what else there is to do in Montreal in the fall.

6. Hike Alfred Kelly Nature Reserve Hike From Montreal

Alfred Kelly Nature Reserve is our go-to hike from Montreal. It’s perfect for every weather, we’ve hiked it in the winter, spring, summer, and fall!  Alfred Kelly Nature Reserve is less than an hour from Montreal, free, and there are 15 km of hiking trails to choose from.

We’ve barely even scratched the surface! It’s so large it crosses two Laurentian towns: Piedmont and Prévost! The trails for the most part have an incline, and sometimes they’re also rocky but it makes for a great workout.  

The downside is that there isn’t a summit lookout point at Alfred Kelly Nature Reserve. The main view is of Paradise Lake which takes about an hour round trip.

Read My Full Guide To Hiking Alfred Kelly

7. Regional Park Val-David Val-Morin: Hiking Montreal

Regional Park Val-David Val-Morin is also a massive area that you can almost get lost in. The main hiking trail is Mont Condor Ouest (following D-C-E-C trails). It’s 3.8 km and on a good day, will take you an hour and half.

Unfortunately, the path has the potential to be incredibly muddy and slippery… as we learned the hard way. So, it may take you closer to two hours.  

E is an optional loop from C that you can avoid if you want a shorter hike, but you will miss a lookout point.  At the lookout point there are picnic tables where you can take a break before continuing your way down.

8. Mont Rigaud: La Croix

Less than an hour from Montreal, Mont Rigaud is a well known ski hill in the winter, but opens up for hiking in the summer. Because it’s primarily a ski hill, you can actually choose the difficulty of your hike.  

You can opt to hike up a black diamond which will be much steeper and quicker than a green circle. But, that’s only the first part of the hike.  

Once you’ve made it to the top of ski mountain, walk towards the chairlifts and look for signs reading La Croix. This secret hiking path will take you to a second peak. This terrain is a bit more difficult as it’s quite a bit rockier. But it isn’t too long, and the whole hike can be done in as little as 30 minutes.

8.5 Alternative Route To La Croix

Mont Rigaud is a great hike near Montreal, but what if you’re looking for a hike in the winter Mont Rigaud is primarily a ski hill. If you’re looking to get to the Cross in the winter, there is an alternative route (which you can also use all year round). 

You’re going to want to go to Our Lady of Lourdes Sanctuary in Rigaud. There are two main paths to the cross. The main one is through Our Lady of Lourdes Sanctuary and it is a much easier hike. 

If you’re looking for a bit more a challenge (and longer hike) there’s a small trail head across from the Bourget Arena. If you want to start here, you can park at the Bourget Arena instead. There’s paint on the trees to follow (red, yellow, and orange stripes). 

9. Sentier de L’Escapade (Rigaud): Best Hikes Around Montreal

Another amazing hiking path in Rigaud is the Sentier de L’escapade. There are two main trails that you can hike: La Clé des Bois and Le Haut-Lieu. La Clé des Bois is about 3 km which brings you up to Le Haut Lieu, a 14 km circuit.
 
It’s a bit long to do both in the same day, and even the 14 km circuit on its own is a lot all at once. Since it’s not a good loop trail, we end up walking and turning around to walk back to the car. The positive is that there are a lot of parking lots so you can start at a different point each time to get an entirely different experience.
 
If you’re looking for a more uphill hike, I recommend parking in P1 to walk La Clé des Bois.

But! To get a view, you’re going to want to park in P7, which is about a 10 minute walk to the viewpoint from here. The viewpoint is also a nice place to set up a picnic lunch. See the map.

The road to the P7 parking lot is closed in the winter due to bad driving conditions. You can still park at the Sugar Shack and walk back to P7.

10. Oka National Park (& Sentier Oka Abbaye)

Oka National Park is another favourite hike from Montreal due to it’s closeness to the city and the variety of trail options. It’s less than an hour drive to this beautiful National Park! There’s also a beach where you can relax after your hike up the mountain!  

The negative is that it’s very well known among locals, so it might be busy when you go. That’s why I found a sneaky alternative!  

Next door to the Oka National Park is the Sentier Oka Abbey. Here, you’ll find beautiful hiking trails… for free! They’re actually meant for mountain bikers, so you have to keep an eye out for them racing around the trails. If you want to avoid mountain bikers at all cost, there are now designated trails for walkers so look for those signs.  

My favourite trail to hike from Montreal is the blue trail that follows the stream. There are even some quiet spots for you to set up and picnic here.  Don’t forget to stop at Bistro Le Sacre at the Abbey on your way out!

11. Parc Nature les Forestiers-de-Saint-Lazare

Only a 45 minute drive, Parc Nature les Forestier-de-Saint-Lazare is our new favourite destination for a hike from Montreal. It’s especially beautiful in the winter will the immense pine trees towering over you that still have leaves on them. 

The entire hike is 7.7 km (would take you a bit over 2 hours to hike) but they have 4 checkpoints along the way that you can loop back if you want to. There’s only one part that overlaps both ways. So you can make it as long or as short as you like. 

The only downside to Parc Nature les Forestier-de-Saint-Lazare is that is isn’t accessible for hiking in the winter. But you can come here for snow shoeing, cross-country skiing, tubing, and even skating! It’s the perfect place to bring the family for the day, in the summer they even have a pool! Check it out!

More Hikes Near Montreal

If you’re looking for a more casual walk outside the city, visit the Morgan Arboretum. It’s also a part of McGill, and free for McGill students.

If you’re willing to drive a bit further there are countless more hikes near Montreal that you can go on as well. One of our favourite summer day trips is Mont Tremblant. You can hike the mountain and relax in the village in the afternoon.  

My family also loves Lac Monroe, although that’s even further past Mont Tremblant. You can also drive to the Eastern Townships, about an hour and a half drive, and hike Mont Sutton.

Raining In Montreal? Here Are 31 Rainy Day Activities

My Hiking Montreal Must-Haves

Hiking shoes make the WORLD of difference when hiking (shocking right!). My brand of choice is Merrell, but Salomon also makes really good hiking shoes.

The one you choose will ultimately depend on which one fits your foot better. My Merrell Moab 2 Ventilator(find them on Amazon here) just hug my narrow feet perfectly!

We started out with Nomader water bottles, which are great. But now we’ve also upgraded to 1.2L Thermoflasks water bottles. Now we never run out of water!

Another hiking must-have is a hiking bag. You can’t go wrong buying an Osprey bag for all your hiking essentials (think extra water bottles, food, sun screen bug spray…). A hiking bag, like the Osprey Skarab 18, will give you the needed support to carry these items and not break your back while hiking.

P.S. Planning to hike in Montreal in the winter? You’ll want to get crampons to avoid slipping. A lot of the hikes near Montreal can become very icy in the winter. Find crampons on Amazon here.

Read More Montreal Outdoor Travel Guides!

• 10 National Parks To Visit From Montreal
• The Ultimate Guide To Hiking Alfred Kelly Near Montreal
• The Ultimate Guide to McGill’s Morgan Arboretum
• Visit Chutes de la Plaisance (Day Trip From Montreal)
• Discover Oka Québec: Why Go On A Day Trip From Montreal

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Last update on 2024-11-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API