When visiting Montreal, one must hike up Mont Royal. That would be like when visiting Vancouver, one must walk the seawall. Or in an orange to orange comparison, do the Grouse Grind.
I don’t mind anything “stairs related”. I climbed the Victory Column (285 steps) in Berlin, and hiked up to the Bastei Rocks (900 steps) at Saxon Switzerland National Park.
Fun fact: and funnily enough, as a Vancouverite, I have never done the Grouse Grind. The 2,830 steps might have something to do with it.
Although I have hiked up to the top of Stawamus Chief, and that was definitely not a cake walk. I will never forgive my friends for downplaying how hard it would be. It was quite the beast of a hike. I was in my 20s when I did it and had much more energy and stamina. I can’t even entertain the thought of doing the Chief again.
But I digress…
I knew that there’d be a killer view of downtown Montreal when you get to the top of Mont Royal. I suppose that and a walk in nature were incentive enough. I only wished it hadn’t been on the hottest day of my trip. Don’t let the clouds in the picture fool you. It was 30C+. Hella hot and hella humid.
Armed with a bottle of water and slathered in SPF 50, I walked the one kilometre uphill from Peel Station to the base of Mont Royal. From there, it would be 400 fairly steep steps to the top. There is the option to wind around the mountain to the top, which would be easier, more leisurely, and would take more time. But the whole point is to climb. those. stairs.
It’s supposed to take around 30-45 mins to get to the top. But I had already done one kilometre uphill to get to the base already. In a mask too. However, it’s not the worst hike by far. Just make sure you stay hydrated and take breaks if you need to.
The view at the top is really killer and worth the hike.
On the descent, I opted for the escarpment trail instead of the steps because it would bring you to some more viewpoints. And definitely less crowded. But the best part about reaching the Camille-Houde look out was an encounter with some friendly racaccoonies. They were used to humans but still shy. And looking for eats from hikers. That was a definitely surprise and highlight of the hike.
From there, I walked down the dirt walking path, basically zig zagging down the park. A couple of times, I thought I’d become lost as the path would fork and I wasn’t sure what direction to take. But I think whatever path you go with, you’d (eventually) end up by or near the monument on Park Avenue.
I was so beat by the time I got down to street level and gotten two mosquito bites walking through the woods, that I completely ran out of steam and wasn’t able to explore the Plateau. I just went back to my hotel, ordered some delivery, rotted for the rest of the night before passing out, happy that I made it to the top. There’s still some hike in me left.
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