Mont Orford National Park
Region : Estrie (Qc)
Start :
• Sentier des ruisseaux des Chênes
• Sentier des crêtes (Pic de l’Ours)
• Centre de Services et découvertes les Cerisier
• Parc municipal de l’érablière Parking
• Mont Orford Ski Station
Distance from start : 46.6km
Parking :
• Sentier des ruisseaux – About 100m from start (Next to a garage)
• Parc Municipal de l’érablière Parking (Free)
• Mont Orford Ski Station Parking lot (Free)
Fee : 8.50$ SEPAQ Fee (Except Ski tril which is free)
Trail Markings : Brown marks for distance and viewpoints
Difficulty : Intermediate to Hard
Washroom:
• Sentier du ruisseau : Beginning + Summit
• Pic de l’Ours : At the Campsite/Parking lot
• Mont Chauve : At the parking
• Mont Orford Ski trail : Beginning + Summit
Map : Park map / Color Park map
Website :
• Parc national du Mont-Orford
• Tourisme Cantons de l’est
Note :
The Sentier des Crêtes is not open for winter trails.
Hikes described on this page:
• Ascend Mont Orford : Sentier du Ruisseau
• Ascend Mont Orford : Ski Trail
• Ascend Mont Chauve
• Ascend Pic de l’Ours
Trails
| Trail | Description | Distance | Difficulty | Elevation | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'Étang-Fer-de-Lance | A nice hike in a sugar shack up to a belvedère - Closed until july 7, 2016 | 3,5 km (loop) | Easy | 30 m | Centre de services Le Bonnallie |
| La Boucle des Trois-Étangs | A hike along a bike path going along three of the parks' ponds : L’Ours, La Cuvette and Martin. | 5,5 km (loop) | Easy | 50 m | Centre de services Le Cerisier |
| Le Pékan | Go up to the "Le Castor" refuge and visit the Colline des Pins and the Colline de la Serpentine | 9,4 km (round-trip) | Intermediate | 95 m | Centre de services Le Cerisier |
| Le Mont-Chauve | Go up to the Mont Chauve summit that is almost 600m in altitude - *Up to july 2016, the trail is accessible from the "Le Castor" refuge. Parking at the "Centre de services le Cerisier" | 10,6 km (loop) | Intermediate | 310 m | Lac Stukely beach parking* |
| Le Ruisseau-David | An easy ascent to the summit of Mont Chauve. | 9 km (round-trip) | Intermediate | 290 m | "Parc municipal de l’Érablière" parking |
| Les Crêtes | Go on an adventure to see many of the summits, the final one being Mount Orford. Park your car at the Mont-Orford tourist station for a shorter hike (11.4km ony)*Up to july 2016, the trail is accessible from the "Le Castor" refuge. Parking at the "Centre de services le Cerisier" | 18,7 km (to the summit) | Hard | 455 m | Centre de services Le Bonnallie* |
| L'Escalier du Nord | Go up Mount-Orford up to the Pic de L'ours summit, passing by the Roche Fendue summit * *Up to july 2016, the trail is accessible from the "Le Castor" refuge. Parking at the "Centre de services le Cerisier" | 12 km (to the summit) | Hard | 455 m | Centre de services Le Bonnallie* |
| Le Ruisseau-des-Chênes | Follow the ruisseau des chênes. A great hike along the oak and beech trees that will take you up to the Mont-Orford Summit | 9,4 km (round-trip) | Hard | 410 m | Route 112 - Parking just along the road) |
Mont Orford Ascention (Hard)
Sentier des Ruisseaux des Chênes
2015-07-06 • Richelle, Ben, Catherine H., Mathieu L.
Our initiation consisted of the Ascent of Mont Orford on a hard, rocky trail. As you can see on the map, there are some viewpoints that are marked after only 400m. These are not panoramas but Zen “view points” of the fall at the end of the stream.
Having arrived later than expected (after horrible traffic conditions), we sat on the boulders of the first viewpoint to enjoy our lunch.
Enjoying lunch at the falls
After this, we left for our ascent, not knowing what was coming up…
Aparently, when the SEPAQ says that a trail is “hard”, they mean it! On top of the fact that the heat was unbearable, the ascent is very vertical and is mainly jumping from one rock to the next.
When you do this trail, remember to bring tight shoes because you’re going to need to break out your agility skills. Also wear light pants that offer you plenty of movement. I had worn some very inappropriately warm and heavy pants which hindered me throughout this hike.
Viewpoints
There is an amazing number of view points once you are past the river. There are big boulders to sit on and great panoramas throughout the ascent. You will have to fight the urge to stop and contemplate life at every turn!
Richelle and Ben still full of energy – Around 33% of the ascent done
Camping
There is a camp site in the middle of the trail. It’s basically a wodden floor on which you can put a tent, in the middle of the trees. No viewpoints whatsoever….
The summit
So you’ve been working this trail for the past 3km. There is only 1 left. The Sentier des Ruisseaux ends at this point and converges with the Grande Coulée trail. This is a ski trail! No trees and you’re walking on a big gravel road in the burning sun.
Hope you brought a hat! That part is rough!
When you finally reach the summit, you will be greeted by 270° of view point. This also being a ski station, there are the ski lifts, dry washrooms and cute belvederes with picnic tables. There are also some Yurts that look abandoned.
The way down
That last kilometre that took you forever to ascend will take you 5 minutes to descend.
If you consider that the Sentier des Ruisseaux was hard to go up, you have to be extra vigilant on the way down. It took us 2 hours to descend but we stopped A LOT at the view points, exhausted and feeling accomplished.
If you have the time, check out Magog or Eastman, two little towns near Orford.
Happy Hiking
The moment you reach the summit
Mont Orford Ascention (Easy)
Ski Trail (6.6 km round trip)
2016-05-03 • Richelle, Ben, Marie-Michèle G., Julie G., Yan R.
We did this hike after the one at Mont Chauve. Our legs were hurting, our clothes were wet, our shoes muddy but our spirits high and ambitious!
The Trail
This trail is 100% on gravel, and 10 people wide. The goal is to go to the summit easily and fast.
The ascent took us 1 hour and the descent, 30 minutes. Although we ran down at some points, we saw many people running up.
Mont Orford Ski Trail Hike
When you reach the summit, you will be greeted by 270° of view point. This also being a ski station, there are the ski lifts, dry washrooms and cute belvederes with picnic tables. There are also some Yurts that look abandoned.
This time we took our second victory beer (1st was at Mont Chauve that afternoon) and headed down pretty fast to be able to make it for supper.
The descent is very fast and fun considering that you give into the temptation to run down.
Happy Hiking!
Mont Orford Summit Belvedère & Friends
Mont Pic de l’Ours Ascention (Hard)
Sentier des Crêtes
2015-09-01 • Richelle, Ben, Pauline P., Sylvain T.
After Orford a while back, we wanted a different view of the region. I had read that the Sentier des Crêtes was one of the most beautiful trails in the park so we had to give it a shot.
Unfortunately, we got a little side tracked getting there because I hadn’t entered the right coordinates. The one in the Start section above has been corrected and should lead you straight to the parking lot. Because of this loss of time, we weren’t able to make it all the way to the summit of Pic de l’Ours but turned back at the summit before La Roche-Fendue.
Trail Head
The trail doesn’t start at the parking lot but 1.5 km later, after an easy hike on the Route Verte bike path. The head is pretty obvious. There is the classic brown pannel as well as a wooden structure with room for a map (but no map when we were there).
This is a good occasion to warm up or cool down considering the ascent ahead.
The Ascent
The trail starts with a steep ascent with the promise of a viewpoint after 1.1 kms. You will work hard to reach this one!
Despite the abruptness of the ascent, this is one of the better arranged trails that I have ever been on. The path is clearly made of well placed boulders and creating “stairs” in the harder areas.
At the first viewpoint, there is a beautiful view of Lake Stukely and Mont Chauve, where we stopped for our lunch.
Sentier des Crêtes 1st viewpoint : Lake Stukely and Mont Chauve
After this point, the ascent continues but is a lot less abrupt. Our pace went up quickly and we were able to get to the next viewpoint in no time. This second viewpoint, with an odd boulder in the middle, is not the one on the map. Keep going for less than 100m where you will find the Roche-Fendue.
Roche-Fendue
This is a great viewpoint, and apparently, it only gets better! I’ll let you know once I get there!
Sentier des crêtes – Roche Fendue viewpoint
At this point, we headed back down. What took us 3hrs to ascend (with a big break) took us 1h30 to descend (with small breaks).
I’m really happy to have come back to this region and hope to return before the season is over. With more time, I like to head to the small towns to grab a bite before heading out. You never know when you will be able to return so enjoy everything to the fullest and don’t procastinate.
Happy Hiking!
Mont Chauve Ascention (Intermediate)
Sentier du Ruisseau David
2016-05-03 • Richelle, Ben, Marie-Michèle G., Julie G., Yan R.
This is one of our friends Birthday hikes. Luckily, the concept is starting to gain in popularity with my friends 🙂
Trail Head
Go accross the street from the parking lot for the trail head. You will see what appears to be a trail in the parking lot, it just leads to a big empty park which is not Mont Chauve.
The Ascent
The ascent starts right away. The trail is well maintained and very solid with rocky stairs to keep the nature around it intact. It took us about 1h30 to get to the top at a pretty fast pace (way faster than usual and less chilling at the view points). The weather was freezing and humid so our stops were shortened.
Viewpoints & Summit
There are about 3 nice viewpoints along the way where you see a lake and get some good views of Mont Orfod, not too far away. You can get a better view at the viewpoints than the summit.
At the summit, there is a wooden heli-pad (seriously… check the map) where we ate our lunch and enjoyed the view.
Mont Chauve Summit View
After heading down, we decided that we had a lot of time before supper and a lot of energy left so we headed to Mount Orford to ascend the ski trail. This was my first time doing 2 mountains in a day… my legs killed me the next day but what an adventure 🙂
Happy Hiking.