Réserve naturelle Alfred-Kelly – Parc des Falaises
Region : Laurentides (Qc)
Start : Gare de Prévost
Distance from start : 15km
Parking : At the Gare – Big parking lot
Fee : Free
Trail Markings : Blue markers/Arrows
Difficulty : Medium
Washroom: At the Gare (Closes around 4pm – Restaurants available around)
Map : Click here
Date of hike : April 19, 2016 (Richelle & Ben R.)
Website : Comité régional pour la protection des falaises
Note : NO dogs allowed – Open year round
The start
This is a very nice park. You start off at the Gare de Prévost which is a Non-Profit Organisation. Locals can go and sip coffee with home-baked muffins that other locals bring. There also are art exibits in the main-hall. If you recognize this place, it’s because you either went biking or Cross-country skiing on the “Petit Train du Nord” (Little northern train) path. This used to be a train station but has been refurbished once the trains stopped passing.
Gare de Prévost on a sunny day
We came here in the spring and, since the trees don’t have their foliage yet, we heard the highway for a while. Once you’re really into the woods, you can really enjoy the serenity.
Lac Paradis (Paradise Lake)
About 30 minutes in you will arrive at Lac Paradis. This is where the gigantic cliffs are. This is one of the parts that was completely flooded with a stream. Jumping from rock to rock, we were able to make our way to the second part of the trail.
Giant cliffs above the lake making this view pretty epic.
This is pretty much all the cliffs that we saw one the trip. After this, we had a little time left so we went up the trail that leads on top of the cliffs.
The viewpoints & Falcons
If you’re able to go between March and August, it’s the mating season for the falcons living on the cliffs. Once we got to the top, the viewpoint was pretty ordinary but at least we saw a couple of falcons flying overhead.
Ironically, this parc’s main objective is conservation but, as you see, the viewpoint exists mainly because they shaved the forest at this point. I guess that, when Hydro Quebec gives you money, they can put their pilones wherever they want.
The first viewpoint on the red trail
After chillin in the spring sun, we headed down the shaved path to gain time. If you choose to do this, don’t grab onto the red throny vines…. for obvious reasons….
Once back to the car, even with all our careful timing, Ben was late for his class. Oh well! We had a nice trip and will definetly be going back once the sping flooding season ends.
Further along the path
There is a big swamp and many other viewpoints that I’d like to check out. This is a beautiful parc that is not too well known. I found it on a forum, and you probably found it on my blog, but it’s not even featured in the Laurentides Tourist Guide.
Happy Hiking!