Parc Chauveau

Parc Chauveau is a beautiful, multi-activity park. Cross-country skiing is free (no equipment rentals available) and there is a nice building with modern, clean restrooms if you need to warm up or take a break. You can get to the park on the RTC 804 line, but you’ll need to traverse the park on foot to get to the ski trails.

Unfortunately, the cross-country skiing there is very limited. They boast 8 km of trails but if you view their map, you’ll see that trail 1B traces the circumference of the cc ski area in only 2 km. Trail 1A claims to add another 1.9 km of skiing but around 1.7 of those kms just retrace trail 1B. I estimate that there are really only 4km of novel trails there.

If you just want to do 1 or 2 km of flat skiing, then the easy trails there are very nice. The difficult trails are not really technical but there is a descent on trail 1B that is ridiculous with a narrow water crossing at the bottom. I’m not ashamed to say I took off my skis and walked down that hill.

I mostly recommend this park to groups of people that want to do different activities – walk the dog, ice skate, snowshoe, tobogganing, etc. If you want to put some serious kms on your skis, though, then I think this park will make you a bit dizzy.

Domaine de Maizerets

Accessible by bus, ski rental, instruction, flat skiing.

Maizerets is a great park for new skiers or those just looking for some flat skiing. It’s about a ten-minute walk from a stop on the RTC 800 line and you can rent skis (classic) or snowshoes. On one of my trips there I saw a trailer had been set up with a sign that read “induction de ski gratuit” which sounds to me like some free introductory lessons.

I do have one warning for those who need to avoid falling. If you look at the first map, you’ll see that trail 5 loops back to the end of trail 4. If you look at the above map of my actual route, you’ll see that I instead skipped back onto another section of trail 4 to avoid the latter half of trail 5. I made a mauve line to indicate where trail 5 loops back. There is an uneven side hill on that latter half of trail 5 that causes a lot of people to fall. If you avoid that section, though, the rest of the skiing there is very flat – which is exactly that I wanted at the start of this ski season. You can skip the second half of trail 5 by using a hiking path to cut over to trail 4 or by going across a bridge to trail 3.

Maizerets is a warm an inviting place. The lodge is very cozy, and they often keep a fire going. The restroom facilities are very old but kept clean. You can buy a few snacks or a coffee there.

It’s a great place for the family as well. There is an outdoor ice-skating surface, dogs are welcome on the hiking trails, and you can even rent a ‘fat bike’ and ride around on the snow. If you don’t need to rent equipment then your only cost will be getting yourself there.

My only criticism of Maizerets is that they didn’t get the rentals office open for the first snowfall. They plan on a rather short season and are rather quick to close the rentals office for poor weather. This is fine if you are a very casual skier and not a problem if you have your own gear, but I feel it limits the number of days of skiing for those who need to rent gear and really want to add up the kilometers.

My typical route there is about 6 km with very little retracing of my route. The park has plenty of trees to dampen the wind but still feels very much like being in a municipal park. If you want to put a lot of kilometers on your skis, feel like you’ve escaped the city, or are looking for some challenging skiing then Maizerets may not be for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for easily accessible, flat skiing, then Maizerets is a must-go destination.