If you are looking for a National Park close to Montreal, look no further than Boucherville Islands National Park (Parc National des Iles de Boucherville). It’s a national park that is spread out across several islands and one that is equally enjoyed by walkers/hikers, nature enthusiasts, cyclists and kayakers. The park is filled with a network of walking and easy hiking trails, so to help you decide which trails you might prefer, we put together this Boucherville Islands National Park – Hiking Guide. The flat trails found around the park make it an excellent family-friendly national park, one that is also home to a large deer population.
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Boucherville Islands National Park Location and Map
Boucherville Islands National Park is located (link to Google Maps) within the Saint-Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the suburb town of Bourcherville.
How to Get to Boucherville Islands National Park
This is one of the rare National Parks in Québec that you don’t necessarily need a car to get to. However, driving gives you the most flexibility as the other methods are only available at certain times of the year. If you do drive:
From Montreal: about a 30 min drive (20 km)
From Sherbrooke: about a 1h40 drive (165 km)
From Trois-Rivières: about a 1h30 drive (125 km)
Alternatively, you can also reach the park by public transit from Montreal (summer only). You’ll need to take the subway all the way to the end of the yellow line at Longueuil-Université de Sherbrooke station, and from there take bus 261.
Lastly, you can also reach the national park via one of two passenger ferries. From Montreal, a ferry connects Parc Bellerive with the Boucherville Islands (only from late June to early September). From Bourcheville on the South Shore, a ferry connects the Boucherville Pier to the Boucherville islands (15 minutes, from early June to mid-October). Note however that neither ferry takes you directly to the main visitor center. The Boucherville ferry takes you to Ile Grosbois, the easternmost island of the National Park, whereas the Montreal ferry takes you Ile Sainte-Marguerite just outside the park limits, from which you will have to walk (along a trail) for a few kilometres into the National Park.
If you need to book a rental vehicle for your hiking excursion, we highly recommend using Discover Cars to get the best rates on your rental in Montreal.
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About Boucherville Islands National Park
Boucherville Islands National Park is one of 28 Quebec National Parks, the majority of which are administered by the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SÉPAQ) (Nunavik Parks administer the others). Although all provincial parks in Quebec have used the term “national park” since 2002, there is no connection to the federal national park system, administered by Parks Canada.
Boucherville Islands National Park is both the closest National Park to Montreal and the only one that is devoid of any significant elevation (i.e., no mountains), so you won’t encounter challenging trails here. The park is composed of 5 islands located in the middle of the Saint-Lawrence River and was created in 1984 to protect the island archipelago. This park offers lots of open green spaces, small forests, channels teeming with life and waterside trails. The park is great not only for enjoying nature walking trails but also to enjoy cycling trails and sea kayaking between the islands. There are also a lot of beautiful picnic areas throughout the park.
All Quebec National Parks charge the same access fees and you can buy an annual pass that allows unlimited access to all parks.
Daily access fees and Annual passes
Quebec National Parks are managed by the SÉPAQ, a government agency that manages all provincial parks and wildlife preserves in Québec.
There is a limit to the number of visitors that can enter any Québec SÉPAQ National Park on any given day. It is therefore strongly recommended that you purchase your daily right of access online before a visit or that you acquire an annual pass.
The daily pass ($9.85 (2024)) can be purchased here up to 30 days before a visit.
The annual pass can be purchased here either for unlimited access to a single national park ($49.25 (2024)) or for unlimited access to all SÉPAQ national parks ($88.50 (2024)). Even if you have an annual pass, we still recommend arriving early in the morning or mid-to-late afternoon to avoid showing up to a filled parking lot.
Boucherville Islands National Park opening hours and schedule
Unlike some of the other National Parks in the province, the Boucherville Islands National Park isn’t open 24 hours/day and gates prevent access to the car parks outside of opening hours. Typically, the park opens every day at 8 am, but closes around sunset, meaning that the specific closing time varies throughout the year. For exact and up-to-date closing times, we recommend checking the park’s schedule website page.
The park is however open every day of the year.
Boucherville Islands National Park Hiking Trails
The national park has several trails that are very easy in that are very flat and are more consistent with walking than hiking trails.
All the trails follow wide and well-manicured paths. They are not rocky or filled with tree roots, making them easy to navigate for most people. Some trails are shared multi-purpose trails with cyclists.
Also, note that there isn’t a lot of shade along most of the trails in the National Park. So be prepared for some sun exposure.
Our Favorite Trail: Grande-Rivière Trail
Located on Sainte-Marguerite island, this is a lovely trail through a mix of woodlands, open fields, and riverside marshes. It combines the best of the varied landscapes and vistas that the National Park has to offer.
Distance: 4.3 km
Route Type: Loop
Elevation gain: 6 m
Start point: Car Park / Discovery Center
Duration: Most people complete the trail in 45-60 minutes
Petite-Riviere and Le Grand-Duc Trails
If you liked what you saw in the Grande-Rivière Trail but would like something shorter, you’ll be happy to know that there are two shorter trails on the same island: La Petite-Riviere (2.5 km loop) and Le Grand-Duc (1.5km loop). These trails aren’t on AllTrails, but they depart from the same point as the Grande-Rivière Trail and both partially overlap with sections of the Grande-Rivière Trail.
Île-Sainte-Marguerite Trail
Saint-Marguerite island is also home to another trail, the longest on the island (7 km loop): the Île-Sainte-Marguerite Trail. However, it is a multi-purpose trail (shared between cyclists and hikers), and it isn’t as scenic or peaceful as some of the other trails in our opinion. So unless you plan on cycling along the trail, we would recommend one of the previously mentioned trails instead.
L’Île-de-la-Commune Trail
This is one of two trails on the second island in this guide, and it takes its name from the island itself: L’Île-de-la-Commune Trail. This trail follows a 5km path that fully loops around the island. Though from the Visitor’s Center, which is on a different island, you’ll have to walk 7.9 km to complete the loop and return to the trailhead.
Not an AllTrails member yet? We highly recommend signing up for either their free or paid membership plans. The free plan allows you to find new trails and plan routes but it can only be used while hiking if you have access to mobile data. The paid membership plan (AllTrails+) allows you to download trail maps for offline use and provides live progress updates and off-route notifications.
If you are still uncertain – you should know that the All Trails mobile application was voted the 2023 iPhone App of the Year by Apple.
The island’s East section showcases a landscape with countryside vibes along with fantastic views of Old Boucherville across the St Lawrence. The west side of the island is lusher and will provide you with fantastic views of various wetlands in addition to a fantastic observation tower.
L’Ile-aux-Raisins Trail
This is an add-on trail to the L’Île-de-la-Commune Trail, one that is however exclusive to hikers. The trail follows a 3.5 km loop path through a flood plain and tall grasses that is a bird-watcher’s paradise.
L’Île-Grosbois Trail
Unfortunately, we can’t comment on this trail – it’s the only one we haven’t tried out yet as it’s the furthest from the visitor center. It’s another 7 km loop shared multipurpose trail that cyclists can also use.
Other important trail and park information
Canine companions: Dogs (on a leash) are only allowed on the Île-Sainte-Marguerite shared multi-purpose trail.
Winter: Only the Île-Sainte-Marguerite and Ile de la Commune multi-purpose trails remain open for walkers and hikers. The other trails are reserved for cross-country skiing or fat bikes. Additional trails (that are closed the rest of the year) are also available for snowshoeing.
Toilets: Public Toilets are available in two different areas on Ile Sainte-Marguerite: in the visitor center and on the island’s western picnic area. No toilets are available on the other two islands.
Cycling: The three island shared multipurpose loop trails can be used by cyclists (bicycles are also available for rent at the visitor center). The 21-km network of bike paths allows easy access to the most beautiful lookouts in the park.
Water activities: The park offers two nautical routes for kayak and canoe enthusiasts. The Grand Héron route (8km loop) and the Caster route (4km loop). In addition to kayaks and canoes, you can also rent paddleboards and pedal boats from the visitor center.
Which trail to choose at Boucherville Islands National Park
If it’s your first time on the island, we would definitely recommend doing the Grande-Rivière Trail. In our opinion, it’s the most scenic of the trails and the one that offers the most variety of landscapes.
When we visit the park, we often combine the Grande-Rivière Trail with one or both of the small trails on the island (Petite-Riviere and Le Grand-Duc Trails). Doing all three will take you up to 8-9 km. Alternatively, another good combination is the L’Île-de-la-Commune Trail with the l’Ile-aux-Raisins Trail. If you do both, you will have walked close to 12 km, which would take most people around 2h30-3h at a leisurely pace.
Want to Discover More Hiking Trails In Southern Québec?
You might be interested in these pages:
Best Hiking Trails Near Montreal
Best Hiking Trails in the Eastern Townships
Quebec Hiking Trails that Are Stunning in Winter
Best Hiking Trails Near Mont Tremblant
Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
Travel Insurance
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Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.
Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).
Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our Boucherville Islands National Park Hiking Guide and that it will prove useful for planning your hiking trip.
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