The Mont Mégantic Trail (Observatory)

Known for its dark skies and the astronomical observatory at its summit, Mont Mégantic (and the national park that bears its name) is a fantastic hiking destination, one that we particularly enjoy in winter when the mountain forests turn into a frozen winter wonderland. Of the several fantastic trails that the national park has to offer, the trail leading to Mont Mégantic’s summit is probably our favorite. As if the surrounding winter scenery wasn’t beautiful enough, coming across the observatory at the top is such a unique and special moment, something you can’t experience on any other mountain in Québec (or anywhere else nearby for that matter). To help you get the most out of your hiking adventure, we put together this Mont Mégantic Trail Winter Hiking Guide.

Table of Contents — Mont Mégantic Trail (Observatory) – A Winter Hiking Guide

Disclosure: This page (Mont Mégantic Trail (Observatory) – A Winter Hiking Guide) may contain product affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, we may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. More details can be found on our disclosure and policies page.

You might also be interested in these pages:
Quebec Hiking Trails that Are Stunning in Winter
Best Winter Hiking Trails in Charlevoix region
Best Winter Hiking Trails in Mont Mégantic National Park
Best Winter Hiking Trails in Sutton (Eastern townships)

About the Mont Mégantic Trail

The Mont Mégantic Trail is one of the most popular trails of the national park that bears its name, Mont-Mégantic National Park. The trail is located in the eastern portion of the park, known as the Observatory Sector. It’s known for its beautiful winter scenery, snow-covered pines, frozen forests, and the astronomical observatory that awaits you at the summit.

Although the trail is technically accessible 24 hours per day, there is one important exception: you must vacate the area around the observatory between sunset and sunrise. So if you plan to arrive for sunrise or sunset, you can’t arrive too early or stick around too late.

For more information on the National Park and its other hiking trails, you can check out our guide on the Best Winter Hiking Trails in Mont Mégantic National Park.

Location of the Mont Mégantic Trail and Map

The Mont Mégantic Trail is located in Mont-Mégantic National Park, which itself is in the eastern townships of Québec, close to the New Hampshire and Maine state borders (link to Google Maps).

How to Get to the Mont Mégantic Trail

Given the remoteness of the national park, the easiest way to reach the Mont Mégantic Trail is by car.

From Montreal: about a 2h45 drive (240 km)

From Sherbrooke: about a 1h15 drive (85 km)

From Québec City: about a 2h45 drive (220 km)

From Burlington (Vermont): about a 3h30 drive (170 miles)

From Augusta (Maine): about a 2h45 drive (130 miles)

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.

We also highly recommend Airalo (eSIM card) for your connectivity needs when travelling abroad. Airalo is the world’s first and largest eSIM store with eSIM plans for 200+ countries and regions worldwide.

Alternatively, you can also reach the park from Montreal by organized transfer via the Navette Nature service, which offers bus trips on various weekend dates. The service rotates between parks, so there might be only one or two trips per park per season.

Mont Mégantic Trail Access, Fees, and Parking

Trailhead & car park location: Both are found here.

Trail access & parking fees: Québec National Park fees apply for day visits to the park. There are no additional fees for parking.

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.

Trail opening hours: Although the trail is technically open at all times, the visitor center is typically only open from 9am – 4pm. For up-to-date visitor center schedules, we recommend checking the park’s schedule website page before visiting.
Also, as noted above, you must vacate the area around the observatory between sunset and sunrise.

Parking lot: The car park is quite large, and there are rarely issues with finding parking.

Facilities: Toilets are available in the visitor center by the car park.

Best Time to Hike The Trail

To experience a proper winter hike and beautiful white landscapes, it’s best to plan your visit between mid-December and mid-March. That being said, there are year-to-year differences regarding the early and late winter snow conditions. If you would like to visit early or late in the winter season, it’s best to check the park conditions first. You can generally find them listed at the top of the national park page. The trail may close during the spring season snow-melt period (dates vary from year to year).

Why Hike in Winter?
– There are generally fewer people on the hiking trails, allowing for a more peaceful and enjoyable experience.
– Compacted snow generally makes the trail easier to walk on and removes the difficulties associated with walking over rocks, boulders and tree roots.
– The scenery is very different than in any other season but is no less beautiful.

Winter Hiking and Trail Safety Tips

In the absence of any significant recent snowfall, it is highly recommended to wear crampons/traction cleats under your shoes or boots when hiking most trails in this park, particularly any trail that has significant elevation gain. You can rent traction crampons/ice cleats to attach to your boots for 8$ (2024) at the visitor center (located between the car park and the trailhead). If you plan on needing cleats for more than 2 days, you’re probably better off buying your own.

Winter Hiking Packing List
Crampons / Ice Cleats – These are a must-have to help you with those steep ascents/descents or navigate icy trail conditions.
External Battery – Cold weather significantly affects cell phone battery drainage. Best to be prepared with an external power source to recharge your phone if needed.
Hiking poles – These can be particularly useful in winter, especially when not wearing any crampons or ice cleats.
Hand warmers – if you are like us and often remove your gloves to take pictures, having little hotties around care be hand life savers in freezing weather.
All Trails subscription – comes in really handy for areas with little or no cell reception, as the annual subscription allows you to download trail maps for offline use.

If there was a lot of recent snowfall, you might want to hike with snowshoes instead of ice cleats to help navigate the soft snow. To help you decide what footwear to bring, the national park details the recent snowfall and trail conditions via the “information of the day” button at the top of the page ( e.g. typically either densely packed snow or fresh powdered snow). The visitor center also rents out snowshoes if need be.

Also, always bear in mind that no matter how cold it is at the base of the mountain, it’s going to be even colder at the summit (and windier), so remember to dress appropriately. It’s generally recommended to wear fewer layers to start since you will warm up after a few minutes of hiking. But it’s a great idea to pack some extra warm gear for when you take a break or reach the summit.

Mont Mégantic Trail Details and Map

Distance: 11.7 km
Route Type: Partial Loop
Elevation gain: 525 m
Trailhead: Right behind the visitor center
AllTrails rating: (4.6, 946 ratings (2024))
Duration: Most people complete the trail in about 3h45-4h15

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.

Other Mont Mégantic Trail Details

– Canine companions: Dogs are allowed (on a leash) on this trail – but only between May and October.

– Summit: Mont Saint-Joseph summit is located at an altitude of 1102 m.

– Number of viewpoints: According to the National Park, the trail has 2 official viewpoints. But we found that there are even more as certain areas of the trail have unobstructed views of the surrounding mountain scenery. Once you reach the observatory, you will have nearly 360-degree panoramic views.

– Trail environment: Mostly forested.

– Trail Surface / Technical Trail: The fun thing about winter hiking is that technical trail surfaces (rocks, boulders and tree branches) get buried under the snow. The main challenges that remain are the steep sections that often require ice cleats or crampons.

– Average trail slope grade: 9%

– Trail difficulty level assessment: Moderately Challenging
(based on our personal assessment, taking into account the trail length, slope grade and trail surface – 5-point difficulty scale: Very easy, Easy, Moderate, Moderately Challenging, Challenging)

Mont Mégantic Trail Summary and Description

First section: Before the loop

The trailhead is located right behind the visitor center. From there, the trail starts to climb gently right away and will do so for the foreseeable future. You’ll go through various sections with tall trees, which might be snow-covered depending on recent snowfall. For most of this first section, the path will follow a lovely creek that will provide a nice relaxing soundscape to this portion of the hike.

You will eventually come across a first intersection, you can either take a slight detour to go to a lookout point (Belvédère du Soleil) that’s 0.6 km away, or continue forward to stay on the same trail. If you also plan on doing the Mont Saint-Joseph trail at some point, the lookout point is less of a detour (0.2km) from that trail.

Not long after continuing along you will come across a wood cabin and a second intersection with a wide path immediately after. This is the beginning (left) and the end (right) of the loop section.

Second section: Start of the loop and the frozen forest.

As you re-enter the forest, the incline of the climb starts to steepen, which will likely start to slow your pace. Your extra effort however is well rewarded by the beautiful winter scenery – as you go up the pines become increasingly covered in snow.

snow covered trees long the mont mégantic trail

You will first go through a few series of long switchbacks until you finally get a break when emerge into a vast opening, the trail’s first official viewpoint (“Halte de la Terre”). There’s lots of open space and great panoramic views to be had.

frozen trees viewpoint from mont mégantic summit trail

viewpoint from mont mégantic summit trail

After your break, you have one final steep climbing section for about half a kilometer, until you eventually reach a plateau, which will stay relatively flat for about 1km, and where you will be surrounded by a stunning frozen forest.

Third section: The Summit and the Observatory

Eventually, you’ll emerge from the frozen forest and you will have one final short climb through short snowy pines…

… until you finally see the Mont Mégantic Observatory emerge.

observatory and frozen trees on mont mégantic summit

observatory on mont mégantic summit with frozen trees

Once at the top, you can fully circle the Observatory. On three sides you are surrounded by beautifully frozen pines. On the remaining side, you have panoramic views of the nearby countryside. You will also notice the road up to the observation, which is closed in winter.

Note that it might be very very cold and windy at the top by the observatory, much more so than anywhere else on the trail.

Fourth section: The return

Often the return leg of a hike is a little boring and a letdown. But here, although there are no official viewpoints, there are many spots from which you can enjoy the beautiful distant scenery.

Although you decide to return the same way you came up, which would slightly shorten the return distance, it would likely slow you down as the loop return trail is less steep and allows you to maintain a better pace. But if you want to experience the same scenery and the frozen forest a second time, going back the way you came definitely makes sense.

Mont Mégantic Trail Variants

Combination with Mont Saint-Joseph Trail

If you would like to reach another summit while in the national park but don’t have the time to undertake more than one hike, then the Mont Saint-Joseph and Mont Mégantic combo trail might be perfect for you. You essentially be going up one trail to one peak, then taking a connecting path of 4 km to the other, before heading back down. The combo trail is 14.8 km in length, with over 700 m in cumulative elevation gain, and takes on average around 5 hours to complete. For more information on what the Mont Saint-Joseph trail looks like, you can check out our guide on that trail here.

Triple Peak Combo

If two peaks aren’t enough, you can add a third one (Mont Victoria, which lies just North of Mont Saint-Joseph. Adding the Victoria peak doesn’t add much extra elevation gain, but it does add about an extra 2 km for a total of 16.7 km and takes an average of 5h30 – 6h to complete

Where to Stay Near Mont Mégantic National Park

Due to the park’s remoteness, you might be inclined to spend the night somewhere nearby. There are several options including cabins within the park and several B&Bs scattered around the park.

If you’re interested in staying within the park, accommodation options range from basic huts to modern Scandinavian-style cabins. It’s best to book ahead, as these get booked several months in advance, particularly for weekend stays.

Alternatively, if you would be more interested in a hotel with nearby restaurants, we can recommend the Microtel Inn & Suites in the nearby town of Lac Mégantic (a 40 minute drive from the National Park).

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
SafetyWing is a travel insurance company that offers comprehensive coverage for travellers. Includes Medical Insurance and Travel Insurance. Primarily geared towards long-term travellers, digital nomads, and expats.

e-Sim cards
Airalo is the world’s first and largest eSIM store with eSIM plans for 200+ countries and regions worldwide. With Airalo eSIMs, travellers can get connected the moment they land at their destination and avoid nasty data roaming charges
eSIMS are a sustainable alternative to single-use SIM cards – they are 100% digital, require less energy to produce and be re-used rather than disposed of.

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.

sunrise near old man of storr in scotland's isle of skye

zingaro nature reserve hiking sicily travel

colorful building facades cesky krumlov latran

beautiful views of the quiraing trail in scotland

blue dome churches viewpoint in Oia Santorini

etosha national park wildlife namibia springbok waterhole

—–

Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our Mont Mégantic Trail Winter Hiking Guide and that it will prove useful for planning your hiking adventures.

—–

You might also be interested in these related pages:

Roadtrips and Suitcases

Some ramblings on our travels around the world