With just a 45min drive from downtown Ottawa, you can enter an enchanting forest trail and enjoy all the sights and feels of winter ... all while skating! Having lived in Ottawa for so many years, I have never visited (or even heard of) this place until a few days ago! This was my first trip to Lac-des-loups (translated into Lake of Wolves).
Located on the edge of Gatineau hills, this place boasts a ~3Km pristine ice path that winds into the woods all sheltered from the hard winter winds. You can also snowshoe or follow some ski-doo trails nearby.
The cost was 14$ per adult (mostly to help maintain the ice clean and smooth). The day was quite frigid at -17C, however being surrounded by pine trees we were lucky to not have the open air hitting our faces.
At the entrance, if you are lucky, the skating mascot, Lupie, will be there greeting you. I thought he looked a little sinister but the kids were all over him. Speaking of kids, this is the best place to go ham and charge at full speed on skates! The path was fairly quiet and we didn't have any issues sharing the path with other skaters.
Conclusion: Highly recommend for anyone who is a first time skater to seasoned pro! I thought the only thing missing was some fairy lights in the front entrance or scattered along the path to give it that extra sparkle for a magical skating session. Perfect place to take the fam at Christmas! This is definitely a place that I will make a mission to return to every year!
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