King Mountain

This is another nice short hike in Gatineau Park that has plenty of bang for your buck. The parking area is off the Champlain Parkway about halfway up to Champlain Lookout. It is a loop of about a mile with a climb of about 200-300 feet from the parking to the top of a ridge. As you make your way along the ridge there are open ledges looking south across the Ottawa River valley, the lower section of Gatineau Park and the cities of Gatineau and Ottawa. Along the trail are signs that explain the various types of trees and why they grow where they do.

The payoff today was the glorious colors in the trees, especially in the forest below the ridge, and the wide open viewpoints to see them from. I sat for a while on one of the benches and soaked in the oranges, reds and yellows as far as the eye could see. I managed to time it just right as I returned to the car there was a loud group of school children that sounded like a herd of cattle as they headed out.

Colors seem pretty close to peak.