Québec City · Easy · There and back

Parc de la Chute-Montmorency

Up the staircase beside the Montmorency falls, over the bridge at their lip and along the cliff boardwalk to the Manoir, then back.

Distance
3.9 km (2.4 mi)
Ascent
90 m
Time
About 1 h 15 min
High point
99 m
Grade
Easy

Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), checked by Global Adventurer.

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Parc de la Chute-Montmorency
The Cosmonaut · CC BY-SA 2.5 ca · Wikimedia Commons

The walk

From the lower car park by the cable-car base station, follow the east-bank boardwalk north to the foot of the falls, which drop 83 m. Climb the 487 steps of the panoramic staircase up the east cliff, cross the suspension bridge over the lip of the falls and follow the Promenade de la Falaise (cliff walk) south-west to the Manoir Montmorency. With no walking way down the west side, return the same way, or take the cable car down for a fee.

It is 3.9 km there and back with 90 m of ascent; allow about an hour. The grade is Easy: boardwalks and paths, with hundreds of steep steps.

Spray makes the steps and boardwalks wet, and icy in cold weather; the high cliff edges are fenced. The staircase and foot-of-falls boardwalk close in winter, with no fixed dates; the cliff walk and bridge stay open. Dogs must be on a lead. There is a per-person access fee, lower for Québec residents and from 2 November; under-18s and Québec City area residents go free.

Parking is extra. The lower car park is off boulevard Sainte-Anne (route 138), 12 km from Old Québec; in winter use the upper one at the Manoir, off avenue Royale. RTC buses stop at the Terminus Chute-Montmorency, about 500 m from the Manoir.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.

Good to know

  • The Montmorency river drops 83 m here into the St Lawrence, a higher fall than Niagara
  • A footbridge spans the lip of the falls, and a 487-step staircase climbs the east cliff
  • The Manoir Montmorency on the west cliff began as an 18th-century country house
  • In July 1759 Wolfe's troops were beaten back below these cliffs, weeks before the battle on the Plains of Abraham

Getting there

Start: Parc de la Chute-Montmorency lower car park. 46.88496, -71.14585

Directions to the start

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Places to stay nearby

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Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line and figures come from OpenStreetMap and our own checks; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.