Mount Royal Park
The jewel of Montreal's city parks is, without question, Mount Royal. This 101-hectare park occupies part of the mountain that lies in the midst of Montreal island, and includes the highest spot in the city (234m).
In the 1860s, mass cutting of trees on the mountain for firewood outraged the populace and led to the area's designation as a park in 1876. It was originally landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, best known for New York City's Central Park and the originator of a style of park landscaping to be found in cities throughout eastern North America.
The western lookout, giving a grand view of the major buildings of downtown Montreal, the river and several bridges, was first built in 1906 and is now officially known as the Belvedère Kondiaronk, named for the Huron chief who signed a major peace accord with the French regime in 1701. (In English, it's mostly just called the Lookout.) To get to the Lookout, you must park in one of the lots and follow the signposts to the footpath. A second lookout, with an eastern view, can be driven right up to, and in summer is a fairly popular hangout. Look out for the raccoons that come out to mooch food off susceptible tourists.
The George-Étienne Cartier monument, facing Park Avenue, was inaugurated in 1919 and the illuminated cross in 1924. The Cartier monument is currently being rebuilt and refurbished. The lookout chalet (1932) and Beaver Lake (1938) were the fruit of work projects created to help workers left jobless by the Depression.
In 1954, many trees were cut down to try to "discourage immorality" in the underbrush, which is why so few are more than half a century old. But the trees have generally recovered from the damage they took during the ice storm of January 1998.
1958 saw the addition of the Beaver Lake pavilion, a sweet bit of retro-futurist kitsch that functions as changing room in wintertime for skaters and tobogganers. This building has recently been renovated and its rather tacky snack bar upgraded to a bistro and cafeteria with proper food.
A major sculpture show was held in 1964 on the long gentle slope above Beaver Lake and some of the pieces are still in place.
Over the years, the perimeter of the park has been nibbled at by surrounding construction. Many trees were lost to the January 1998 ice storm. Mount Royal was made a permanently protected site by a joint decision of the Quebec and Montreal governments in February 2003, and the demolition of the Park-Pine interchange has made access to the park more direct from Park Avenue. But there is still stress on the park from surrounding institutions: the enlargement of Molson Stadium is likely to cause some damage to the mountain's ecology.
Mount Royal is where Montrealers go to get a breath of air on a hot day, to cross-country ski without leaving the city, to walk off a hangover or a bad mood, to picnic, to jog, to ice skate, to look out over the city, rest their eyes on the horizon and dream.
To get to Mount Royal park you only need to walk uphill from downtown and you'll eventually find yourself there. A trail from the Cartier monument on the Park Avenue side (bus 80 or 129) winds gradually upward toward the top. Or go to Mont-Royal metro station and take the 11 bus. You can also drive up via Côte-des-Neiges and the Voie Camillien-Houde or from the corner of Mont-Royal and Parc: there are various well-marked parking lots off the road: parking is $2.50 an hour to a maximum of $7 a day.
Mount Royal shares the top of the mountain with several cemeteries: a huge Roman Catholic one, a large nondenominational one, and two small contiguous Jewish ones. Although not properly speaking parks, the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges and Mount Royal Cemetery can be pleasant places to stroll. Mount Royal Cemetery is especially pretty in May when flowering trees are in season, and again in the autumn. A sign at the gate of the Jewish cemetery, a burial place connected with one of the oldest Jewish communities in North America, asks that people not use it for casual strolling.
Across Côte-des-Neiges and up a fairly brisk hill is Westmount's Summit Park, a mostly forested area popular with dog walkers and nature observers. There are wild plants in Summit Park which are scarce elsewhere on the Island of Montreal.
Another peak of the mountain is occupied by the University of Montreal, whose tower can be seen from the top of the Mount Royal, as can the imposing dome of St. Joseph's Oratory on the far side of the cemeteries.
Centre de la montagne
Smith House, 1260 Remembrance Road
Montreal H3H 1A2
514-843-8240
Les amis de la montagne
514-843-8240
