parc des iles de boucherville

Getting to the Islands from Montreal is very easy there is a shuttle that cost 8$ (round trip including the entry to the park). I would have given this amazing location 5/5 and not 4/5 but there is room for improvement1. The shuttle drops you about 3Km (there is a nice path) from the visitor center were you can rent a bike or a kayak2. On the map you see many trails but most of them are hiking, in fact each Island has only 1 bike path (but if you do all you will get your money wroth)3. Bike renting isnt cheapBUT it is still a 4 star attraction, the bike path are well maintained. The views are breath-taking and the vegetation on each island is slightly different. it is also easy to go from one island to the outer with bridges or free ferry. All and all we had great fun and we will do it again. just remmber to bring a sun lotion since you can only buy it near the golf center and it is about 10$ for a small one and most of the trail are exposed to the sun !One last thing between the shuttle to the visitor center there is a Frisbee-golf field which is free to use

Our family had the opportunity to hook up our bike hitch and all 4 of us( 2 adults and 2 kids) went for a biking day and picnic here at the Iles de Boucherville. For a reasonable fee you can ride all 21 km of these beautiful bike paths along marshes, golf courses and natural water streams, and forests. Bring along a big picnic basket and you can park close to many picnic benches. The paths are clearly delineated on the tourist hand outs, but it would need you to do the routes twice before you feel comfortable with the map . Its close to Montreal and the paths are flat. Just avoid the bug season as these natural ares have alot of bushes, trees, marshes that may be full of flies.... and the such. Best to wear bikers glasses to avoid getting them in your eyes.

First and most important: directions....we found this to be quite confusing using the Canadian National Park website and Googlemaps. Neither was very helpful! Finally the owner of the flat we rented helped us out with this bit of info: "On Googlemaps enter Ile Sainte Marguerite, Boucherville, QC, J48 in the destination." We had just been putting in the title of the park....who knew!!?? SO, we made it and thankfully we did. It was such a wonderful way to spend a day. We rented kayaks for the four hour allotted time and we did the loop around the islands. It was awesome. Lots of beautiful nature,lily pads, fish, frogs, turtles, osprey, hawks, egrets, cranes and more that I couldn't identify. It is a good work out on a windy day(which we had) but worth every moment. At the end of the loop you will get a view of Montreal/Mt. Royal that you can not get anywhere else. It was quite spectacular to be able to sit on water(St. Lawrence) and view the city.Some other reviewers wrote about the annoying boaters with music and drinking BUT we just decided to view them as part of the "landscape" of Montreal. Also they are only allowed on about 3/10 of the whole loop. I wouldn't let them discourage you or disrupt your trip too much.

I went with my daughter and her best friend , both 16 at the time.On a hot day, the river breeze is perfect as it caresses our skin so softly. The willows and aspens are enjoying it as the numerous robins, cardinals and occasional blue birds that lounge in these islands. The history is interesting. At a time , the Molson's operated a series of steamers from here that ran up to the ritzy Charlevoix Region and also a boat building factory and an amusement park in the 1920 s . The place still has a Mohawk longhouse you can visit with a tour. In this matrilinear society of the Iroquois, the maternal longhouse got longer as the kids got married. Interesting design with beds on two levels on each side with a fire or stove every 20 feet.. There is a free small bike. ferry between the islands. The views of the St Laurent is majestic. I went fishing around here by boat between here and Sorel and the numerous islands make you forget that you're in the modern St Lawrence with its busy Seaway. If tall ships ever visit Montreal, probably you'll get a good view here as they sail into Montreal as most cargo boats hastily swooping by en route to the Great Lakes with their cargo of North Shore Iron Ore, their lumber, the riches of this country.here are several places and benches to picnic but bring your own unless you want to eat corn dogs....or ice cream..two staples in ample supply as vendors manage to find their way here, often on bikes..Montreal, like most money grubbing cities in North America, loves to license or tax everything and soon they ll tax you for walking on the grass. It's also a great vantage point when there are fireworks but access is not as convenient at night as along the South shore shores accessed by autoroute 132.There,s a beach here too...or there should be. I cant recall exactly this part as things turned hazy at that point....the heat, the wind, the indian cigarettes...lol

Nice playground for kids, nice place to do kayak, fishing, barbecue, walking. We love this place! We bought the pass for all SEPAQs.

just across the City of Montreal you can either play golf or have a bicycle ride on that island and watch dear and other wild animals. You can also enjoy just walking in nature on the shore of the St-Lawrence river, so nice and quiet

This a most desorienting place. Part of the Montreal Archipel - yes MOntreal is surrounded by a number of Islands, this is a very «remote» place. You can picnic sleep in an hotel! do cycling, play golf - all this 2 minutes of Montreal. - Take your bike, look at the birds, fish sky, picnic IDEAL for a family outing and not costly!! enjoy

Great for a day outdoors- BBQ, pic-nic, canoeing, volley ball etc.Just a huge parc with great bike trails too!

You could do there to walk, exercise, cycle. You might even see animals. This is a lovely park well kept for its natural tress and species. If not too warm, it might even be better to read or just relax. Very quiet.

Fabulous views, diverse wildlife, friendly staff, ample free parking, you can hike for hours and not cover the whole park. Good for kayaking, too. Very good birding.

We have walked here but also played golf...wildlife abounds. Well organized and maintained for both activities. Friendly, efficient and organized staff.

This national park is really beautiful and comfortable for camping and picnic. There is to many activities inside park that you can use them, such as canoeing, golf, cycling, walking tours,etc.For people who really want to see the wild nature in the park, there is some trekking roads, they can follow them and see the birds and antelopes(I saw them with my own eyes!), fox,etc.For whom they want to do picnic and camping, there is also some seat, drinking water,clean WC, camps for rent, etc.We stay one whole day from 10am to 7pm in this park and enjoyed trekking and BBQ.

This park consists of 5 islands, offering green spaces, wetlands and wildlife. Early summer 2012 we visited and saw a white-tailed deer and its very frisky fawn. In the fall we saw a large field with a group of Canada geese. It is a perfect place for cycling. There is a network of 21 km of trails, some of which are connected by ferries. We have spent most of our time cycling, but on Ile Sainte-Marguerite, there are almost 10km of rustic trails where only walkers are allowed, and is open year-round. The cycling trails are largely hard packed ground with very little loose gravel - in the fall we took our trail bikes, but on our last visit we were on road bikes and we were okay. We loved taking the little zodiac ferry across the river to get to the island.The last time that I wrote a review I stated that I planned to try the kayaking. I just tried it, and I was surprised by it. It was not what I expected of a nature park. The water route where we rented our kayaks was chock-a-block with motorized vessels of all shapes and sizes. I felt like I was in one of those locks waiting for the gate to be open. We paddled with careful navigation to avoid vessels, with the occasional strong smell of fuel, very loud music pumping from the larger boats with some drunken behaviour, and getting past vessels to more open water, the occasional crazy driver who did not have a sense of when to slow down (we were warned to be careful because there is drinking on the boats – the clerk himself looked embarrassed to have to warn us about this). It was not relaxing and by no means the nature experience we had in mind. As far a price is concerned, the cost to get into the park is $12.00, and it is $16.00 per hour per single kayak (you can’t go too far in one hour because you have to leave time to return – heaven knows, there might have been better conditions further on but it would have required going over the hour, and we were not going to take the chance of getting more of the same). We have visited other kayak rental outlets this summer, and this was the most expensive for the least pleasure. There are much more peaceful kayaking experiences to be had around the city. I don’t know if it is this busy all summer (we visited August 25 on a hot day, a perfect day for being on the water), but I won’t be encouraged to drive all the way out to find out again. It pains me to post negative information about this park because I love it for cycling.On top of this, the entire kayak route was not available because the river was too low, but I was not surprised by that, our summer had been hot with not a lot of rain. It is something to consider if you have your heart set on doing the entire route. Call ahead. (Speaking of calling ahead, the cable shuttle boat (bac-à-cable) that transports people from one island to another was broken that day, making it impossible to enjoy everything. So that would be another reason to call ahead). A quick note that there is an aboriginal site with a longhouse to explore. We were there with a school trip and the kids were really fascinated with the site.I discovered on the website that there is an 'experience the park by night' package in the winter, which includes torch-lit trekking on a 4 km path, marshmallows, coffee, hot chocolates, gourmet chocolates and snowshoeing. Sounds nice.There is a gift shop and a restaurant on site. The french fries and gravy were not good. If I was going to have something high calorie, I should have had one of the desserts. To get there, you can either drive - there are plenty of parking spaces, or if you cycle like us, you take one of the shuttle boats - we have taken the shuttle boat from parc de la Promenade Bellerive at the intersection of Notre Dame and Mercier (when you pay for the ferry, you are also paying for the park).

We read all the wonderful reviews and were excited about visiting the island, and taking a break from the city. We loaded up two backpacks and took the kids along. After a long ride on public transportation to the ferry, and then the very nice quick ferry, we discovered that there was a big highway running through the island. And that the bikes and kayak rentals were another 4 km away. That's not a quick walk with kids. I wish we knew that ahead of time. We didn't have enough time left in the day to make it there, have a relaxing kayak ride, and then come back. That's too bad, as I feel we missed the loveliest and probably more deserted parts of the park (where we were we could hear the din of the highway.) I did like the fields and our hike on the island, but ultimately it was not worth it unless you plan well and are prepared to hike that long. Most people were taking their own bikes to the ferry, the only other couple we saw that was walking with a kid, told us they were a bit exhausted. It is a lovely park, I just wish it were made more clear that the access to the kayak and bike rental is pretty far from the ferry, especially with little kids. There doesn't appear to be any bike rental on the Montreal side of the ferry ride. I did like the park where the ferry departs from very much. It's got a very nice view toward Iles de Boucherville! Cheers!

Great open spaces, easy access from Montreal. This place has the most deer per square feet , more than even up north.You can bike, picnic, take a boat ride. There is a free ferry to take you on the islands. Beautiful comfortable bike ride,mostly flat , therefore easy even for beginners