Gatineau Park

Gatineau Park runs about three hundred and sixty square kilometres from the edge of Ottawa into the Gatineau Hills, close enough that people walk trails at lunchtime. Pink Lake is meromictic, its deep water never mixing with the surface, which leaves the bottom without oxygen; algae in the upper layer turn it a strong turquoise, and it holds a stickleback stranded when the Champlain Sea withdrew. Mackenzie King, prime minister for over twenty years, left his estate to the country, including deliberately assembled ruins he collected from demolished buildings in London and Ottawa and arranged as picturesque fragments in the garden.

What you actually see

• Pink Lake - a turquoise meromictic lake with a boardwalk circuit.
• The Mackenzie King ruins - assembled architectural fragments in a garden.
• The Champlain Lookout - a viewpoint over the Ottawa valley from the escarpment.
• The autumn colour - hardwood forest peaking in early October.

When to go

May to October; the autumn colour season in early October is the busiest and parking fills early. Winter brings extensive cross-country skiing. Swimming in Pink Lake is prohibited.

Honest expectations

Pink Lake is closed to swimming to protect its chemistry, and the boardwalk keeps visitors off the shore. Autumn weekend parking fills by mid-morning and shuttles are needed.

Nearby

The Canadian Museum of History lies south; Ottawa is across the river.