End / Start of Champlain Parkway
After more hills and past a couple of lakes, the Champlain Parkway ends at a junction with the Gatineau Parkway. This marks the end of the loop section of the ride, and from here the route retraces the same way you come up from Ottawa: Down the Gatineau Parkway, past Pink Lake, down the Pink Lake Hill, across Rue St. Raymond, past the P3 parking lot. You then re-join the Gatineau Park Cycle Pathway, following it downhill towards the Ottawa River.
Eventually you make your way back to the River-hugging Voyageurs pathway, which you follow back west until reaching the Champlain Bridge. After crossing the bridge, it is a straightforward ride all the way up Island Park Drive back into the Central Experimental Farm and the end of the ride.
Ending Back at Experimental Farm
And that's the end of the description! It really is the best cycle ride in the Ottawa region.
Please note the trackmap below. If you'd like to see a bigger version complete with photo points and a higher resolution track, then click on the blue link below the map.
Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - Gatineau Park Loop - Click map to expand
Below is some distance and elevation data for this ride as I did it. Please note that the average speed is quite low - after all, I had to stop and take all of these pictures! Normally I'm a little bit faster...
Route Data - Gatineau Park Cycle Loop
Start Time:
1:59p.m.
End Time:
5:46p.m.
Duration:
3h46m
Distance:
66.64 km
(41.41 mi)
Average Speed:
17.7 km/hr
(11.0 mph)
Start Elevation:
292ft
(89m)
*
Max Elevation:
1158ft
(353m)
*
Min Elevation:
179ft
(54m)
*
End Elevation:
276ft
(84m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
1495ft
(456m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
1509ft
(460m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
