NeilyWorld  Birding Ottawa - Northwest - Gatineau Park South

        Independent Directions to this Site: From Autoroute de la Gatineau or Highway 5, take exit # 3 or Boulevard St-Raymond heading west. Travel 1.5 km west to Promenade du Lac-des-Fées and turn left or south on it. Follow Lac-des-Fées 0.4 km to Rue Gamelin and turn right or west on it. Go 0.9 km to the (Promenade de la) Gatineau Parkway and turn right or north on it. Proceed 7.5 km northwest, to the junction of the (Promenade de la) Gatineau Parkway with the (Promenade) Champlain Parkway. Turn left or WSW onto the (Promenade) Champlain Parkway and drive 5.2 km to the parking area for the King Mountain Trail at Black Lake.

        Gatineau Park South Route Directions: From whichever parking lot you had chosen at the Lauriault Falls and Mulvihill Lake Trail site, return to the (Promenade) Champlain Parkway and continue north along it for 2.0 km (or 2.9 km if you parked at the MacKenzie King estate) to the parking area for the King Mountain Trail at Black Lake.

         Site Description and Birding Information: A popular picnic ground in summer, this site has a one and a half kilometre loop trail that goes around King Mountain, briefly skirting the slope over Black Lake. At the northeastern end of the loop, a trail heads off to the northeast, crossing the Champlain Parkway and connecting in 0.8 km to Trail # 8. On the other side of the parkway from Black Lake, Trails # 8 and # 17 can be reached by switch-backing up the hill. If you keep right at the trail junction at the top (about 0.3 km), you are on Trail # 8 and can follow it east an additional 1.3 km to the junction mentioned above with the 0.8 km extension from the King Mountain Trail. Using this route you can hike another loop of around 2.8 km (going right) or 3.7 km (going left around King Mountain). There is a good variety of habitats, Black Lake, forest swampland, some conifers and maturing deciduous woodland. The openings provide greater visibility and possible avenues for raptors.

         An Olive-sided Flycatcher was seen near Black Lake on May 28, 1994.

         In winter, this section of the parkway is closed to vehicles and is opened to skiing only. Hikers may still use the trails. The exact dates are weather dependent, but usually from mid-November to early April.

        Gatineau Park South Route Directions: From the King Mountain Trail (Black Lake) parking lot, return to the (Promenade) Champlain Parkway, turn left or west and drive 1.7 km to the parking area for the next site on this route, the Bourgeois Lake.