One of the best wintertime long weekend trips from Ottawa is an over night ski trip in Papineau-Labelle nature reserve. Less than two hours away from Ottawa, the reserve has over 120 km of ungroomed marked trails. Winding through the forest and along icy creeks, the trails are a true delight. To make the adventure even more enjoyable, the park provides a baggage transportation service for a fee.
We spent four days in the reserve, skiing from hut to hut. When we arrived at each hut our luggage was there and a warm fire was burning in the wood stove, making the hut nice and toasty which is exactly what we were craving after a full day of skiing. There is something truly delightful about coming across a warmly lit hut buried in fluffy white snow when you are cold and tired.
Having the luggage delivered meant that we could bring champagne to celebrate our anniversary on New Year's Eve. It also meant that on the day that there was a bad storm and I got sick, I could hitch a ride with them to the next hut.
We chose a looped trail that was overly ambitious, but there were enough options that we were able to take shortcuts. The landscape was mostly beautiful, though there was an ugly stretch through a logging area. The huts had all amenities but were simple. At one we had to get water from a hole in the iced over lake which was a fun part of the experience. The cold trek to the outhouse also felt adventurous.
The cost to stay at the huts was about $40 a night for the two of us and the price for the luggage delivery was $20 per person with a minimum of four people. We just decided to pay the rate for four people as the trip was our anniversary/Christmas present to each other.
We will definitely visit the park again. Next time we will take the little one and just ski in to one hut and stay a couple of days in one location just snowshoeing and playing around. It would also be a great option for meeting up with a large groups of friends and everyone could sky in from different directions. There are plenty of options with the extensive network of trails and huts.
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