Discovering Mount Royal park in the fall.
There is a very short window in the fall where the colours are at their very best.
It’s easy to get caught up in every day life such as work, family and friends. We find that we’re paying more attention to the colours this year. The idea was to make an effort to pay close attention to the changing colours. Hoping to catch as many glances and pictures as we can. It’s one of nature’s best annual performances. If you snooze, you need to wait another for the next show. This year we chose Discovering Mount Royal park.
There isn’t an exact date where the colours start changing. We know from previous years that November tends to be a dark month, both for daylight and in general. Hence, by 
November it’s a little to late to admire the show. That leaves September and October to keep an eye out.
This year we roamed the Old Port of Montreal and city center quite a bit. We wanted to visit the Mount Royal park. For as long as we can remember, it was our first time going in autumn. It was a picture perfect day, clear blue sky with temperatures ranging between 15-20 degrees. This said, it was quite busy the day we went. We managed to get some nice pictures from the observatory and trails.
What’s fun about this place is that you can easily make it 
a full day activity by walking to the park from downtown. There are two main access points, one in the East from Du Parc avenue and the other from Guy which turns into Cote des Neiges. It’s fun to hike across the hill, stopping at Beaver lake, the observatory deck and the mountainous steps at the other end. The observatory can be quite busy at times. What worked best for us this time was to ”get in line” at either end. Then as people leave, you can make your way into a better sight seeing position. In select areas, there are arrow marking that indicate specific landmark or region. As shown in the picture is pointing the Jacques Cartier bridge direction.
Finally we visited Beaver lake, a small oasis in the heart of the park. This part was under renovations for years. We aren’t sure when the inauguration took place, but this time we could enjoy the view. All we had to do was sit and enjoy the view.
The colours change quite rapidly and then fall on the ground. Once November approaches most trees have already lost a good portion of their leaves. We would recommend you go in mid-October (weather permitting) in order to catch a glimpse of the show.
