Hiking by month
Hiking near Coaticook in January: Eastern Townships Guide
Updated
Hiking near Coaticook in January is really snowshoeing, with a few packed trails you can walk in boots. The days are short, the cold is real, and the trails are quieter than at any other time of year. Here is what is open, what is not, and what to put on your feet.
What hiking near Coaticook in January is like
You get about nine hours of daylight at the start of the month and a little over nine and a half by the end. The National Research Council's sun calculator gives exact sunrise and sunset times for any town. In practice, be off the trail by 4 pm.
Snow depth changes from week to week. Check Environment Canada's forecast the night before, and the park's own page the morning of. After a thaw and a refreeze, a packed trail becomes a skating rink, and that is when slip-on crampons earn their place in the bag.
Where to go
Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook
The Gorge is the easy answer: it is in town and it rents the gear. The park has more than 21 km (13 miles) of snowshoe trails at five difficulty levels, and rents both snowshoes and crampons on site. If nobody in your group wants snowshoes, there are three winter hiking trails, 7.5 km in all, packed well enough for boots.
The suspended footbridge is closed all winter, and you register at the campground reception before heading out. In the 2025 to 2026 season the park was open from December to mid-March, 10 am to 4 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 4 pm on weekends, with last entry at 3 pm, closed December 25 and January 1. The winter schedule is reposted each year. Leashed dogs are allowed.
Mont Hereford
For a bigger, wilder day, the Forêt Hereford community forest has two trailheads: East Hereford, 22 km from Coaticook (14 miles, about 25 minutes), and Saint-Herménégilde, 17 km away (11 miles, about 20 minutes). Tourisme Coaticook counts 16 km of trails there for snowshoes or crampons. Access is free; the charity that maintains the trails runs on donations, so leave one.
The Neil-Tillotson trail to the summit is 7 km each way with 400 m of climbing. In January daylight, that is for fit people who start early. Everyone else can turn around at the day shelter partway up, open to all from 10 am to 3 pm with a wood stove. Cell coverage is limited, so download the trail map to the Ondago app before you leave. Dogs are allowed on a leash.
Mont Pinacle, maybe
The Parc Harold F. Baldwin on Mont Pinacle is about 15 minutes from Coaticook (13 km, 8 miles). Its FAQ says the park closes while the trails freeze up, some time between November and January, so check the site the week you come. When it is open, Tourisme Coaticook's winter page says crampons or snowshoes are mandatory on the trails. A day ticket is $9.50 for visitors aged 17 and over from outside the Coaticook regional county, and free for 16 and under.
On skis
Plein Air Coaticook has 30 km of cross-country trails in the woods and four snowshoe circuits. A day pass is $10 per adult and free for children 12 and under. Rentals are cash only, reserved by phone, and pets are forbidden on the trails.
The Parc national du Mont-Orford is about 45 minutes from Coaticook (50 km, 31 miles). Sépaq lists 15 cross-country trails there, more than 50 km for classic and 26 km for skate skiing, plus snowshoe trails from 2.5 to 16 km, and charges a daily access fee.
Cold, ice and the drive
Drive times are approximate, from Coaticook, on dry roads. Winter roads and border waits change the math. Québec requires winter tires from December 1 to March 15 on vehicles registered in the province. Visitors' cars are exempt, but the hills are the same for everybody.
On the trail: layers you can shed on the climb, a headlamp even for a short loop, and the phone inside your coat, because batteries quit in the cold. One piece of good news: Québec's health ministry says snow cover keeps ticks from coming out, so January is the one month you can mostly forget about them.
Back at the house
La Villa Foresta is in the Coaticook area, among the trees with a view toward Mont Pinacle. After a cold day it offers the right things: robes, a fondue set, board games and puzzles, and a fire pit with s'mores supplies if you are willing to put your boots back on. The snowshoes on the den wall look like decoration to me, so rent real ones at the Gorge. Our winter weekend guide covers skating, ice fishing and the rest.
For the whole cold season, read the winter outdoors guide. Coming at another time? See December or February.
Useful links
- Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook: snowshoeing
- Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook: winter hiking
- Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook: winter schedules
- Forêt Hereford: hiking and snowshoe trails
- Parc Harold F. Baldwin (Mont Pinacle)
- Plein Air Coaticook (French)
- Parc national du Mont-Orford (Sépaq)
- Québec: winter tire requirements
Bringing a group?
La Villa Foresta sleeps twelve in five bedrooms near Coaticook, with a fire pit, a meadow and Mount Pinacle in the window. Dogs are welcome. It is new on Airbnb for 2026 and hosted by a Superhost.
See the house
