Montmorency Falls: admission, parking and the climb, from four visits

At 5:45 p.m. on June 13, coming down from a whale-watching day in Tadoussac, the ticket office at Montmorency Falls (Chute Montmorency) had already closed. The falls are 83 m (272 ft) high, about 30 m (100 ft) taller than Niagara Falls. We walked in without tickets, with a friend’s family, and climbed the wooden stairs beside the falls.

We went back on an evening in late June and on a late afternoon in October, and all three times we never bought a ticket. We were always stopping somewhere else first, so we always arrived around closing time. Before that, in November 2025, we had gone in the daytime while the cable car and visitor center were closed for the season. That makes four visits in one year.

What we learned: what you pay at Montmorency Falls depends on when you show up. If you want the cable car, you have to arrive during operating hours, and there is a ticket that bundles park entry with a round-trip cable car ride.

The itineraries that include the falls are in separate posts. → Quebec City in three days, a two-day Quebec road trip, a day trip to Jacques-Cartier National Park and Quebec City

01Montmorency Falls admission and opening hours

We didn’t plan to go late to save money. All three visits this year came at the end of the day: the day we came back from whale watching in Tadoussac, the day we explored Quebec City and the day we drove out of Jacques-Cartier National Park after the fall colors. Once operating hours were over, the ticket office was closed, and on October 11 the entrance gate was up. Sépaq, Quebec’s provincial parks agency, which runs the park, says it charges no admission during the period when services are closed; it says nothing either way about evenings. If the cable car matters to you, go before the facilities close. If you can walk, a late visit worked fine for us.

If you only want to see the falls from below, you can skip the cable car, but walking up the 487 steps is no small climb. If you plan to ride the cable car, you can buy a ticket with park entry and the round-trip cable car ahead of time.

02Parking: the lower lot vs. the upper lot

We parked in the lower lot every time. From the car, a few minutes on the wooden walkway past the lower cable car station brings you to the pool at the foot of the falls, so you start by looking up at the full 83 m drop. If the Manoir restaurant or the zipline is the point of your visit, the upper lot is closer. Park up there and you start at the bridge over the falls, but to reach the bottom you either walk down the 487 steps and back up again, or ride the cable car during operating hours.

03Cable car or stairs

On June 27 my parents were with us. It was past 7 p.m., the cable car had stopped running, and the stairs were the only way up. My parents found it a bit hard going, but they climbed all the way and crossed the bridge over the falls with us. Honestly, I was the one who was more out of breath. There are lookouts at intervals along the stairs, so you can rest and see the falls from several heights. If you’re traveling with someone who finds walking very hard, go while the cable car is running.

04A loop to the bridge: our timeline

At the top of the stairs, the whole river mouth was in view. On the suspension bridge, the water was right under our feet, just before it went over the cliff. We crossed and walked a short way along the west cliff path, then turned back; from the east hill we could see Quebec City across the river. As the sun began to set, we took the stairs back down and looked up at the falls once more from the bottom. We arrived at 7:10 p.m. and left at 8:35 p.m., walking slowly at my parents’ pace.

The rest of that day is in another post. → Two days in Quebec, from Chaudière Falls to the Charlevoix coast

05Summer, fall and November at the falls

Long summer days leave time after closing. For fall colors, buy a ticket and go early.

The three seasons we saw: upsides in blue, downsides in orange

Summer evenings

June 13, June 27

Still light after 8 p.m.
Stairs and bridge on foot after closing

Black flies in June

Fall colors

October 11

Fall colors around the falls
Boardwalk to the left of the entrance

Sunset close to closing time
Early shade in the gorge

November

November 9, 2025

No admission during the off-season
Water still flowing, not frozen

Cable car and visitor center closed

Source: Sépaq opening hours (October 11 hours based on the Aug. 17–Oct. 12, 2026 period).

In summer the days are long. Even arriving after 7 p.m., when everything had closed, we had light all the way to the bridge and back. On the evening of June 13 we climbed the stairs with a friend’s family. At the top there’s a playground in the park, and the kids played there for a bit. That day we got bitten by black flies, the small dark flies that are common in Quebec’s woods and near water in early summer. If you go in June, bug repellent is worth packing.

On October 11 we stopped on the way to Quebec City after seeing the fall colors in Jacques-Cartier National Park. That was the first time we walked the boardwalk to the left of the entrance, a path through trees that had turned. If we went back in the fall, we’d buy tickets and go during operating hours. Closing time, 5:30 p.m., is close to sunset, and the gorge loses the sun a little earlier than that. To see the colors in good light, go early; with a ticket that includes the round-trip cable car, you can also look down on them from the top.

That day’s hours and fall colors are in another post. → Jacques-Cartier National Park, Montmorency Falls and Quebec City in one day

On November 9, 2025, my wife, our kid and I went during the day. The cable car and visitor center were closed for the season, but the trails were open, so we walked to the pool in front of the falls. Even in November, the falls were flowing, not frozen.

If you’re in Quebec in the dead of winter, there’s also this. → Ice fishing in Quebec: a night in a shack on a frozen river, catching tomcod

06Tours if you don’t have a car

We drove all four times. Even tours that include park entry can leave out the cable car, so if anyone in your group struggles with stairs, check that first. With half a day in Quebec City, a bus tour that covers the old town and the falls fits; if you’re based in Montreal, a full-day round trip makes more sense.

A half-day tour that also takes in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is in another post. → Two days in Quebec

Common questions

Can you visit Montmorency Falls in winter?

Yes, the park stays open. The cable car and visitor center close only from November 2 to December 18 and from January 4 to 29; they run from December 19 to January 3 (closed December 25) and from January 30 to March 31 (2026–2027 season). Some paths close when snow piles up. In winter, the spray from the falls freezes into an ice mound at the bottom called the sugarloaf (pain de sucre). On June 27, midway up the stairs, we passed a sign with old photos of it.

At the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, it was nice to come across a painting of this ice mound: The Ice Cone, Montmorency Falls, painted by Robert C. Todd around 1850. A horse-drawn sleigh runs across the frozen river in front of the cone.

Can you get there by public transit?

Take RTC (Quebec City’s transit authority) bus 800 and get off at stop 3361, Royale; the suspension bridge above the falls is a few minutes away. Unitours also runs a shuttle from the old town. If transfers sound like a hassle, there are also tours: a bus tour covering the old town and the falls, or a day trip from Montreal.

Is there anything for kids?

The falls are the site of the Battle of Montmorency (also called the Battle of Beauport), fought between British and French forces on July 31, 1759. The French held off General Wolfe’s attack, and the fight for Quebec City went on to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham that September. The park map marks a “July 31 trail” and “Wolfe’s house.” A kid who goes to school in Canada can see in person a scene from the 1759 Quebec war taught in history class. There’s also a playground in the park at the top of the stairs.

Wrapping up

Admission at Montmorency Falls depends on the date, and the cable car depends on operating hours. If you want the cable car, go during opening hours with admission and cable car bought together. If you only want to walk and see the falls, park in the lower lot and take the 487 steps up; we went after closing. In all we went four times, on summer evenings, a late fall afternoon and one November afternoon, and the loop to the bridge took 1 hour 25 minutes, even with my parents.

Sources

• Sépaq, Parc de la Chute-Montmorency rates (2026 admission, 2026–2027 cable car, summer 2026 zipline)
• Sépaq, Parc de la Chute-Montmorency visitor information (parking, admission during the off-season)
• Sépaq, Parc de la Chute-Montmorency opening hours (2026–2027)
• Government of Quebec announcement, July 13, 2026 (new parking lot and gardens, 487-step Panoramic Staircase)
• Quebec City tourism business listing (height of the falls, bus 800)
• Ticket and tour listings on the booking sites
• The Canadian Encyclopedia, Parks Canada (Battle of Montmorency, July 31, 1759)
• National Gallery of Canada collection page (Robert C. Todd, The Ice Cone, Montmorency Falls)