The elk surrounded the car right after the entrance. A big head came in through the half-open window, drooling and snorting, and it didn’t back out until we held up a carrot. Our kid wrote in the diary that it startled grandma. It was the third Saturday in June. Five of us, my parents included, had driven from Montreal and gone in on Parc Omega tickets.
Parc Omega (Parc Oméga) is a wildlife park in Montebello, between Montreal and Ottawa. You drive slowly along the park roads, watch the animals from your window, and hand carrots to the deer and elk. Planning a Parc Omega day trip comes down to four decisions: how you get in, carrots, lunch, and where to go afterward. It also helps to know which animals you can feed and how long you’ll stay.
| Decision | What it depends on | What we did |
|---|---|---|
| Getting in | Whether you have a car and want to drive | Our own car and admission tickets |
| Carrots | How many hours you’ll be feeding | Plenty, bought ahead at Costco |
| Lunch | Park restaurant or a packed lunch | Packed lunch at a picnic table |
| Afterward | What time you leave the park | Left at 3:20 p.m., on to Ottawa |
After the park, we spent three and a half hours in Ottawa. That afternoon has its own post.
Contents
01Three ways into Parc Omega
Wire-caged golf cart (summer, from 2 hours, up to four people)
Guided feeding by 4×4 (2 hours, ages 12 and up)
10% family discount on three or more tickets (at least one adult)
Guide commentary on the bus and 4×4
Admission included
Golf carts in summer only
Private tours are expensive
We left downtown Montreal around 8:45 a.m. and reached the gate at 10:20 a.m. It was a Saturday in June, and we barely waited at the entrance. We had bought our tickets ahead, and with five of us we qualified for the family discount. One ticket is good for the whole day, so you can leave for lunch and come back in. Inside the park, two wire-caged golf carts rolled past us between the elk. Those are park vehicles you rent by the hour in summer.
Without a car, there are tours from Montreal and Ottawa. You get picked up at your hotel, and park admission is taken care of. The Parc Omega tour from Montreal takes the whole day; the tour from Ottawa is a little shorter, since the park is just over an hour away. If you don’t have a car but still want to stop wherever you like, you can pick up a rental car in Montreal and drive yourself.
02Carrots: where to buy and how many
Bring them from home Ours
- Pros
- As many as you want
- Cons
- A separate grocery run before you leave
- Us
- Bought a lot at Costco and still used them all
Buy them at the park house
- Pros
- You can show up empty-handed
- Where
- Park house (Maison du Parc), zone 2
- Also there
- Snack bar and restaurant
We bought a lot of carrots at Costco before the trip. We still used every one and could have used more. There were that many animals, and as soon as we finished with one group, the next one walked up.
Each animal ate differently, too. The elk drooled and snorted until they got their carrot, while the small deer came up politely and took only a little, our kid wrote in the diary. That day was also the first time our kid learned that elk and deer antlers are covered in fuzz.
03Which animals get carrots, and which you just watch
Carrots allowed
- Elk (wapiti)
- White-tailed deer
- Fallow deer
Close, but no carrots
- Bison
- Wild boar
- Bighorn sheep
- Ibex
Behind a fence
- Bears
- Wolves
The one we missed: moose
Animals other than deer came right up to the car too. A bighorn sheep put its nose on our window, and an ibex walked right up beside the car next to ours. Still, these animals don’t get carrots.
At one point our kid dropped a big carrot, and it went straight under the car’s rear wheel. According to the diary, wild boar and the shy deer crowded in and finished off the crushed carrot.
In documentaries, bison come across like angry bulls. In person they were huge, but their faces looked gentle, which surprised our kid. The diary put it this way: “They were so calm that they could have been sheep.”
In the bear section, two bears grabbing each other and wrestling was fun to watch. The wolves were resting in the woods. We ran into big elk and deer more times than we could count, and every time it felt remarkable. The moose we had hoped to see never showed up.
04A park you drive, stop and walk
- 10:20 a.m.Entrance, elk and deer sectionCar
- 10:45 a.m.Park house, lakeside trailWalk
- 11:20 a.m.Driving road with bighorn sheep, wild boar and ibexCar
- 12:50 p.m.Lunch at a picnic table, a little over an hourWalk
- 2 p.m.Bison, bear and wolf sectionsCar
- 3:20 p.m.Left the parkCar
| Area | Rule |
|---|---|
| Driving roads | Stay in the car, even for photos; windows halfway down |
| Where you can get out | Walking zone, pioneer village (La Terre des pionniers), Indigenous trail |
I’d put off Parc Omega for a long time. When we were living in the US, we often went to drive-through parks where you feed animals from the car, so even though everyone said it was good, I figured it would be much the same. My parents had never been to a place like this, so the trip was partly for them.
I was wrong. The places we went to in the US were one loop on a set road, feeding animals from the car, and that was it. Parc Omega covers far more ground. We’d drive, stop, get out and walk, drive again, and stop again. The landscaped lake and the walking trails were all good, too.
05Lunch inside the park
Park house
- Where
- Zone 2
- What
- Snack bar
OmegaBon restaurant
Pioneer village snack bar
- Where
- Pioneer village, Zone 11
- What
- La Cookerie snack bar
Packed lunch Us
- Where
- Picnic tables in the walking area
- Good to know
- Gas and propane barbecues are not allowed
We brought a packed lunch. Around 12:50 p.m. we parked and claimed a picnic table on the grass. With five of us eating and resting, well over an hour went by. There was a playground behind the tables.
We also found a four-leaf clover in the grass by our table.
06On to Ottawa, or a night in the park?
Parc Omega only
- 8:45 a.m.Leave Montreal
- 3:20 p.m.Leave the park
- Around 5 p.m.Montreal
On to Ottawa (us)
- 3:20 p.m.Leave the park
- 4:10 p.m.Arrive in Ottawa
- 4:40 p.m.Rideau Canal locks
- 5:10 p.m.Parliament Hill
- 6:10 p.m.Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica
- 7 p.m.Dinner, back in Montreal around 10:30 p.m.
| Season | What to see in Ottawa |
|---|---|
| Summer | Long days, so the canal, Parliament and the cathedral at an easy pace in daylight |
| Winter | It gets dark early, so plan around the city at night |
A night in the park
- Lodging
- Chalets beside the wolves
Panorama chalets
Tipis and camping-style lodging - Pros
- Park admission included during your stay
Wolf chalets look out on the wolf pack - Cons
- Expensive
Book early - Check availability on Trip.com
One more elk was standing in the middle of the road near the exit. We left the park at 3:20 p.m. and reached Ottawa about 50 minutes later. We saw the canal, Parliament Hill and Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, and ate dinner, all in less than three and a half hours in the city. It was June, so the days were long and it stayed light well into the evening. At the end of that day’s diary entry, our kid wrote that if you don’t do the “Omega-Ottawa combo” with your family, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.
We did it as a day trip. If you’d like more time with the wolves, you can also stay overnight in the park. The chalets beside the wolves and the other lodging types are listed in the box above.
Wolf chalets book up early, so once you have dates, check what is still open.
Our afternoon walking route and parking in Ottawa continue in Half day in Ottawa.
FAQ
Is Parc Omega worth visiting in winter?
Parc Omega is open year-round, and you can see animals in winter too; only the bears hibernate. The white Arctic wolves are a highlight then, and the in-park lodging and Oniro, a lit-up evening walking trail, are open as well. If winter driving worries you, Tourisme Outaouais lists a morning guided bus tour into the park. Hours change by season, so check the official site for your date.
Can I bring my pet?
No. Pets aren’t allowed in the park or in the park’s lodging.
Wrapping up
A day at Parc Omega comes down to four decisions: how to get in, carrots, lunch, and where to go afterward. If you have a car, buy a ticket and drive yourself; bring more carrots than you think you need; and feel free to pack a lunch. Leave around 3 p.m. and you can add Ottawa the same day. We spent five hours in the park, had dinner in Ottawa and drove back. All five of us enjoyed it. It was a good day.
A few things to line up for a Parc Omega day.
Sources
- Parc Omega official FAQ (feeding, carrots, where you can get out, restaurants, picnics, pets, winter)
- Tourisme Outaouais, Parc Omega winter guide (morning guided bus tour)
- CHIP FM, what’s new at Parc Omega this winter (October 2025)
- Vendor product listings (Parc Omega tours from Montreal and Ottawa)
Not in the list? Search it yourself
Places to stay nearby, on a map
Affiliate link: if you book through this search, the blog earns a commission at no extra cost to you. Results open in a new tab. About affiliate links
Discover more from Elsewhere, Mostly
Subscribe and get new posts sent straight to your inbox.