Best Snowshoes for Canadian Winter

Top 5 Snowshoes for Canadian Winter

Winter in Montreal is harsh and intimidating for people, prompting them to stay indoors. However, spending more time indoors leads to a sedentary lifestyle that negatively impacts your overall health and wellbeing. So, it is essential to avoid taking a break during the cold winter months and focus on unique and creative activities to stay in shape and prevent the risk of chronic diseases, particularly stress and depression. Going to the gym, consuming a balanced diet, and other methods can quickly become boring and obsolete during the winter for some people. But, there is no need to worry because snowshoeing is an excellent way to keep yourself busy in the winter and enjoy the beauty of snow in Montreal. However, you may find it challenging to start snowshoeing if you are a beginner or lack proper equipment, including high-quality snowshoes. Snowshoes allow you to distribute your weight and walk comfortably over deep snow, preventing the risk of falls and slips. In today’s article, we will give you a list of the best snowshoes for Canadian winter. Read on!

Chinook Trekker Snowshoes

Chinook Trekker snowshoes feature a wide range of ergonomic features, ensuring comfort and reliability when walking over deep snow. These snowshoes have a sturdy aluminum frame and decking made of polyethylene with excellent UV resistance. The product also features dual ratchet bindings and heel straps. The crampons are made of superior-quality aluminum material with a free rotation feature, allowing them to stay firm in the snow. That way, you have better and controlled traction when walking down slopes. The product comes with a spacious bag you use for storage and carriage. Chinook Trekker snowshoes are an ideal product for people weighing 250 to 300 pounds. The product itself is lightweight and weighs no more than 5.43 pounds.

Best Snowshoes for Canadian Winter — item 1

ALPS Light Weight Snowshoes

ALPS snowshoes are durable, sturdy, lightweight, and compact, allowing you to walk comfortably over deep snow in Montreal. The unique design features fast pull binding buckles and heel bindings, allowing you to climb hilly terrains. Likewise, you can achieve better traction and grip, thanks to the aluminum alloy teeth. ALPS lightweight snowshoes’ frame is made of superior-grade 6000 series aluminum material with industrial-quality crampons and eco-friendly polyethylene decking with high density, leading to a more comfortable snowshoeing, walking, and hiking

Best Snowshoes for Canadian Winter — item 3

Carryown 4-in-1 Xtreme Lightweight Terrain Snowshoes

Carryown is a reputable brand that manufactures quality products, including snowshoes. There are various reasons you would invest in Carryown lightweight terrain snowshoes. First, it comes in 21 inches, 25 inches, and 39 inches optimized weight range, allowing you to choose snowshoes based on your size and weight requirements. Second, these snowshoes are lightweight, meaning you can put them on and walk in them easily over deep snow in Montreal, Canada. The ergonomic design, double ratchet bindings, one-buckle tightening mechanism, and TPE heel strap offer comfort. In addition, these shoes have a large aluminum frame with a flat surface area, ensuring smooth and reliable flotation. The product comes with quality trekking poles you can adjust based on your specific requirements.

Best Snowshoes for Canadian Winter — item 5

Gpeng Lightweight Terrain Snowshoes

Gpeng is the best snowshoes for Canadian winters that come in different sizes and weight capacities. The product has an innovative design and features a sturdy frame of metal and an upturned rounded tail, ensuring maximum flotation, increased control, and fast movement in Montreal’s harsh weather conditions. Crampons made of forged aluminum alloy allow for better traction on different terrains, including snowy surfaces. Gpeng snowshoes have double ratcheting bindings with excellent adjustability. So, you can adjust quickly and achieve a secure fit. The one-buckle tightening mechanism with a TPE steel strap ensures maximum efficiency, reliability, and support. The product comes with trekking poles and a carrying bag for storage. Overall, Gpeng is a high-quality product available at a reasonable price.

Best Snowshoes for Canadian Winter — item 7

G2 GO2GETHER Light Weight Snowshoes

G2 GO2GETHER lightweight snowshoes are made of quality, sturdy, and lightweight HDPE material with a premium deck that ensures excellent flotation on the snow without making you feel tired. The high-quality and innovative design features fast ratcheting bindings for harsh Canadian winter. You can fit the product easily using the one-pull buckle, and the sharp crampons made of aluminum allow for better control and grip. That way, you can reduce the risk of falls and slips on ice. The snowshoes interior contains EVA foam that provides you with extra comfort and warmth, protecting your feet from cold in Montreal. Thus, these snowshoes are a piece of perfect equipment for snowshoeing, hiking, and walking on rough terrains.

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Final Words

Snowshoeing is an adventurous and fun activity for many people in Montreal, especially those who don’t want to stay indoors and keep themselves in perfect shape. However, you can’t achieve your winter goals without a pair of quality and reliable snowshoes. You can choose any product from the list based on your needs.

Is Montreal One of North America’s Most Walkable Cities? (2026 Guide)

Yes — Montreal consistently ranks among North America’s most walkable cities, with a Walk Score above 65 island-wide and several neighbourhoods scoring 95+. The mix of dense residential streets, pedestrian-friendly mixed-use design, excellent public transit, and walkable winters (thanks to the Underground City) makes Montreal one of the easiest big cities on the continent to live without a car. Here’s what makes it so walkable, plus the 5 most pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods.

Why Montreal Is So Walkable

Dense neighbourhood design: Most central Montreal neighbourhoods were built before cars dominated — narrower streets, mixed shops and homes, walkable distances to everything.
The Underground City (RÉSO): 33 km of climate-controlled tunnels connect metro stations, malls, hotels, and offices — making winter walking practical.
Metro coverage: 4 lines cover most of the central city; bus network fills the gaps.
BIXI bike share: 700+ stations across the island and South Shore.
Compact downtown: Most central attractions are within a 30-minute walk of each other.
Year-round sidewalks: Snow plowing on sidewalks is generally good in central neighbourhoods.

Montreal’s Walk Score vs. Other Cities

City	Walk Score (city-wide)
New York	89
San Francisco	89
Boston	83
Montreal	65
Toronto	61
Vancouver	59
Chicago	78

Within Canada, Montreal regularly tops walkability rankings or ties with Toronto. Central neighbourhoods score much higher than the island average.

5 Most Walkable Montreal Neighbourhoods

1. Plateau-Mont-Royal (Walk Score: 96)

Iconic spiral staircases, dense triplexes, walkable to everything: cafés, restaurants, Mount Royal Park, Saint-Louis Square. Often ranks as Montreal’s most walkable neighbourhood.

2. Mile End (Walk Score: 95)

Bagels, coffee, street art, indie shops all within minutes. Highly walkable street grid.

3. Downtown / Centre-Ville (Walk Score: 94)

Office towers, condos, malls, McGill — all walkable plus the Underground City for winter.

4. Old Montreal (Walk Score: 92)

Cobblestone, narrow streets, completely walkable. The most “European” feeling neighbourhood.

5. Le Sud-Ouest / Saint-Henri / Little Burgundy (Walk Score: 90)

Trendy and walkable with the Lachine Canal path, Atwater Market, Notre-Dame West shops.

What Makes Other Areas Less Walkable

West Island: Suburban, low-density, more car-dependent
Far East End: Less mixed-use, longer walks to amenities
South Shore (Brossard, etc.): Built around malls and highways

Walking Montreal in Winter

Yes, you can walk in winter. Tips:

Insulated boots with good grip are non-negotiable from December–March
Use the Underground City for long downtown errands during cold snaps
Layer with windproof outer shell — wind chill is the killer, not temperature
Plan around plowing schedules — sidewalks are cleared within 24–48 hours of snowfall

Best Walking Routes for Visitors

Old Montreal loop: Notre-Dame Basilica → Place Jacques-Cartier → Old Port → Bonsecours Market (2 hours)
Plateau walking tour: Sherbrooke metro → Saint-Louis Square → Avenue Mont-Royal → Mile End → St-Viateur Bagels (3 hours)
Lachine Canal walk: Atwater Market → Old Port via the canal path (1 hour)
Mount Royal Park loop: Belvédère Kondiaronk → Beaver Lake → Cemetery (2–3 hours)

More Montreal Travel Guides

April 22, 2021/by T Riman

Hiking

Centre La Tienda – Helping you find your way to the Camino

SPOTLIGHT: Centre La Tienda – Helping you find your way to the Camino As you may or may not know, Tarek Riman, founder of MontrealTips, is a huge fan of the famed Camino de Santiago – the historic pilgrimage hiking trail from France to Spain. In fact, he is such a fan that he even wrote a book about the insights he gained on his three (THREE!) biking trips along the epic trail. And Tarek is not alone in his near obsession with the pilgrimage. Following an operation that rendered her disabled for almost two years, Anne St-Hillaire felt drawn to the Camino. So, she did the only logical thing – left her career in finance behind and set off to conquer this 1400km pilgrimage! But not before first struggling through all the planning and preparation required to undertake such an adventure. 1400km is quite a feat to accomplish. Even more so when you’re struggling under the weight of everything you’ve brought with you. After nearly endless shopping trips, weighing every single item (literally and figuratively), and spending more money that ended up being necessary, she finally embarked on her journey. And what an experience! It was then that she decided she wanted to dedicate her career to making the Camino more accessible to others. Located in Verdun, Centre La Tienda is part shop, part cafe, part travel agency, and helps people plan their entire Camino de Santiago journey, from transportation, to accomodations, to guides, to food, to packing and equipment. The centre even hosts workshops and conferences for people to learn, discuss and share their experiences. Winding through historic villages and breathtaking landscapes, the Camino de Santiago has been described as one of the best walking trips in the world. Whether they’re in it for the physical test, sightseeing, meeting new people, or for the deeply spiritual element of the pilgrimage, it seems clear that everyone who embarks on it comes away from this journey changed, for the better. Having experienced the Camino herself, Anne knows what equipment truly is needed and what isn’t. She knows the best times to plan your journey and what to expect when you arrive. She knows the steps you need to take, start to finish, to get the most of your Camino journey. If you are thinking of experiencing the pilgrimage for yourself, Centre La Tienda should absolutely be the first stop on your journey.

June 16, 2019/by T Riman

Activities, Hiking, Parks