Fodor's Expert Review Boisé de la Pointe-St.-Gilles

Natural beauty and artistic sensibilities mark 432 acres of groomed and wild acres in the middle of the city. Listen for harbor seals and see blue herons along hiking trails to the shore. Birds abound here, and this is an important wintering area for the threatened Icelandic Barrow's Goldeneye duck. Balsam fir, white birch, and many other trees fill the forest as do a wide variety of flowers, fungi, shrubs, and whimsical wooden sculptures like giant mushrooms by local artists. Overlooks provide vast wilderness, mountain, and river views.