Parc René-Lévesque is one of Montreal’s most quietly spectacular green spaces—a windswept peninsula in Lachine that juts between the St. Lawrence River and the end of the Lachine Canal. Once an industrial jetty built during the 19th-century canal expansions, the site is now a sprawling, 14-hectare public park where bikers, walkers, and skiers trace the shoreline year-round.
The park’s crown jewel is the Lachine Sculpture Garden, a permanent outdoor museum of 22 large-scale works by notable Québec artists like Michel Goulet and Bill Vazan. Installed over a series of international symposiums since 1985, the pieces stretch across wide open lawns and tree-lined paths, making the park one of the largest open-air art sites in the country.
Whether you’re cycling down the Chemin du Canal, gliding along the cross-country ski trail in winter, or watching the sun drop behind Châteauguay and Kahnawake, Parc René-Lévesque offers that rare kind of public space: contemplative, cultural, and totally free to roam.
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