Montreal has a few belvederes, mostly located up in the air that give you the possibility to observe the city and the surrounding areas from above. For example, looking to the far West from the belvedere Outremont or the far East from the summit circle lookout on the top of Westmount are solid options. They are both interesting and special but traditional — they fit in the description of what a belvedere can offer. From here on out, I won’t be using the word “belvedere” anymore.

The spot I want to mention here is a viewpoint from the ground. Again after numerous bike and jogging explorations of the area around my neighborhood ( I live in St-Henri but go jogging all around), I got lost one day on purpose. I was exploring by bike to find new paths for running, not far from one of my favorite parks, park Marguerite Bourgeoys, going from dead-end street to back alley, and I found it!

It looks like a wall protecting the houses in that street from the wind and is probably is, too, but once on the top – we are talking about 20 stairs maximum – or a long flat slope, you are just above the roofs of Pointe Saint Charles, above the railways and facing in one direction the unexpected view on the skyline of Montreal.