The Crazy Horse Trail- A 6 km Hike in Ottawa

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The Crazy Horse Trail is a beautiful path nestled in the Carp Hills, on the west side of Ottawa. This trail is not often talked about when people talk about hiking near (in!) Ottawa, and I’m not sure why- it’s fantastic, and dogs are allowed on it.

This trail takes you on a really straightforward out and back hike that ends in a loop around a beaver pond. Despite being in town, the Crazy Horse Trail really gives the feel of a secluded backcountry space.

The Carp Hills are perfect for anyone wanting to get in a quick hike that’s secluded without having to go too far. It’s also well marked enough, and fairly low impact, so it would be perfect for families, or for anyone starting to get into trail running.

We’ve been out there twice this year, with varying degrees of success. The one downside to this trail is that it is REALLY wet in spots. When we tried to go in the spring, we had to turn back because the ATV trail that makes up part of the path early on was flooded, and reached above the tops of our boots. We try to follow Leave No Trace principles as often as we can, and didn’t want to damage any growth at the side of the trail trying to get through the flooding. We had to turn back and admit defeat that day.

I went out next with our pup at the very beginning of September, and there was still flooding in the area but it was lower, so we were able to get through. Judging by how many tadpoles I spotted on the ATV trail, my guess is that it’s been flooded all summer. Fine by me, if that’s what it takes to have no one else on the trail!

Getting There

The Crazy Horse Trail(head) begins near the intersection of March Road and Huntmar Drive. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.350678, -75.998289.

Beside the trailhead, there’s quite a bit of parking available on what is now a wide shoulder on March Road.  I think that this area used to act as a parking lot for the Crazy Horse bar that was there before, so parking here is really easy.

There are no facilities at this trailhead, and there are no garbage cans either. Dogs being allowed on this trail is awesome, but make sure you plan to pack everything all the way out. Like all the way out and back to your house.

The trailhead has a big sign with a trail map at the beginning, but it’s hidden from view from the road. To access the trailhead, you have to go down a short, grassy decline to the north of the parking area.

There is signage up about ticks in the area, and the trailhead was really grassy when I arrived. Ticks like to live in tall grasses. Don’t let this deter you though! It only lasts for fifty feet or so.

I could tell that this trail isn’t traveled too often just by trying to walk into it. The trailhead was quite overgrown with grass, flowers, and ragweed up to my chest. I walked in very slowly so I wouldn’t upset the bees.

The Trail

The Crazy Horse Trail winds its way through a beautiful forested area once you leave the grass behind. Despite it feeling secluded, the path is so well worn that it’s very easy to follow.

Early in the hike we passed over a well constructed boardwalk that has been built to allow hikers to traverse one of the first really wet sections.

Following this, we came across the first of two areas where we hiked out of the forest and got some sunshine, over a rock face that looked very typical of the Canadian Shield. Even in this open spot it was easy to get back on the trail because it was so well marked by the orange markers on the trees.

The trail dipped low again to where we had to turn around on our first attempt. This section of the path joins with what looks like an ATV/snowmobile trail so it’s very wide, but almost the entire width of it was still flooded. There was a very skinny path along the side that we were able to use to get through.

Further into the forest we came across the split in the trail that would take us around the beaver pond. We chose to head to our left, and go clockwise around the pond. Heading this way, there’s a tight squeeze where the path seems to have been manually shored up and the foliage growing there threatens to overtake it. This section is very short though, and felt solid underfoot. We reached a little bridge that brought us over part of the beaver pond after hiking for just 2.3 kilometres. Soon after, at the 2.6 kilometre mark we came across the first lookout, which gets you another really nice view of the pond.

There were two lookouts on this trail. Both were marked with blue markers, and didn’t require us to go very far off the main trail. These are not the most astonishing lookouts in the world, but still add to what is overall a worthwhile hike.

We carried on around the pond through a forest that felt really welcoming, with soft light coming through the tree leaves. The Crazy Horse Trail is great because the terrain changes surprisingly often for such a short trail, so it really holds your interest throughout the hike.

The loop around the beaver pond is a little over a kilometre, and after hiking for 3.6 kilometres we were back to the main trail.

Getting Home

On our way back, we decided to check out where the yellow markers would lead us. After hiking for a total of five kilometres we came across the yellow markers (on our right side because we were headed back towards March road) and veered to the right to follow them. We did the tiniest little loop that got us to another lookout, and were back on the orange trail in only 0.1 kilometres. On our next trip, we’ll definitely try to do the whole yellow loop.

We were back to the trailhead after hiking for six kilometres. We were able to complete this hike in just under two hours, moving at a very relaxed pace. The Crazy Horse Trail in the Carp Hills makes for a great half day trip in Ottawa, and is made even better by the fact that dogs are allowed on the trail.

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Elevation Gain and Map

Gear We Brought

• 2 litre hydration backpack
• Light jacket
• Bug Lotion
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Cell phone
• Tick Removal Tool
• Leash and harness
• Dog water bowl
• Water bottle for dog
• “Scoop” bags
• Extra plastic bag for anything that needed to be scooped…