Lusk Cave

Caverne-Lusk

Useful Information

Location:	300 Chemin du Lac-Philippe, Philippe Lake, Saint-Cécile-de-Masham. Gatineau Park near Philippe Lake, about 50 km north of Ottawa-Hull. (45.5829328, -75.9832598)
Open:	Mid-JUN to LD daily no restrictions. [2026]
Fee:	Car 30 min CAD 2.75, Car day CAD 15, Minibus day CAD 40, Bus CAD 68. [2026]
Classification:	Karst Cave River Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	L=150 m, VR=10 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Lusk Cave, Parc de la Gatineau, Bit’bi-Témiscamingue, Tel: +1-819-827-2020, Free: +1-866-456-3016.
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History

Description

Lusk Cave is a superb example of an undeveloped marble cave which is suitable for tourists. It is part of the Gatineau Park near Philippe Lake, about 50 km north of Ottawa-Hull. Well marked trails lead to this popular cave. Starting from Parent Beach, the 10-kilometre (return) route along easy trails is dotted with interpretation panels. Walking time is approximately four hours. The tourist brochure describes Lusk Cave as an exciting natural phenomena to explore. However, visitors are recommended to bring a flash light and a second pair of shoes as the water is about a metre deep at one point!

Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.

Québec is the French-speaking part of Canada, so the name of this cave is actually Caverne Lusk (Lusk Cave). It is named after nearby Lusk Lake. It is a river cave in marble and was formed by the melting water of the glaciers of the last cold age some 12,500 years ago. The huge amount of melting water forced its way into cracks in the rock and quite quickly produced an almost circular pressure tube. This took probably two thousand years. When the glaciers were gone, the amount of water decreased massively, the passage was not filled with water any more, there was now a river flowing on the floor. This river slowly cut a sort of canyon which was more narrow than the original tube, and eroding about one meter took some 10,000 to 11,000 years. This is called a keyhole profile and is quite typical for the cave. It is named after a keyhole, which has a large circle at the top and a narrow groove at the bottom.

Starting point is the Parent Beach parking lot at the northern end of Phillippe Lake. The parking lot is open only during the summer and there is a parking fee. There are two trails, the Lusk Cave trail (73) and trail 50, close to the cave they are connected by trail 54. So it’s actually possible to make a roundtrip with a length of 12 km and an elevation gain of 90 m. You should plan at least 4 hours for the whole hike. It’s also possible to bike on trail 50 to the end of the lake where bike racks exist.

This is a river cave, it is quite harmless but nevertheless the water may reach up to 1 m depth. The water is also quite cold, fortunately the cave is rather short, but we strongly recommend appropriate clothes. Helmet with headlamp, reserve lamp, gum boots and clothes to change are also recommended. And of course never cave alone.