Owl's Head
Overview
Owl’s Head has run for roughly 60 years from its base in Mansonville, Quebec, in the Eastern Townships region south of Montreal, and its identity has always leaned on where it sits rather than sheer size: the mountain looks out over Lake Memphremagog, a view the resort promotes across ski season, fall foliage events, and its 18-hole summer golf operation alike. That year-round approach extends to real estate, with the resort running its own habitat development alongside the Hotel du Hibou.
The vertical rise, 474.8 meters between a 237.5-meter base and a 712.3-meter summit, is modest for the region, and the resort runs six lifts, five chairlifts and one magic carpet, across 31 runs and 17.27 kilometers of mapped terrain. A single dedicated terrain park and 16 alpine hiking routes round out the trail network, along with alpine touring access for skiers looking to skin up rather than ride a lift.
Terrain difficulty centers on the middle of the mountain: 7.03 kilometers of intermediate runs is the largest category, ahead of 5.04 kilometers easy and 3.61 kilometers advanced, with 1.59 kilometers of expert terrain giving more experienced skiers something to look for beyond the groomed cruisers. That spread makes Owl’s Head a reasonable fit for mixed-ability groups without the mountain being built around any one extreme.
Pass coverage runs through Indy: both the Indy Base Pass and the no-blackout Indy+ Pass include Owl’s Head, each worth two tickets per season. Getting there from Montreal takes about 1.5 hours by car, with Magog a much shorter 30-minute drive; on the US side, Burlington International in Vermont (95 km) and Plattsburgh International (103.6 km) sit close enough to make Owl’s Head a plausible stop for cross-border visitors, while Montreal-Trudeau (121.5 km) remains the main international air option for the region.
The lift-to-terrain math backs up a mountain built for steady cruising rather than long backcountry-style traverses: six lifts across 31 runs works out to about 79 meters of vertical per lift and 0.56 kilometers per run on average. With the base sitting at just 237.5 meters, one of the lowest starting elevations among Quebec’s larger ski areas, the lake views the resort promotes over Lake Memphremagog come from a mountain that gains nearly all of its 474.8 meters of vertical in a single, uninterrupted rise up from the shoreline.
Owl’s Head’s year-round business model, an 18-hole golf course and fall foliage tourism alongside winter skiing, plus an expanding real-estate arm in Owl’s Head Habitat and its own Hotel du Hibou, sets it apart from many similarly sized Eastern Townships areas that operate as winter-only ski hills. That diversification likely explains why a roughly 60-year-old resort with a modest six-lift, 31-run footprint has kept investing in both terrain (the 1.59 kilometers of expert terrain and 16 alpine hiking routes) and off-mountain amenities at the same time, rather than choosing between growing the ski operation and building out other revenue streams.
Key stats
Official website — Last checked 2026-09-14
Lifts by type
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| chair lift | 5 |
| magic carpet | 1 |
Runs by difficulty
| Difficulty | Distance |
|---|---|
| easy | 5.04 km |
| expert | 1.59 km |
| advanced | 3.61 km |
| intermediate | 7.03 km |
Maps
View official Owl's Head trail map (image) →
Run & lift overview
Owl's Head: 31 runs, 6 lifts. A schematic built from OpenStreetMap/OpenSkiMap data — this is not Owl's Head's official trail map. © OpenStreetMap contributors, OpenSkiMap (ODbL).
Typical conditions by month
Monthly conditions data for Owl's Head is not yet available.
Lift tickets & passes
- Indy Base Pass — 2 All-Day or All-Night tickets per resort; blackout dates apply (exact 26/27 holiday blackout dates not yet finalized as of verified_date)
- Indy+ Pass — 2 All-Day or All-Night tickets per resort, no blackout dates
Getting there
Nearest airports
- Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport (BTV) — 95 km straight-line
- Montréal / Saint-Hubert Metropolitan Airport (YHU) — 100.7 km straight-line
- Plattsburgh International Airport (PBG) — 103.6 km straight-line
Nearest cities
- Sherbrooke, Quebec — 48 km straight-line
- Longueuil, Quebec — 104.1 km straight-line
- Le Vieux-Longueuil, Quebec — 108 km straight-line
Also covered by
Where to stay
A dedicated lodging guide for Owl's Head is not yet available.
Nearby resorts
- Mont Sutton — 21 km straight-line, 454.3 m vertical
- Jay Peak Resort — 24 km straight-line, 605.4 m vertical
- Mont Orford — 27 km straight-line, 521.4 m vertical
- Bromont Montagne d'Expérience — 37 km straight-line, 364.3 m vertical
- Burke Mountain Resort — 63 km straight-line, 606.5 m vertical
FAQ
- How old is Owl's Head ski resort?
- The resort describes roughly 60 years of operation in Mansonville, Quebec, in the Eastern Townships region.
- Does Owl's Head have lake views?
- Yes, the mountain overlooks Lake Memphremagog and the surrounding Eastern Townships landscape, a feature the resort promotes across both its winter and summer seasons.
- How big is Owl's Head?
- 474.8 vertical meters from a 712.3-meter summit to a 237.5-meter base, with 6 lifts (5 chairlifts, 1 magic carpet) serving 31 runs across 17.27 mapped kilometers.
- Is Owl's Head good for intermediate skiers?
- Intermediate terrain is the largest category at 7.03 kilometers, ahead of 5.04 km easy and 3.61 km advanced, with 1.59 km of expert terrain rounding out the mix.
- Which pass covers Owl's Head?
- Both the Indy Base Pass and Indy+ Pass include it, each worth two all-day or all-night tickets per season; the Indy+ Pass carries no blackout dates.
- How far is Owl's Head from Montreal?
- About 1.5 hours by car, with the closer town of Magog roughly 30 minutes away.
- What's the nearest airport to Owl's Head?
- Patrick Leahy Burlington International in Vermont is closest at 95 kilometers, just ahead of Montréal/Saint-Hubert (100.7 km); Montreal-Trudeau, the region's main international gateway, is 121.5 kilometers away.
- Does Owl's Head have summer activities, and how long is its average run?
- Yes, it runs an 18-hole golf course, hosts fall foliage events, and offers 16 alpine hiking routes and alpine touring in winter; on the ski side, 17.27 kilometers across 31 runs works out to roughly 0.56 kilometers per run, with vertical per lift averaging about 79 meters across the six-lift system.
Data sources
Last verified: 2026-09-17
Base facts from OpenSkiMap (ODbL), OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata (CC0), OurAirports (public domain) and GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). See /data-sources/.