The Saint-Jacques Escarpment (french: Falaise Saint-Jacques) is a green space along an

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

in the city of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, west of downtown

and adjacent to the neighbourhood of

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ( en, Our Lady of Grace), also nicknamed NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal in the city's West End, with a population of 166,520 (2016). An independent municipality until annexed by the City of Montreal in 1910, ...

. The

wooded A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

area stretches long, covering over . The escarpment's dense stands of poplar trees and its location between

Mount Royal Mount Royal (french: link=no, Mont Royal, ) is a large intrusive rock hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The best-known hypothesis for the origin of the name Montreal is the ...

and the

Lachine Rapids The Lachine Rapids (french: Rapides de Lachine) are a series of rapids on the Saint Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the south shore. They are located near the former city of Lachine. The Lachine Rapids contain large standing ...

make it notable for a number of species of resident and migratory birds and a large population of brown snakes. The land at the foot of the escarpment was previously known as a body of water named "Lac St-Pierre". The lake started losing its water with the opening of the

Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal ( in French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, ...

in the year 1825. The escarpment had served as a dumping ground before it was purchased by the City of Montreal for use as parkland, but until 2021 it was not open to the public. Plans to allow public access were frequently delayed because parts of the slope are unstable and dangerous, and the city's desire to preserve the escarpment as a natural space conflicted with the

Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

's plans for redevelopment of the

Turcot Interchange The Turcot Interchange is a three-level four-way freeway interchange within the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located southwest of downtown, the interchange links Autoroutes 15 (Décarie and Décarie South Expressways) and 20 (Remembrance H ...

, which include moving the Ville-Marie Expressway and Canadian National Railway line next to the foot of the escarpment. In 2020, the city of Montreal announced a proposal to turn much of the space into a park that would stretch nearly . In 2021, the long park was opened to the public. The west entrance is at Sainte-Anne de Bellevue Boulevard and Brock Avenue South. The east entrance is at Rue Pullman, just northwest of the

References

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External links

Ville de Montréal: Saint-Jacques Escarpment
Parks in Montreal Landforms of Montreal Escarpments of Canada Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce