Montreal

For this month, I’m going to do something a bit different. 

Usually, I focus on playing pickup basketball at a single court, but my blog’s analytics have shown me something interesting: my most popular post by far is about Austin. What sets the Austin post apart is that I explored various courts throughout the city, giving readers a comprehensive look into different courts. It seems that people searching for my blog are interested in discovering a range of pickup basketball options, rather than listening to me ramble about my own experiences playing basketball on a single court.

With that in mind, I’m excited to launch a three-part mini-series featuring the basketball courts I visited over the course of a month in three different cities: Montreal, Seattle, and Vancouver.

I arrived in Montreal with an exciting weekend planned: attending the F1 Canadian Grand Prix and catching Cascada at a club. Although both events promised to be fantastic, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing

My disappointment grew when I realized that I had confused Kaskade with Cascada, meaning I wouldn’t get to dance to ‘Everytime We Touch’ after all. Despite the allure of F1 racing and the clubbing nightlife, I gravitated towards finding the local basketball courts to see where local ballers play pickup basketball.

Following the lead of Austin's Uber Scooters, Denver's Lyft Scooters, and Chicago's Divvy Bikes, I hopped on a BIXI bike in Montreal and explored the city in search of pickup basketball courts.

Basketball Courts in Montreal (map)

• Basketball Court (Montreal, Quebec H3K 1N8, Canada)

• Arthur-Therrien Park - basketball court

• Parc Jacques-Viger basketball court

• Oscar-Peterson Park basketball courts

Basketball Court (Montreal, Quebec H3K 1N8, Canada)

I’m not sure what this court is called, but I can say that it’s a perfectly fine court—until the school kids come out to play. The proximity to an elementary school seems to reduce the court's availability, as I noticed the school sometimes uses it for events. It’s a good spot for shooting around, but I can’t imagine people playing serious pickup basketball here.

Arthur-Therrien Park - basketball court

A nice scenic basketball court along the river, on the Chemin des Berges - Arthur Therrien Park to Rapides Park trail (I’m not sure of the exact name of this trail, but this is what Google is telling me). When biking this trail, you will find every sports field imaginable, from baseball to soccer (futbol), to tennis, to pickleball and of course, basketball.

Parc Jacques-Viger basketball court

Definitely one of the more uniquely colored courts I’ve seen. While it had interesting shapes, I was a bit unsure what they were used for. Or maybe they were there just for aesthetic purposes. Either way, it’s a pretty solid court to play pickup basketball on.

Oscar-Peterson Park Basketball Court 

If I had to pick from all the basketball courts I visited in Montreal, I would say this area had the best chance for a solid pickup basketball game. There were supposedly two basketball courts here when I visited, but one was under construction, leaving only one court to play on. One can only wonder what new improvements they are putting in place!

Conclusion 

There were plenty of other basketball courts in Montreal that I did not get the opportunity to visit, but these were some solid courts to start off with if you are new to the city. I will note that none of the courts had a full game going on, but that may have been because of the time of day I went and was unlucky. If you know a good court to play full-court, let me know!