The park, with an area of 8.84 square kilometres (3.41 sq mi), notably includes Mont Saint-Bruno, one of the Monteregian Hills which peaks at 218 metres (715 ft).

Situated at the heart of the old signory of Montarville, its many lakes have permitted the construction and exploitation of many water mills, contributing to the region's economical success.

One of those communities, the Brothers of Christian Instruction of St Gabriel, went as far as building a school and an arboretum for the benefit of the neighboring population.

It established a park in 1985 that, since 1999, is managed by the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SÉPAQ).

The park is named after mount Saint-Bruno, whose namesake is Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, a municipality directly adjacent to the west flank of the mountain.

It is located about 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of Montreal and is surrounded by the municipalities of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Sainte-Julie and Saint-Basile-le-Grand, all three belonging to the administrative region of Montérégie.

Formed by an intrusion of magma in the Earth's crust associated with a hotspot created by the opening of the Atlantic Ocean[5] approximately 124 million years ago, the Monteregian hills have been exposed to the elements by the progressive erosion of their paleozoic sedimentary layers, which are softer than their core of metamorphic and igneous rocks that typically form plutons.

[6] The massif's composition is mainly of peridotite accompanied by gabbro[5] and syenite[7] surrounded by shale and siltstone dating from the Ordovician (approximately 500 million years ago) and metamorphosed by the intrusion of magma.

Its highest summits are situated on its north-eastern flank and form an ellipse around the "lac des Bouleaux" (Birch Lake).

[10] Although the mountain stands at only 218 metres (715 ft), the conditions on the summit are a bit harsher than at the bottom, which in consequence causes altitudinal zonation.

It is characterized by the presence of mixed forests dominated by the sugar maple, the yellow birch, the Canadian hemlock and the eastern white pine.

Also found in the park are the Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), the American hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), the yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), the moosewood (Viburnum lantanoides) and the northern whitecedar (Thuja occidentalis).

[15] Five threatened species of birds can be found in the park, the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), the sedge wren (Cistothorus platensis), the Cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea), the chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) and the common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor).

[14] 13 species of fish have been counted in the park's lakes, the pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), the smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), the yellow perch (Perca flavescens), the white sucker (Catostomus commersonii), the brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), the golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas), the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), the black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), the goldfish (Carassius auratus), the bluntnose minnow (Pimephales notatus), the tessellated darter (Etheostoma olmstedi), the rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) and the blacknose shiner (Notropis heterolepis).

Their hydraulic power was harnessed for grinding wheat, tanning leather, carding and spinning wool and sawing wood.

In 1825, the Boucher family sold the seigneury to François-Pierre Bruneau, a lawyer from Montreal who in turn passed it to his cousin, Olivier-Théophile (who was the first professor of anatomy at McGill University in 1851.

In 1899, this terrain was sold to the Mount Bruno Association, an organization created to manage the domain in shared ownership, presided by Pease until his death in 1930.

[18] At the beginning of the 20th century, four religious communities, the Society of Jesus, the Trinitarian Order, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the Brothers of Christian Instruction of St Gabriel all purchased land parcels around the mountain to flee from Montreal's sprawling urbanization and to meet the food requirements of their schools.

The apple orchard as well as an 0.51 hectares (1.3 acres) arboretum, which at one point was home to 176 species of trees and bushes, are the sole remainders of this religious community's presence on the flanks of the mountain.

[18] In 1969, the city of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville acquired 1.5 square kilometres (0.58 sq mi) of land in the mountain in order to protect the lakes that form its drinking water supply.

The exploitation of natural resources for forestry, mining or energy production is forbidden, as it is in any other of Quebec's parks, and so are hunting, trapping and poaching.