This area covers the eastern half of a larger plateau attested in French as colline or even plate-forme de Québec (Quebec hill).

Although the southern slope is very steep, it was climbed by British soldiers at nighttime in September 1759, so they could take the French by surprise (who were probably expecting Wolfe's troops to arrive through a more convenient path) and engage in the decisive Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

[2] Nowadays, roads, a free escalator (named du Faubourg), the Old Quebec Funicular, and 20 stairs with an official toponym connect downtown with its upper counterpart.

The longest, escalier du Cap-Blanc (398 steps), was designed in wood by noted architect Charles Baillairgé in 1868 (although renovated many times since then) and is the only one that truly goes to the top of the hill, to the south of the Plains of Abraham.

In the vicinity of the Plains of Abraham, just west of Cap Diamant (100 metres (330 ft)) of altitude[1]), the slopes are notable for containing white-cedars growing directly on the rock.

Its neutral tint also contrasted with the reddish minerals covering the slopes of the southwestern extremity of the hill, in the locality already named Cap-Rouge (Red Cape).