I’m heading to the north shore of the St. Lawrence River between Québec's two urban hubs of Montréal and Québec City, to a region known as Québec Authentique to explore the region by the seat of my sea kayak.
Next up on my adventures through Québec: Québec Authentique. Here I got to explore one of the least-well-known national parks in the province, as well as check out a really cool urban paddling city that's considered by many to be a distillation of the best that Québec has to offer. Québec Authentique boasts a beautiful and wide-open landscape that offers incredible access to the natural world through its two national parks, 15 regional parks, and three wildlife reserves. And the postcard beauty is anything but static, as the area prides itself on having a vibrant community that shares an intimate connection with the outdoors. Located on the north shore of the St Lawrence River, between Québec's two urban hubs of Québec City and Montréal, Québec Authentique is a blending of the province's beautiful Lanaudière and Mauricie regions.
To kickstart my adventures, I found myself in the province's largest, oldest, and probably most-well-known national park, Mont-Tremblant National Park. Although I've spent a fair amount of time in the park over the years, this particular area is new to me. The Mont-Tremblant Park that I know is very close to Mont-Tremblant resort and it's beautiful, but pretty busy because it's so close to Montréal.
Only an hour further than Mont-Tremblant, you’ll suddenly feel much more remote. While there are not many people here there is very thick wilderness. I met up with Ben Peterson from Au Canot Volant, who helped show me around join me on a trip down the Assomption River.
Although I'd never been to this part of Québec before, I'd heard plenty about the Assomption. It's a well-known paddling route, and at over 120 miles in length it's one of the most important rivers in the Lanaudière region. From the moment you leave the launch you feel as though you've left civilization behind and the only connections that matter are the connections you make with nature and those you're traveling with. It really is a classic wilderness river.
As amazing as it was to dive into the wilderness and escape the real world for a while, paddling is more than a way to escape. Paddling can play a special role in our day-to-day lives–and in urban environments. A perfect example of this is Maikan Aventure, an adventure travel company found in the city of Trois-Rivières.
Although I love wilderness paddling trips there's something really cool about urban paddling, especially in a place like Trois-Rivières that has such an active paddling scene. It's fun to see other people enjoy the river so much, and really neat to be able to pull over at a riverside restaurant. You also get such a unique perspective of things from the water that you simply can't get from the land.
After a quick lunch stop, my paddling partner Alex Legrow of Maikan Aventure and I headed further upstream to a section of the Saint-Maurice River that has some fast flowing water, and which leads to a very special place called the Devil’s Fountain. The Devil’s Fountain is found near the remnants of the ironworks in Trois-Rivières, and it’s interesting due to the fact that you can literally light the water on fire, thanks in large part to methane emissions coming out of the water.
I had a really enjoyable day paddling with Alex through the heart of Trois-Rivières. Before I knew it the sun was quickly dropping towards the horizon, but I had one more place to check out. Word has it that Lac Saint-Pierre is one of the best spots in Québec to watch the sunset…and I'm a sucker for a good sunset. Sunsets are like waterfalls and lighthouses, it doesn't matter how many you see, it's always cool.
Paddling away the last hour of light was a great opportunity for me to reflect on the past few days in Lanaudière and Mauricie. The trip had been amazing and was a real reminder of how many different types of experiences you can have with a paddle in your hand. There's no such thing as the “best experience” – all that matters is having an experience. That just means getting out there, whenever you can, in whatever craft you can, wherever you can.
Special Thanks To:
Aventure Écotourisme Québec | Sépaq | Québec Authentique Lanaudière & Mauricie
