A Day In Forillon National Park

We had unexpected rain overnight but woke to clearing skies and a warm and breezy 17º. We had about a 35 km drive back into Forillon National Park to the north entrance and the Discovery Centre.        

The park covers 245  sq km  and has about 45 km of dramatic ocean-facing shoreline. The park covers a narrow mountainous peninsula and because of its shape, it has a massive amount of coast for its total size.  The park was established in 1970 and was the first national park in Quebec. The Discovery Centre had very interesting displays. The staff gave us information about the various hiking and biking trails.

Prélude

     One ½ km trail at the centre|: Prélude-à-Forillon gives a quick    introduction to the park, very cleverly done.
 From the centre , we did two bike trails. The 4 km Du Banc trail followed the coastline and had one interesting monument to the Carrick shipwreck in 1847 when 87 perished at sea nearby.

Du Banc

 The 3 km Castor trail went through the forest and  past marshes.

  

We drove to two viewpoints.  One of the most scenic viewpoints in the park is Cap-Bon-Ami. 

 

We also saw L'Anse-aux-Amérindiens. We drove only 95 km, mostly to and from  the park. It was a perfect day of sightseeing and biking. (My eBike worked just fine and was a delight to ride!) It reached 27º; we used the air c. when we returned to the campground at 4:00.

La Haute-Gaspésie and la Cote-de-Gaspé

 It was a perfect day, clear and sunny to continue our drive east along the coast and farther up the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  But first we stopped in Ste-Anne-des-Monts for gas @ $1.89.9.

 We stopped at several scenic lookouts and villages with a Halte Municipale. Each had its own special touch. One had a park dedicated to veterans of the war in Afghanistan.

 Signage often warned of waves crashing onto the highway or              landslides onto the highway.

Lunch stop overlooking Grande-Vallée

The highway passed through Forillon National Park. We stopped at the Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Canada at 112 ft, built between 1854 and 1858. We started to walk one of the park trails but turned back when we spotted a bear in the distance!

The park campgrounds were fully booked so we chose a campground as close to the park as possible for two nights:Camping Fort Ramsay, connected to a motel. We have a very nice site, full hookups overlooking Baie de Gaspé.

We drove 245 km through spectacular scenery. It was  Quebec's answer to Nova Scotia's Cabot Trail. It reached a very pleasant 24º.

La Gaspésie

 The Gaspé Peninsula is a  region in eastern Quebec that juts into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Rte 132 circles the region 885 to 900 km but the peninsula itself is approximately 250 km long from base to tip. It is known for its rugged coastline considered among "the most scenic coastal drives in North America with mountain cliffs, historic lighthouses and fishing villages."

After a night of steady rain and wind, we woke to 7º, " like 3º " and a light horizontal rain. We were in no rush to start out.

 It remained windy but cleared up quickly as we motored east in the late morning. The tide was going out revealing some colourful rocks.

We made one brief grocery stop in the city of Matane. Many of the smaller towns and villages had nicely laid out halte municipale where we could stop to take pictures, have lunch.

The Chic-Choc Mountains, located in central Gaspésie, are part of the Appalachian chain. There was still snow on them.

We made a longer stop in Cap Chat, named for the Cat Rock. Legend  says a cat was turned to stone by a fairy for eating forest animals.  The waterfront boardwalk has a display of photographs and informative plaques.regarding the WWII Battle of the St.Lawrence between German U-Boats  and defence ships.

 

We stayed in Cap Chat Est at Camping au bord de la mer, our third campground on the river, this one elevated above the river. We were treated to a beautiful sunset.

With the later start, we motored only 140 km. Some stretches of Rte 132 were very rough and in need of repair.

Crossing The St. Lawrence

We were up early at 5:30 for our ferry crossing and surprised to see three vehicles already lined up. No reservations are necessary... first come, first served. Being Saturday we thought it better to get in line sooner than later. (They advise 90 minutes before sailing.) We left the campground at 7:30, were measured and moved to lane #2 for boarding.

The crossing distance from Saint Siméon to 

Rivière -du-Loup is 27.2 km;  average crossing time is

75 minutes. We were the first vehicle directed onto the ferry and to the very front of the loading deck.

The fare was $209.50 for Harvee Too and $42.70 for two seniors = $252.20.

Ramp in our faces

Leaving St, Siméon

First off once the ramp was down

We stopped for groceries at another Maxi in Rivière-du-Loup, ate lunch and took Rte 132, la Route des Navigateurs along the river. Traffic was very light.

To avoid setting up in the rain, we stopped early at 3:00 in Ste. Flavie  at Camping Capitaine Homard, full hook-ups looking out over the river. The rain started shortly after we arrived. It never got warmer than 10º as we motored  141 km plus the 27 km ferry crossing.

Kathy treated me to dinner out at Capitaine Homard's restaurant. Our meals were very good . The restaurant was quite busy.

La Route du Fjord: Day 2 - the South Shore

 Before leaving La Baie, we were very lucky to find a Shell station and filled up @ $1.71.9 with our 3¢ CAA discount. We stopped at two lookouts on the river before continuing to Parc National du Fjord-du-Saguenay. Saguenay National Park was created in 1983. In 2011 it was renamed "to emphasize its unique geographic feature." The park is a glacial valley  stretching over 100 km of the river with a sector on each shore.

 We paid $20.60 for a one day pass for the two of us in la Baie - Eternité  Sector  and parked at the Discovery and Visitors Centre.  

We hiked the Sentier des Méandres-à-Falaises, a 1.6 km loop with a 30 m. elevation. The scenery was breath-taking along the shore of the fjord.

Kathy also hiked the longer and more challenging Sentier de la Statue , a 2.4 km loop. She turned back just before the lookout as the trail became too treacherous.

We ate lunch before leaving and drove the remaining 85 km to Saint Siméon where we checked into the municipal campground on the shore of the St. Lawrence.

It was another short driving day, 164 km . It remained mainly cloudy and reached only 18º ,,, good for hiking.

Saint Siméon

La Route du Fjord: Day 1 - North Shore of the Saguenay River

Dawn over Tadoussac

 The weather was almost perfect for our first day driving la Route du Fjord. Rte 172 along the north shore of the Saguenay River combined with Rte 170 on the south shore creates a 235 km winding  route cutting through the Canadian Shield.

Rte 172 follows the  Sainte-Marguerite River .
We had one frustrating delay for construction, more than ½ hour before stopping for lunch in the village of Sainte-Rose-du-Nord.

We continued to Chicoutimi, one of three boroughs making up  the city of Saguenay located at the confluence of the Chicoutimi and Saguenay rivers. We visited two attractions. 

In July 1996 a flood hit the city of Saguenay. La Maison Blanche survived with devastation all around it.

The house is now a museum and the grounds around turned into  a park.



La Pulperie de Chicoutimi was designated a National Historic site in 1983. It comprises five buildings constructed between 1898 and 1923.

Now on the south shore, Rte 170 we stopped in La Baie, a major port on the river and natural harbour.  We checked in at Camping au Jardin de Mon Père, another campground Jean and I stayed at in1999.

It was our hottest day reaching 29º as we travelled 166 km. It was not an easy drive with many twists and turns, climbs and descents. But the scenery was great.