This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Whether or not you supplement it with accommodation in the great outdoors, hiking remains a must for fall. Here are several options in two exceptional areas where walking in the open air promises perfect tranquility this season. It’s raining ? Technical clothing is made for that.
Chaudière-Appalaches: Massif du Sud Regional Park
It is well known by area outdoor enthusiasts, but not so much nationally. However, this park, located in Saint-Philémon, offers a multitude of activities — tree climbing, mountain or gravel biking, geocaching, ornithological observation — not to mention snow sports during the winter. But it is hiking that constitutes the park’s flagship activity, with no less than 71 km of marked all-season trails that run along waterways, through mature forests and up to spectacular viewpoints. Some are unmissable, such as the popular Vieille Forêt course, nearly 5 km in the heart of a captivating forest made up of century-old yellow birch trees and punctuated by waterfalls. But for a more sustained and more intimate experience, we will choose the Crête des Grives trail, a very high circuit, which we gain thanks to a difference in altitude of 550 m. The trail, which extends over 11 km, includes some of the most beautiful viewpoints in the area. Obviously, fans of a challenge will also find something to have fun with the Gants course, 18 km of solid hiking (around 7 hours of walking) which crosses Mont Saint-Magloire, the summit peak of the region (917 m) . The hiker walks here in an old forest, in the heart of the moose’s natural habitat.
Four shelters are available for rental, as well as a yurt and boreal tents (ready-to-camp type). Daily access rate: $9 (free for children aged 12 and under).
Laurentides and Lanaudière: Mont-Tremblant National Park
The very first national park created in Quebec (in 1895) enjoys a reputation worthy of its formidable natural environment, full of vertical walls and dense forests. Four distinct sectors allow you to venture on the trails until the first snow. Sectors like Pimbina, accessible via Saint-Donat, in Lanaudière. The L’Envol trail, classified as intermediate, winds its way up the mountain to a viewpoint from where you can observe the superb Pimbina valley. This 4.5 km route, which takes less than two hours, often offers the opportunity to observe the birdlife particularly present in the park. To give your hike a hint of extra challenge, head to Carcan, in the same area, a 14 km round trip trail that starts 13 km from the Pimbina reception post: it climbs the second peak in the park after having passed waterfalls, rivers and beaver dams in a grandiose and wild environment. On this route, privacy is guaranteed.
Daily access rate: $9.55 (free for those 17 and under), family rate available. Many accommodation options are offered in the park.
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