Exploring a regional park is great. Exploring the underside of a regional park is even better. In fact, the Chute-à-Bull regional park in Lanaudière has just revealed one of its undersides: a cool little cavern that goes into the mountain and that can now be explored as part of a guided tour.
It was probably log drivers who discovered this deep crevasse near the Bull Falls at the end of the 19th century.e century or early 20th centurye century, says David Lapointe, general director of the Matawinie Regional Parks Development Corporation.
“At the time, anything underground was evil, it was the devil,” he says. “So people didn’t tend to venture there.”
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The general manager of the Matawinie Regional Parks Development Corporation, David Lapointe, in front of the Bull Falls
Around here, we simply called it “the hole in the slide “, named after the wooden ramp on which the log drivers slid the logs to get around the Bull Falls, which was a little too steep for their taste.
It was in 2014 that the Matawinie parks saw the potential of the cave and decided to make it accessible. It took 10 years to bring the project to fruition, including years of studies involving geologists, speleologists and wildlife specialists, and then more years to build safety infrastructure.
The Chute-à-Bull cavern was able to welcome its first visitors last July.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
To reach the cave, you must take the very beautiful hiking trails of the Chute-à-Bull regional park in Saint-Côme.
Underground explorations
The adventure begins at the park’s brand new reception chalet in Saint-Côme, while the cry of a loon, not far away, reminds us that we are in the middle of nature.
From here, you have to walk 2.5 kilometers to reach the cavern. It is a beautiful path, covered with pine needles, soft underfoot. A little too soft in places: the big storms of the summer left a few sections of mud as a souvenir.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The trail to the Chute-à-Bull cave crosses the Boule River via a small covered bridge.
The trail soon joins the Boule River (a French form of Bull), not very wide here, but nicely tumultuous. The tumult becomes more impressive at the Bull Falls itself. The waters plunge 18 meters into a large pool. Thanks to the famous storms of this summer, the flow is still significant, almost as much as in the spring.
It is at the Belvedere refuge that aspiring speleologists, who have taken care to reserve their place on the Chute-à-Bull park site or at the reception center, meet their guide. We are treated to the big boss himself, David Lapointe, rather happy to leave the administration of the Development Corporation behind for a while to accompany journalists underground.
He provides us with helmets equipped with headlamps and takes out the posters that the guides use to explain to visitors the formation of the Chute-à-Bull cavern.
It was not carved by a river. Rather, it was a crack that widened under the weight of glaciers and thus became a gigantic crevasse.
David Lapointe also talks to us about bats, these friendly mammals that have undergone an absolutely fascinating evolution to become flying creatures that move at night, navigate by echolocation and sleep upside down.
Three species of bats frequent the Chute-à-Bull cavern, but mainly to hibernate. They do not reside there during the summer. This is why the park was allowed to organize visits for humans until mid-October. After that, the bats will have the place all to themselves.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Before reaching the cave, we go down towards it.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
It’s time to enter the cavern. Some passages are narrow.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The Bullfall Cave is actually a huge crevasse.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
A tablet measures any movements of the rock.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The second room of the cavern is even lower.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The helmet is very useful here.
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PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Back in the open.
1/7
After a few safety tips, we can finally go down to the famous cavern. First, we have to take a long wooden staircase that zigzags along the mountainside before reaching an opening in the ground. Another short staircase (made of aluminum, this one), and we reach the first room of the cavern. Daylight still enters from above. We are right in the crevasse. The geologists have installed small plates that measure any movements of the rocks.
“They’ve been here for six years, nothing has changed,” David Lapointe reassures us.
The headlamp becomes essential as we descend further down more aluminum stairs.
The helmet is also very useful: space becomes more restricted and it is easy to bump your head here and there.
We searched carefully, no bats in sight.
The floor of the second room is a duckboard that allows you to see the crevasse continue much lower. Barriers and nets prevent any missteps. You need to be an experienced speleologist to continue the journey.
Our visit is more of a fun introduction to the underground world, intended for the general public. If it can spark new interest in caving, David Lapointe and Spéléo Québec will be happy.
Visit the Chute-à-Bull Regional Park website
Visit the Spéléo Québec website