As we drove through Canada two times last year, we saw this park from far away every time, but we never had a chance to get there. So last weekend was Labor Day weekend, so it was the perfect opportunity to discover a new place in Quebec.
Where is Aiguebelle National Park located?
It is almost 8 hours North of Montreal and around 630 km. It is 50 km from Rouyn Noranda, and it is very close to the Ontario border. It is in the Abitibi Temiscamingue region.
How much does it cost?
A single entrance for an adult is $9.00, but if you are, like us, every fan of the Quebec National park, you should buy the annual pass, which is $81.25 (trust me, it is worth it!)
What can you do in Aiguebelle National Park?
Every outdoor you can imagine, you can do it: hiking, canoeing, kayaking, paddling, snowshoeing, ski, ice climbing, fat bike, and more.
In the park, you can discover some giants pots, volcanic cushion, and a 22 meters bridge (this is high, but the view is so unique that you have to do it), and helicoidal stairs (which is impressive too)
What did we do?
We arrived on Saturday at the end of the day, and the weather was not great (it was pouring all night long); we decided to go slow as many hikes were on the rocks.
-Les Paysages is a great 2km loop hike where you can go down on the helicoidal stairs. The landscapes (Les passages) are stunning, and it was so quiet being there. It took us around 1hour and 30 minutes to do it (as we were doing so many photos!)
-La Castorière is a short loop hike around the Visitor Center, and we were hoping to see some beavers, but we were not lucky. Instead, we met some people discovering everything about mushrooms, and we learned that this was a group with a guide.
-Le Garde-Feu is a 2km loop hike, where you can discover this tower that was used to watch the fire around here. It is a 10 meters replica, and the original one was 30 meters. Jerome did go up. I tried, but I stopped in the middle as I had no idea how to get down after that.
-La Traverse is a 3km loop hike. It is the one with the suspension bridge! We did love this because it is so high, but the views are pretty impressive. We stopped on our way on what they called Marmite Géante, a hole in the rock.
-We ended up with a bit of jump in the water (I was the only one in the water, and people were cheering me up because the water was so cold!), and the clouds were reflecting in the water. It was amazing! And we ended up our day with some firepit and some cooking directly on the fire!
Why should you spend a few days there?
It is the perfect destination to have this feeling to be in nature and enjoy the leaves that change their color at the end of the summer.
