Velo-camping in Quebec
In July, 2007,we spent 9 days on a bike camping trip that took us along the Saguenay River, the only fjord on the North American Continent, all the way to Lac St-Jean, the last major outpost of civilization north of Quebec City. Throughout the trip, we were able to follow the Route Verte, Quebec's 4000 km network of paved, crushed stone, and on-road bicycling routes.
Portneuf Reserve
We drove from Ipswich to the Reserve Faimoqie de Portneulf in Riviere-Pierre, Quebec, about 50 miles west of Quebec City for the start of our trip. After camping there overnight, we left the car for the week and started our trip that would take us 520 miles through Quebec City, along the south shore of the St. Lawrence, north along the Saguenay River, then around Lac St-Jean, ending with a 3 hr. train ride back to where we started and the drive home.
Day
1: Riviere-a-Piere to
Beaumont 65 miles
We packed up our tents and gear. Deb and Michael both use rear panniers
on their bikes, while Gordon prefers his Bob Yak. We set off on the
Piste Jacque-Cartier/Portneuf , a 68 km stone dust trail from Riviere-a-Piere
to Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier near Val Belair. From Saint-Gabriel,
we continued on the paved Corridor des Cheminots - 22km to Quebec City.
Near the port area it connects to the Corridor du Littoral for about
9 km which took us to the ferry which crosses the St. Lawrence ferry
from Quebec Cityto Levi.y from the port area to Levi.Reaching Levi,
we continued an additional 9 miles along the Le Parcours des Anses",
Levis' bicycle trail to Beaumont, our starting point. Tonight we camped
at Camping Beaumont-- an RV park along the river which had a small island
for tent camping.
Day 1 map
Day
2 : Beaumont
to Riviere-Ouelle (75 miles)Heading
northeast now along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, we took
the Route Verte's on-road bike lanes called the Veloroute des Migrations,
which detour through all the beautiful small towns that line the river.
We camped tonight at nicely-run Camping Riviere-Ouelle. This side of
the river is relatively flat with a few easy climbs over the bluffs.
Day 2 map
Day
3:
Riviere-Ouelle to Baie Ste-Catherine
(65 miles)We biked 38 miles from Riviere-Ouelle to Riviere-du-Loop and
took the 1:45 ferry, a one hour crossing to St-Simeon on the north side
of the St. Lawrence in the Charlevoix mountainous area.Until now, our
ride had been relatively easy with gentle climbs and asteady strong
tailwind. Even loaded with gear, we had been able to maintain a 20 mph
speed for miles. That all changed as we rode out of St-Simeon witha
mile long 12% grade climb in 90+ degree heat that forced us to get off
the bikes and walk!After cooling off at the top, we continued for 22
miles of steep rolling hills on Rt. 138 to Baie-Ste-Catherine. We stayed
at Camping du Fjord, with our tents on a rise with a gorgeous view of
the Saguenay-Tadoussac bay.
Day 3 map
Day
4: Baie-Ste-Catherine to Saint-Rose du Nord (60 miles)
After breaking camp in Bay St-Catherine, we soon enjoyed a thrilling
descent to where the Saguenay River flows into the St. Lawrence. We
took a quick ferry across the Saguenay to Tadoussac, still on Rt. 138
. A half mile steep climb took us over the mountains that surround the
city, and we turned north on Rt. 172 along a river that flowed between
the mountains that border the east side of the Saguenay Fjord. This
was our first taste of wilderness cycling, with 40 miles of endless
climbs with fantastic scenery. We reached the remote and historic town
of Sainte-Rose-du-Nord, and camped at Camping La Descente Des Femmes.The
place had seen better days, but was a short walk from the town'sharbor.
Day 3 and 4map
Saint_Rose
du Nord to Lac Kenogami70 miles. Leaving St-Rose-du-Nord
meant a steep two mile climb back to the highway, followed by another
steep two miles before the first break. We continued climbs and descents
for about 30 miles, before finally reaching the miles-long descent to
the city of Chicoutimi that we had heard about.After 70 miles in a virtual
wilderness interrupted primarily by the rush of logging trucks up and
down the hills, we had made it to the source of the beautiful Saguenay
River. This thickly populated area continues on through Jonquiere, and
we found ourselves primarily on paved bike trails through the cities,
and a very sweet abandoned rail trail that crossed the mountain between
them.Tonight we camped at the Centre touristique du Lac-K�nogami, a
very nice wooded campground with no RV's to be found.
Day 5 map
Day
6: Lac Kenogami to Sainte-Monique,
80 Miles.Today we reached Lac St-Jean, our ultimate destination.The
Veloroute des Bleuets has been completed around the entire lake, varying
from paved rail trails to on-road with shoulders, and a few stone dust
and gravel sections. The bike route crossed several spillways that gave
us great views of the lake and the rapids below. One of the nicest sections
of the ride was the stone dust trail at Pointe Taillon, a wildlife sanctuary.
After reaching the end of that trail, we camped at the very nice Center
Touristique Sainte-Monique. The entire Lac St-jean area is very isolated
from the rest of Quebec, and few people speak any English at all.Be
prepared that wherever you choose to eat, frites (french fries) come
with the order. At some restaurants, there were 20 choices of poutine,
a regional favorite of french fries covered with gravy and cheese.But
in general the waitresses were patient as we pointed at items on the
menus and tried to explain that we were mostly vegetarian. Don't expect
to get exactly what you order.
Days 6, 7 and 8map
Day
7:Pointe Taillon to St-Felicien 75 miles.
The Route Verte 8 and Veloroute des Bluets leaves the lake for this section, taking us through several towns at the edge of civilization as we know it. After passing through Dolbeau-Mistassini, we rode through a town celebrating its gourganes (lima beans), whichmake a popular regional gray soup.Finally turning south, we got a great tailwind which brought us to St-Felicien, home of a world-famous zoo where the people walk in cages instead of the animals. Westayed atCamping Municipal St-Felicien, close to some amazing rapids. Days 6, 7, and 8 map
Day
8:Ste-Felicien to Chambord, train and 35 miles
to Riviere-a-Pierrre.We broke camp early and again enjoyed an amazing
tailwind, which got us 35 miles to Chambord with enough time left for
"second breakfast". Just after noon we boarded the CanadaRail train
"The Saguenay", and rode a little over 3 hours from Chambord back to
Riviere-A-Pierre, passing through beautiful Portneuf and Laurentide
mountain countryside that is serviced only the train with no highways.A
short ride from town back to the Portneuf Reserve, packed the car still
there waiting for us, and we headed back home.
Days 6, 7, and 8 map
Panniers for bicycle camping or around town