Forillon National Park

The First National Park In Quebec, At The Tip Of The Gaspe Peninsula Where The Appalachians Meet The Gulf Of St Lawrence; Limestone Cliffs, Whales Offshore, And A History Of Expropriation The Park Now Acknowledges · Gaspe, Quebec

The Appalachian mountain chain runs two and a half thousand kilometres from Alabama and ends here, dropping into the Gulf of St Lawrence as a wall of limestone cliff. Forillon was QUEBEC'S FIRST NATIONAL PARK, created in 1970, and the walk out to LAND'S END at Cap-Gaspe - where the last of the mountains meets the sea and there is nothing beyond but water - is one of the great short hikes in eastern Canada. Whales feed close inshore through the summer, seals haul out below the cliffs, and the seabird colonies are substantial. THE PARK ALSO CARRIES A DIFFICULT HISTORY. Around two hundred and twenty-five families were expropriated from their land to create it, their houses burned or removed, and for decades that was left out of the story. Parks Canada now acknowledges it directly, former residents and their descendants have free access, and the restored buildings at Grande-Grave tell the fishing community's version rather than a sanitised one.

Route 132, tip of the Gaspe Peninsula, Gaspesie, Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

THE MAIN SEASON RUNS ROUGHLY EARLY JUNE TO MID-OCTOBER, when the visitor centres, campgrounds, services and the boat tours all operate; a PARKS CANADA ENTRY FEE APPLIES in season, recently around CAD 8-11 per adult daily, with a Discovery Pass covering it. OUTSIDE THE SEASON THE ROADS INTO THE PARK REMAIN PARTLY OPEN and the trails can be walked, skied or snowshoed free of charge, but services, washrooms and staffed facilities are closed. THE WHALE SEASON IS ROUGHLY JUNE TO OCTOBER with the best sightings usually from July into September. Campgrounds are reservable and fill in July and August. THE CAP-GASPE LAND'S END WALK is about 8km return from the nearest car park; a shuttle has operated part of the way in peak season. Route 132 around the peninsula is open all year.

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