Parc national de la Gaspesie

Quebec National Park (SEPAQ) Covering The Chic Choc And McGerrigle Mountains; Twenty Five Peaks Over 1,000 Metres, Arctic Alpine Tundra On The Summits, And The Last Woodland Caribou Herd South Of The St Lawrence · Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec

The Chic-Chocs are the highest thing in Quebec south of the far north, and the park that covers them holds TWENTY-FIVE PEAKS ABOVE A THOUSAND METRES, including Mont Jacques-Cartier at one thousand two hundred and sixty-eight. What makes them remarkable is what grows on top: the summits are high enough and cold enough to carry ARCTIC-ALPINE TUNDRA, a pocket of the far north stranded eight hundred kilometres south of where it belongs, with plants that otherwise grow in Labrador. Living on that tundra is THE LAST WOODLAND CARIBOU HERD SOUTH OF THE ST LAWRENCE - a population that has fallen to a critical level and is now intensively managed, which is why the Mont Jacques-Cartier summit trail opens late in the season, runs on a shuttle, and closes when the animals need it to. Below the tundra it is dense boreal forest, moose country, and some of the best hiking in eastern Canada.

Route 299, Chic-Chocs, Gaspesie, Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec, Canada

OPEN YEAR-ROUND WITH A SEPAQ DAILY ACCESS FEE, recently around CAD 9-10 per adult with children free. THE CRITICAL SEASONAL FACT IS MONT JACQUES-CARTIER: its summit trail OPENS LATE - generally not before late June - AND CLOSES IN EARLY AUTUMN, and ACCESS IS BY MANDATORY SHUTTLE ON A LIMITED DAILY SCHEDULE, all of it to protect the caribou herd on the summit tundra. THE TRAIL CAN BE CLOSED AT SHORT NOTICE FOR THE ANIMALS AND THAT CLOSURE IS ABSOLUTE. Summer hiking generally runs late June to early October. WINTER IS A SERIOUS BACKCOUNTRY SKI AND SNOWSHOE DESTINATION with huts and avalanche terrain. Gite du Mont-Albert, the park's hotel, and the campgrounds are reservable through SEPAQ and fill in summer. Route 299 is maintained year-round.

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