Reserve faunique des Laurentides

One Of Quebec'S Largest Wildlife Reserves At About 7,861 Square Kilometres On The Laurentian Plateau; Roughly 2,000 Lakes, The Headwaters Of Several Major Rivers, And One Of The Highest Moose Densities In Eastern North America · Stoneham, Quebec

The Reserve faunique des Laurentides covers about SEVEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SIXTY SQUARE KILOMETRES of the Laurentian plateau between Quebec City and the Saguenay, which makes it larger than every national park in eastern Canada except one - and almost nobody outside Quebec has heard of it. It was protected in 1895, making it one of the OLDEST PROTECTED AREAS IN CANADA, and it is a reserve faunique rather than a parc national, which matters: hunting and fishing are the primary activities, managed by SEPAQ through a lottery and reservation system, alongside camping, canoeing and hiking. There are roughly TWO THOUSAND LAKES on it and the headwaters of several major rivers rise here. THE MOOSE DENSITY IS AMONG THE HIGHEST IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. Route 175, a fast divided highway, runs straight through the middle, so a reserve this size is unusually easy to reach.

Route 175 between Quebec City and Saguenay, Capitale-Nationale, Stoneham, Quebec, Canada

OPEN YEAR-ROUND, MANAGED BY SEPAQ, and it works differently from a parc national. THERE IS NO SIMPLE DAILY ACCESS FEE FOR THE WHOLE RESERVE - instead ACTIVITIES ARE INDIVIDUALLY RESERVED: fishing lakes are allocated by reservation and in some cases by LOTTERY, hunting is by draw and season, and cabins, campsites and canoe routes are booked separately through SEPAQ. CHECK WHAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED TO BOOK BEFORE ARRIVING, because turning up expecting to fish a lake will not work. THE SUMMER SEASON runs roughly late May to mid-October for camping and paddling; WINTER BRINGS SNOWMOBILING, ICE FISHING AND SKI TOURING. ROUTE 175 IS A FAST DIVIDED HIGHWAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE and is maintained all year - MOOSE ON IT ARE A SERIOUS AND WELL-DOCUMENTED COLLISION RISK, particularly at night.

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