O Canada

Destinations, International — By ATV Mag on June 22, 2006 at 12:00 pm

Cast the weather aside, and the beauty and intricate ATV trail system in Quebec greets riders and offers hours and days of fun in the backcountry.
Northern Quebec is unusual to North America due its French heritage and the natural landscaping that was done by several ice ages many years ago. Twice the size of Texas, Quebec is broken up into regions — the one we we visited is known as Mauricie.
Mauricie has more than 700 miles of maintained ATV trails (that does not include thousands of miles in the rest of the province). The whole trail system is deep in the Laurentian Mountains. It’s these ice-worn mountains that rim Lac Sacacomie, a 25-mile long lake that’s just one of the thousands of lakes in the region. With a mix of hardwoods and evergreens that grow amid the granite boulders and flat sheets of exposed bedrock, the surrounding landscape sculpted by glaciers looks like a wondrous painting.
Perhaps the best thing about Mauricie is the location: just a half hour from the flat lands that surround the St. Lawrence River. But, even in the flat part of this mountain range, there was almost no one around.
Lake Land
Located 100 miles northeast of Montreal, the impressive Lac Sacacomie, with its deep cut bays, and surrounding area is surprisingly sparsely populated. From the vantage point of the hotel high above the shore of the lake, the body of water dominates the landscape. It’s here where the forest cover on the rocky east shore breaks to reveal one of the largest all-log hotels in the world.
La Maison du Lac Sacacomie is a 12-year-old, 105 room hotel that is built entirely of logs, many of them with widths in excess of 30 inches. They were all cut and transported from northern Quebec where they were milled to size and fitted together. Interestingly, this wonder almost never came to be — a year after it was built the hotel burned to the ground. But, the owners never wavered on their choice of location and they immediately rebuilt it. Since then there have been several additions and expansions. The use of stone and steel is found throughout the hotel, but the huge pine logs dominate every room and corridor. The hotel itself has a commanding view of the lake and countryside as it sits some 1,000 feet above the water. A note of warning, the jaunt down the switchback trails to the beach and dock area is pleasant, but the climb back up is not. Ride your ATV instead.

Wildlife
Much of the area surrounding the lake is known as the Canadian Shield, which is also home to the Laurentian Mountains. The area is littered with all types of exposed rock formations; thanks to the last Ice Age that created the Shield. Glaciers pushed through this area and then receded — several times — scraping the bedrock bare. That geological action accounts for all the monster boulders, sand pits, streams, waterfalls and abundance of lakes in the area. The lakes and other water accounts for one of the most populous inhabitants of the area, beavers.
The anticipation of seeing another beaver dam didn’t have us too excited but, with a little coaxing from our guide, once we saw one of the largest in the region we truly were impressed. The dam stood close to 15 feet tall and was about 75 feet wide. The guide, who is a retired beaver trapper, explained that the family of beavers had picked a very small stream in a narrow rock cut. The family of beavers continued to swell over the years, so they kept building up the dam. In time the water got deeper and trees once 40 yards from shore were now much closer and easier to access for the beavers.
While riding you may also see moose, wolves and bears. The region is also home to the Cree Indian Nation and there are many local opportunities to see and experience their culture while you are visiting.
Miles of Trails
Riding from the doorstep of the hotel you’ll experience one of the best ATV trail systems available anywhere. This claim is more than a boast thanks to the logging roads that crisscross the alpine regions of Quebec. Consider for a moment that they have been building these ever deeper into the forests for the past 150 years for the lumber industry; but, for us ATVers they are a means into, and around, the vast wilderness of northern Quebec. It’s this web of roads and trails that ATVers in Quebec have been cultivating and grooming since the early 1980s. This is one of the largest network of trails in North America. It encompasses more than 9,000 miles — with 6,000 miles of them open year round.
You can ride throughout the area on your own or with a guide that is available through the resort hotels. Certainly a guide makes things easier, but we found that signage was good. Even without command of the French language, a place name is a place name and numbers are the same. International symbols for food, fuel and lodging appear on many of the signs as well. Of course you do have to get used to calculating distance in kilometers, but that’s easy.
The Quebec Federation of Quad Clubs says it has more than 150 member clubs with more than 50,000 members. In 2005, the organization celebrated its 20th anniversary promoting ATV touring in the province.
ATVs in Quebec are so much a part of the life in the region that it comes as no surprise that in towns like La Tuque in the Mauricie region, ATVs are permitted to drive on the village streets.
Also in Quebec, unlike many other areas, ATVs are ridden year round. In fact, they groom trails specifically for ATVs in the winter — to avoid problems with snowmobilers. With a record of cold temperatures for extended periods, many trails have the consistency of hard-pack gravel and make for good riding. The trails themselves, be it winter or summer, are well maintained and the terrain they cover is constantly varied. Lookouts, lakeside vistas and services are included along each route and the difficulty of each trail is often explained on the maps available locally.
La Maison du Lac Sacacomie is in the heart of this riding area. The all-log-hotel blends nicely with the scenery. In keeping with their focus on nature there are no radios or TVs in the rooms; you will find deep Jacuzzi tubs, a welcome feature after a hard day riding.
A favorite after dinner pastime at the hotel is bear watching (in season). The owners have built an enclosed pedestal stand about two miles from the site where as many as 20 guests can watch black bears feed at a spot that the hotel owners have cleared and stocked with food. A guide takes guests to the enclosure each evening. One of the other advantages of this site (for those trailering) is that there is paved road to the hotel — that’s not always the case farther north. If you do make the trip, you’ll no doubt find out what we learned — despite it being relatively close to large urban centers, you’d swear you were lost in the wilderness. It’s an area worth visiting and riding.