Tadoussac-Saguenay and activities near Hautes-Gorges de la Malbaie National Park

Hello,

We’re heading to Quebec in just over a week to meet up with our son, a young adult on a Working Holiday Visa who’s been there for nearly a year 🙂🙂🙂 and I still have a few questions:

1) We’re starting with 3 nights near Shawinigan (Lac à la Tortue). The day after we arrive, we’ll have a relaxed day with one or two activities (sugar shack in St-Mathieu-du-Parc? A seaplane ride?). Any other suggestions? (Besides Parc de la Mauricie, which we’ll visit the next day.)

2) Then, we’ll head to Quebec City via the Chemin du Roy, where we’ll spend 3 nights, followed by a scenic drive to La Malbaie. We’ll be staying in St-Aimé-des-Lacs near Hautes-Gorges de la Malbaie National Park for another 3 nights. One day will be dedicated to hiking in the park—likely the Acropole des Draveurs for our son, and the Riverain trail plus two shorter walks for my husband and me, since he can’t use hiking poles. So, I’m unsure about the second day: should we go back to the park for the cruise, or do something else nearby? Any suggestions?

3) After St-Aimé-des-Lacs, we’ll spend 3 nights in Tadoussac. We’ll definitely stop at Port-au-Persil, but since the drive isn’t too long, we’ll arrive pretty quickly (I think you say "rendu" here 😉). I was thinking of exploring Tadoussac that day, doing the Pointe de l’Islet trail, the Estuary trail, and the Dunes lookout. The second day, we’d head toward Les Bergeronnes and Les Escoumins to visit the interpretation center and take a Zodiac cruise. I was considering Neptune because they offer covered boats. Any other options? And on the third day, we’d go to Sainte-Rose-du-Nord via the Saguenay Fjord National Park’s Baie Sainte-Marguerite sector to hike part of the "Le Fjord" trail from the Beluga Observation Center. I’m aware this trail requires a park access fee. However, I just realized that the trails we planned for the first day (Estuary and Pointe de l’Islet) are also part of the Tadoussac sector of the park. Do we need to pay the access fee (10.10 CAD) for these two short trails? If so, it might make sense to do them on the third day. In that case, can we pay the fee in Tadoussac, then head to the Baie Sainte-Marguerite sector and use the same ticket?

Feel free to share any thoughts or suggestions!

Claire

2) Pourvoirie du Picbois domain?

Hi, The Tadoussac Bay area is part of Saguenay Park, but this whole section is free. It's the areas further north that have daily fees. The Anse de la Tabatière sector is really nice (with beautiful views of the Fjord). In Anse St Jean, there used to be a bakery-pastry shop that made excellent blueberry pies (I don’t know if it still exists, but it might be worth checking out over there 😛). If you pass through the area, make sure to stop by the Petit Saguenay Wharf—there’s a great view, and I saw a gorgeous sunset there....

Have a great trip

Thanks for the suggestion! I had actually seen that it’s possible to spot bears there, but I’m a bit torn between the curiosity of seeing them in their natural habitat and the "circus" side that some people criticize. Either way, I’ll add it to my list of possibilities.

This is exactly the answer I was hoping to hear (the free access to the Tadoussac area), because over time, the national park budget adds up, and the annual pass isn’t worth it for us 😉.

Regarding the other suggestions (Anse de la Tabatière, Anse St-Jean, Petit-Saguenay), since these spots are on the south shore of the fjord and we’re coming from Tadoussac, it’s a long drive. I actually hesitated between: - the itinerary I described in my post; and - spending only 2 nights in St-Aimé-des-Lacs and replacing the 3rd planned night with one in Chicoutimi. In that case, we would’ve also explored the south shore of the fjord. But since the Anse-à-Tabatière trail is only 500 meters long, and the other trails in the area are either difficult, closed during this period (moose hunting), or require a shuttle for the return trip, I didn’t think it was worth paying the access fee for the three of us. So, I’d noted a short climb to the Anse-St-Jean Belvedere and a small hike (Pic-au-Vent) at Anse-St-Étienne, both free. We wouldn’t have been there for sunset anyway since we’d need to arrive in Chicoutimi at a reasonable hour for check-in.

In the end, I thought it might be better to stick with the original plan (second day in St-Aimé-des-Lacs) and just explore the north shore of the fjord from Tadoussac, rather than adding a stop in Chicoutimi (and thus packing and unpacking again, etc.) just to end up driving a lot for short hikes. Do you think the south shore is really worth it under these conditions?

Yeah, I get it—it’s a bit like the cruise-ship circus industry in Tadoussac (and the surrounding area) for whale watching.

The "feeding" aspect on top of it all. We're not yet at the point of tossing krill into the river to guarantee seeing whales 😅. But I'm not criticizing—just that I'm torn...

Hey, North Shore or South Shore of the Saguenay, both are beautiful, but you can’t see it all, so I think your idea to "stick" to the North Shore will be just fine! It’s better to limit yourself a bit "distance-wise" because if I’m not mistaken, you’re heading to Gaspésie afterward, so you’ll be racking up the kilometers 😛 Have a great trip (it’s coming up fast, as we say here!)

Hi there,

No, we won’t be visiting the Gaspésie this time ;). After Tadoussac, we’re taking the ferry, spending 2 nights near Parc du Bic to explore it, and then slowly making our way back to Montreal, with stops in La Pocatière and Yamachiche. We decided to limit the number of stops so we could spend more days in each place. As for my question, we ultimately decided to skip the south shore of the fjord but changed our reservation: we’ll be staying 3 nights in Baie-St-Paul instead of Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs. That way, we’ll visit Hautes-Gorges Park on the first day and have an easier time finding things to do the next day :)

have a great trip!😜

Thanks (D-3) 🙂!