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By Marty McLennan
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| Photo: Elizabeth Knox/Masterfile |
As snow retreats
from the Quebec countryside each spring, the trails that
wind through its ancient maple forests
lead to Canada's sweetest destinations for
spring adventure: sugar-bush country.
Sugaring off is an annual family tradition,
where the air is filled with music and the
enticing aromas of smoked ham, fèves au
lard, pea soup, meat pie and pancakes — all
made sweeter with a splash of maple gold.
Each year, the ritual festivities help produce
some 80 percent of the world's maple
syrup. Whether you travel to the cabane à
sucre by foot or horse-drawn wagon, you're
entering the heart of French-Canadian
culture and cuisine.
Rigaud, Montérégie Region | St-Ferdinand, Érable
Region |
Station Touristique
Duchesnay, Québec Region |
La Goudrelle
Montérégie Region
Short and Sweet
Sugaring off generally lasts from mid-March to mid-April. While the trails are open 24/7 later in the season, the sugar shacks aren't. Reservations are recommended. |
Located between Ottawa and Montréal,
Rigaud's 20-kilometre-long l'Escapade
(www.ville.rigaud.qc.ca),
with its integrated
network of multi-use trails, is the perfect
place to begin exploring Montérégie's
regional charm. Taking you from the peak of
the Mont Rigaud Ski Centre down to a 19th-century
shrine, the meandering route also
connects you with two outstanding sugar
shacks: Sucrerie de la Montagne and Auberge
des Gallant Country Inn.
The rustic Sucrerie is a world-famous
Quebec Heritage Site. To best enjoy the
outing, leave your car at the Parc Chartier de
Lotbinière and spring ski up La Clé des bois
trail for three kilometres. Turn right on
La Virée gourmande trail for a short two-kilometre
trip to La Sucrerie. You need to
work up an appetite — the hilltop retreat
houses a century-old fieldstone bakery and
dining area that offers a turn-of-the-century
meal with food made according to Old-World
methods. The servers wear period attire, and
the organic maple syrup flows freely.
Auberge des Gallant Country Inn, on the
other hand, is modern and upscale. When Ice
Storm '98 knocked down the inn's maple
grove, the owners transformed the fallen
timber into the beautiful Maple Pavilion
dining room. With the trees now returning,
the inn produces some 13,600 kilograms of
syrup annually. Bring your binoculars for the
stroll around the inn's 160-hectare gardens.
Local deer and more than 200 different bird
species are often seen enjoying the springtime
sun and the early greenery. Open
Wednesday to Sunday.
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At St-Ferdinand, in the heart of Quebec's
famed maple region, Jürg and Sandra
Willi's family forest offers 200 hectares of
fantasy land for sugaring-off families and
groups. There are 25 kilometres of marked
trails through their farmland, and you can
enjoy horseback riding (with lessons),
hiking and snowshoeing (rentals available),
as well as large-sized cabins and a
camping area with tipis, for those who
want to experience the real outdoors. Best
of all, the little ones can enjoy rides on
one of three inner-tubing trails (with lift!)
and a small-animal petting farm. Look
forward to a synergy of Québécois and
continental flavours in the dining room as
Jürg and Sandra combine their Swiss
heritage with seasonal maple products.
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Complete with some 127 kilometres of
manicured, classic cross-country ski trails,
24 kilometres for skate skiing, 20 kilometres
for snowshoeing, plus warm-up huts and
waxing rooms, Parcs Québec's station
touristique Duchesnay has created a perfect
spot to enjoy spring in the great outdoors.
Located on the banks of Lac St-Joseph, just
30 minutes west of Québec, the centre is
full of do-it-yourself excitement. During a
late spring, there might still be dog
sledding, ice fishing or snowmobiling and
loads of rooms and chalets in which to stay. But when a sugar-high beckons, follow your
nose along the flat, 1.3-kilometre-long
Érablière Trail to a museum that displays the
area's local history and offers samples of the
famous maple taffy.
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Surrounded by sugar shacks, apple
orchards and strawberry fields, the trails
of Mont St-Grégoire make for a great
family outing. Take the short drive from
Montréal (only 30 minutes from the
Champlain Bridge) to La Goudrelle, the
Gingras family's third-generation cabane à sucre. From the parking lot, hike the
winding path up through the local maple
groves and apple orchards, which in late
spring are heavy with lightly perfumed
blossoms, until you reach the pines and
softwoods, at some 260 metres altitude.
The easy-to-reach summit exposes an
eagle-eyed view of much of Quebec's
most fertile lands as well as Montréal in
the distance. On the way down, stop off
at the petting farm and enjoy a horsedrawn
wagon ride before digging into a
classic full-course French-Canadian meal.
Open Sunday to Saturday from February
26 to May 1.
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