Lac Wapizagonke winds like a river through a forested valley in La Mauricie National Park, its glassy waters perfect for paddling.
Photo: Yan Lassalle
IT HAS BEEN AN HOUR since the sun took cover behind the Laurentian Mountains, yet the sky is still turning shades of
crimson. My canoe glides swiftly, almost effortlessly, on Lac Wapizagonke, 17 kilometres long, its surface sleek as a mirror.
Indeed, it is a mirror, reflecting the surrounding forest, the newly risen moon and one or two clouds drifting above. The
water even seems to mirror images of the day’s events.
| The true beauty of the park, whose forests, lakes and rivers once fed heavy industry, lies in the moments of serenity
and intimate communion with nature that visitors experience here. |
As I paddle, I recall the towering cliffs of Lac Anticagamac, where I canoed earlier in the day, spotting a pair of loons
doting over their downy offspring, a solitary great blue heron taking flight and an august white swan — rare in these parts —
leaving its wake among the water lilies.
I also replay in my mind the absurdly comical moment when I paddled over a beaver dam, and an enchanting foray into the
forest under a canopy of white pines leading to a stunning view high above a lake. “Listen to the sound of the wind
blowing through their fine needles,” Albert van Dijk, resource conservation manager at La Mauricie National Park and my
travel companion on this August day, told me as we stood there. “I never get tired of this music.”
LOCATED 200 KILOMETRES NORTHEAST of Montréal, La Mauricie is not the most spectacular of Canada’s national
parks. There are no lofty peaks here as in Jasper, no fiords as in Gros Morne, and no tempestuous surf as in Pacific Rim, on
Vancouver Island. Still, the true beauty of the park — whose forests, lakes and rivers once fed heavy industry — lies in the
moments of serenity and intimate communion with nature that visitors experience here.
The park’s 150 lakes, many of which are still pristine, bolster this feeling of plenitude, soothing the soul and inviting contemplation.
They are the main reason why 140,000 outdoor enthusiasts come to the park every year, to paddle a canoe, a kayak or
a rabaska (a large canoe traditionally used by the voyageurs), to canoe-camp or fish (at 25 lakes, in season), or to sprawl on the
fine sandy beach at Lac Édouard.
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| Click map to enlarge |
Hikers can cover countless kilometres of trails, over several days, to wander about or spot one of 180 bird species that share
the park with moose, about 125 black bears, two packs of Eastern wolves and the wood turtle, an endangered species.
The park also offers interpretation programs on the geological history of the Laurentians, some of the oldest mountains in
North America, and on the area’s human history. Aboriginal peoples travelled the region’s waterways between the St. Lawrence
Valley and the boreal forest for subsistence and, later, for the fur trade. Ancient clues of their existence are revealed in the park’s
2,000-year-old rock art.
The creation of La Mauricie National Park in 1970 was initiated by Jean Chrétien, who was then the minister responsible
for national parks under Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It was the second national park established in Quebec in the
same year, after Forillon National Park. La Mauricie’s designation was as much about promoting regional tourism as preserving
this 536-square-kilometre tract.
The land was in dire need of protection: its forests had been logged intensively for 150 years, first to supply England with timber
in the 19th century, then to feed the flourishing paper industry in Trois-Rivières, known from the 1920s to the 1960s
as the pulp-and-paper capital of the world.
An era of prestigious hunting and fishing clubs followed, with wealthy tourists angling for fish and tracking game in the bountiful
woods. From 1883 to 1970, 16 private clubs operated within the current boundaries of the park.
“It seems paradoxical,” says van Dijk, “but these clubs helped to stem commercial forestry and contributed to maintaining the integrity of the area.” But human activity ultimately spoiled parts of the future park’s territory, which is why a large-scale ecological restoration program — “From Log to Canoe” — was launched in 2004.
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