Wiggle

My wife and I were looking at doing a trip this summer to Lac St. Jean in Quebec.

Rough plan was as follows:

1. Drive from Nova Scotia to Alma, Quebec . Stay overnight in hotel/motel nearest available.
2. Park the car (need to find a spot) and cycle around the Lac St. Jean loop. Approximately 250km total length.
3. Plan to split this up over four days.
4. At the end stay in the National Park (Pointe Taillon) for two nights.

Has anyone done this route and able to offer advice? We are deciding between camping or doing hotels/motels along the way and riding a bit lighter. Obviously with the distance intervals we are looking for a pretty easy cruise.

Thanks

Pratt

I did it last year in July. Low fifties in the morning an low eighties in the afternoon (°F). I used the Quebec road atlas from Map Art. It omits some road names and obscures others with labels of the routes. The road signs are very good. Lots of campgrounds, inns, B&Bs, hotels, etc. Motel at Chutes des Peres has a nice restaurant. I stayed there on a rainy night, but there is a campground right there as well.
Very flat, you can see the steeple of the church in the next town from 5-10 km away. Except for the section from Peribonka to Metabetchouan. People very friendly and helpful, but many monoglot Francophones. It could be called Route des Pomme Frites, They were with every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Hope this helps, happy to answer any other questions.

Wiggle

Thanks, appreciate the reply

How did you find the on-road portion? I've read anything between "pleasant with wide shoulders" to "lots of loud and fast truck traffic".

Pratt

Auto and truck traffic was there, but accommodating. Perhaps a more robust bicycle culture means more drivers are, or have been, cyclists as well.

djb

years ago (can't recall how many now) my wife and I did a week long supported trip in that area and along the St Lawrence also. I don't recall where we started riding, but I know we did do the circuit around Lac St Jean and camped in areas set up by the Velo Quebec event (called Le Grand Tour)--so we did not camp in commercial campsites, but in large fields or school grounds.

re the road conditions, overall I found it to be good and the people in the area know that tourism, and bike tourism, is a big part of the areas economy, so generally good attitudes towards cyclists.

the bike path only paved sections were really pretty (they had just repaved it all those years ago when we went) and it was cool riding past large blueberry fields.
There are bugs, but probably not any different that what you are used to in N.S, but just be aware, but pretty normal stuff for us Canadians who grew up camping.

re hotels and such, if you go in touristy season, its probably fair to assume that things could be booked up, so use judgement in your planning if you need a hotel on X night , so perhaps booking ahead would be good.
I speak French, so can't really comment on how much English you can find for this sort of thing, but the Saguenay area is known for not having much English speakers.

have fun planning and doing it.

transporterjr

I’m considering this as my first more than a weekend trip to bike touring. (Rode across the US decades ago).
Does one need campground reservations?
probably going in late August, or early Sep.

djb

I dont live in the region, but can say that campgrounds by late aug generally start to thin out, with school starting etc--but that is a general rule.
Do be aware that it does get cooler there earlier than here in Montreal, so look up the temps to compare, just so you are ok for clothing etc.
Also, on the weather topic, if you ever ride along the St Lawrence river, its always a bit colder there, because of the cold water year round, so another heads up on clothing, just be prepared anyway.

Pratt

WRT reservations, I mostly made mine about 24-48 hours ahead. Most places had room, or at least an area with minimal services they could call a bike site. There are a lot of options, if a campsite is unavailable, you might try a hotel. In Alma, a nice guest house did not have room, but the proprietor called a friend who did have room in another hotel. It was not as picturesque, but was clean, friendly, and inexpensive.

Pratt

Publications you may find helpful:
Cycling in Quebec, this is the official guide to the Route Verte, it is published by Vélo Québec, Tel.514-521-8356; 800-567-8356

A little map called Bike Experience Velo, available through experiencevelo.com

Similarly, Destination Lac Saint Jean, from lacsantjean.quebec

These are aimed at tourists in general, but they are a useful source of Information Bureaus of various towns.