Summer Fun in Lanaudiere-Mauricie, Quebec, with Native Cuisine, Horseback Rides, and an Escape Room

By Max Hartshorne
GoNOMAD Editor

I returned to Canada in June, and once again felt very welcomed by our northern neighbors despite how impolite our tariff policies have been to a 50-year ally. A year later, I still had the American currency advantage, which meant that each Canadian dollar cost just 75 cents. 

On this trip, I had a packed itinerary that would take us from Québec City to a rural area called Mauricie, about 1.5 hours south. Here we enjoyed a spectacular mountain biking course at Saint-Raymond, with trails that all led to a fantastic waterfall in the middle of the woods. 

I highly recommend the excitement and exhilaration of riding an electric mountain bike on narrow trails through the woods. What a blast!

Chairs in the Wading Pool

After our vigorous ride to the falls, we relaxed in chairs at Le Roquemont Microbrewery that were immersed in a wading pool about eight inches deep. It’s hard to explain, but very comfortable in the terrific heat of June in Québec. It pairs well with the local beer, I suppose. 

Our accommodations were in Mauricie, at a unique place called Le Baluchon Éco-Villégiature, a sprawling enterprise in a woodsy setting that offers six different accommodations, weddings, large banquets, a horse carriage, and trail rides.

We met the horses who pulled the big wagon – Percherons, one of the largest breeds of horses, which would later be my steed when we took a trail ride the following day. 

Le Baluchon spans 1,000 acres of preserved land, including 200 acres of farmland and 40 kilometers of forest trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and mountain biking.

The scenic, fast-flowing Du Loup River runs through the property, offering kayaking, canoeing, or relaxation by the water. A variety of outdoor activities are available to guests, with equipment provided. The morning walk to the main lodge for breakfast was along a trail beside the roaring river, and the path was lit along the way in the evenings.

Our trail ride in these forests was memorable, perhaps because the horse, named Guy, was so strong and capable that I didn’t need to do much except steer him away from eating grass.

Quebec’s Expansive Horizons

We left Le Baluchon on another hot, sunny morning, resuming our journey, zooming over the flat roads. Everything was wide open. This is a big part of Canada. You get a sense of this when you see the great sweep of land and the low population density, quite a contrast with Massachusetts. Québec has approximately nine people per square mile, while our state has 924. The drives provide expansive views and a horizon that goes on forever. 

Our lunch stop was at La Presbytère in Trois-Rivières, where you could find seal, the animal, on the menu. La Presbytère had been awarded Canada’s “Blue Fork Certification,” meaning that a high percentage of the menu was sourced locally. In addition to the seal, fish from the nearby Saint Lawrence River were also on the menu. 

Another day, we stopped for lunch in the middle of a park next to a rushing river. Marcheur des Bois had a food truck and a picnic table set up for us. The company specializes in offering mushrooms, plants, and other forest edibles found in the nearby woods. 

The lunch included wild asparagus, stinging nettles, and wild mushroom arancini (rice balls) stuffed with fiddlehead ferns and pesto. The whole menu came from these woods, with an abundance of lakes… Québec has more than a million lakes. 

We made another interesting stop at La Terre des Bisons, a bison farm in Rawson. It is one of several ranches in Québec specializing in these giant bovines. There is a lot to learn about bison, and the first thing I was told was that they are not friendly. We were not to approach or pet them. 

We were taken on a ride in a special Bison-mobile, towed by a tractor, right next to where a group of bison stood waiting for food. Babies suckled while the big ones stared us down. Later, we sampled their tender meat in a museum with many exhibits about bison life and how they are thriving in Québec. I was happy to hear about the family that runs this operation, and their interest in continuing their family tradition with a new generation of bison farmers. 

A Great Escape

We continued our adventure, heading south to the more populated parts of Québec. Our destination was the city of Laval, just outside of Montréal. We took a kayaking trip at the Parc de la Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, the largest protected green space around Greater Montréal.

As we paddled up to and around an island, our guides pointed out a very impressive riverside house with huge glass windows that once belonged to Québec’s most famous star, singer Celine Dion.

It was one of the hottest summers on record in Québec. We soldiered on to visit a strawberry farm and take refuge in the shade, where a picnic awaited us in a gazebo. We arrived at Agneaux de Laval, where they grow many vegetables and have a kids’ farm play area, including climbing towers and many baby animals to pet. 

Our final activity in Laval brought us to the Escaparium, a highly ranked and very elaborate escape room in an industrial park. The themes were “Magnifico’s Circus” and “The Forgotten Cathedral.” Each production had up to eight actors and followed an elaborate two-and-a-half-hour-long plot. 

It did not take long before everyone in our small group was helping solve the puzzles and uncovering hidden secrets as we navigated the circus atmosphere. Escape rooms are a very fun way to spend an afternoon; you forget where you are and dive straight into the magic. We had more to come when we met the following afternoon at an industrial park just outside of Laval.

There, we found I Fly, a place where people can suit up and enter a high-powered wind chamber to fly like a parachuter high in the air.  It’s quite a process, but that 2-minute exhilaration each time you enter the chamber and feel yourself flying is invigorating and fun!

Québec is so close, and there is so much to see and do there. A four-hour drive gets you to the heart of it all, and it’s all worth discovering!

More About Lanaudiere-Mauricie, Quebec

Le Baluchon Eco-Villegiature:

Escaparium, Escape Room in Laval:

IFly Laval, Quebec

Quebec Tourism, Bonjour Quebec:

Quebec-cite.com