The Mauricie region of Quebec stretches from the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, about halfway between Montreal and Quebec City, deep into the Laurentian Mountains. Populated by French settlers under the seigneurie system in the 17th and 18th centuries, it has some of the oldest towns and villages in Quebec. The St. Maurice River, which gives the region its name, has its source in the Gouin Reservoir, then meanders through Mauricie to its mouth at Trois-Rivières.

Understand

A region of contrasts, beauty, history and culture, the Mauricie promises an energizing stay. The territory, made up of 85% of the great outdoors, has something to delight outdoor enthusiasts. In addition to the Saint-Maurice River, some 17,500 lakes are available to fans of all kinds of nautical activities. Nearly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) of marked trails await snowmobilers and 1,125 km (699 mi) of trails are available to ATV enthusiasts while 80 outfitters delight hunters and fishermen. La Mauricie is home to the most important place of pilgrimage dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Canada, the Notre-Dame-du-Cap sanctuary, located in Trois-Rivières. In the vast valley of its hinterland and along the Chemin du Roy, Canada's first motorable road, the Mauricie reveals to travelers its ancestral sites, its festive towns and its wild nature.

History

Mauricie is considered the cradle of industrialization in Canada because around 1730, the Forges du Saint-Maurice became the first steel company in North America.

Regions

Mauricie regions - Color-coded map — switch to interactive map

Mauricie regions - Color-coded map

La Tuque Region

Les Chenaux

Maskinongé Region

Mékinac

Shawinigan

Trois-Rivières

Cities

• 1 La Tuque — a pulp and paper town
• 2 Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel — a charming locality that offers a variety of recreational tourism activities: hiking trails, sports facilities, wilderness along the Saint-Maurice River
• 3 Louiseville — It has one of the most beautiful churches in Canada, and is the annual stopover for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds in spring and fall
• 4 Saint-Tite — home of the "Festival Western de Saint-Tite"
• 5 Shawinigan — features a theme park based on local industrial history
• 6 Trois-Rivières — paper-milling town at the mouth of the St. Maurice River with several historical sites to see

Other destinations

Trail of the Falaises in La Mauricie National

• 1 La Mauricie National Park offers sport fishing, hiking, cycling, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and camping on the Canadian Shield.
• 2 Bog-à-Lanières Ecological Reserve

Get in

By car

• From Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, take route 155 south.
• From Montreal, take Autoroute 40 east, while from Quebec (city), take it west instead. La Mauricie is halfway between Montreal and Quebec, i.e., 1½ hours from these two cities.
• Highway 55 connects the Mauricie from the south shore of the St. Lawrence River via the Centre-du-Québec.

By bus

There are bus connections from Quebec City and Montreal to Trois-Rivières.

By train

Via Rail Canada offers a transport service by train, connecting:

• Montreal to Senneterre via notably Joliette, Shawinigan, Hervey-Jonction, La Tuque, Fitzpatrick, Windigo, Weymont, Casey, Parent and Clova;
• Montreal to Jonquière, notably via Shawinigan, Hervey-Jonction, Rivière-à-Pierre, Lac-Édouard, Lac-Bouchette and Chambord. Passengers can book on the Via Rail website to stop the train on request to get on or off the passenger car. It may also have a train stop for boarding a passenger when the latter makes a stop report and is seen by the train staff.

By plane

The nearest airports with commercial service are in Montreal and Quebec City. Nevertheless, the Trois-Rivières airport is very active. In addition, several airports in Haute-Mauricie (e.g., La Tuque, Parent, Weymontachie, Kanawata) allow access to remote areas.

Get around

By car

From Trois-Rivières, route 55 takes you to Shawinigan, where it becomes Route 155 and continues north to La Tuque.

By bike

La Mauricie is a cyclotourism destination of choice, in particular thanks to:

• its 180 km (110 mi) of la Route Verte, the most beautiful cycle route in the world according to the National Geographic Society;
• major cycling events such as Défi Vélo Mag Shawinigan;
• a vast network of certified campsites and accommodation “Bienvenue cyclistes!”;
• at Gîtes au pays du buckwheat which offer, among other things, the transport of your luggage and your car.

See

• The Chemin du Roy (English: King's Path) was built on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, between Quebec City and Montreal, since 1660 and completed in 1737. See the picturesque villages and the historic districts of Batiscan, Champlain, Trois-Rivières and Yamachiche, where stately ancestral homes have survived three centuries of history. You'll observe how the place names and rich heritage that dot this historic route evoke the lives of the people who settled here over the course of time. In Mauricie, this road runs along 102 km of shores of the Saint-Laurent from Maskinongé to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. It passes through 23 attractions and 14 points of interest.

The observation tower and the main museum building

• The Cité de l'énergie de Shawinigan (City of energy of Shawinigan) in Shawinigan is a museum complex presenting exhibitions on the production of electricity, the visit of an old electricity pylon transformed into an observation tower with a height of 115 m (377 ft).
• The Musée québécois de la culture populaire (Quebec Museum of Popular Culture) in Trois-Rivières presents six daring and unusual exhibitions in a typical Quebec style.
• The La Veille Prison de Trois-Rivières (Old Prison of Trois-Rivières) also in Trois-Rivières is classified as an historical monument. Ex-inmates lead visitors on a tour that provides a real glimpse into prison life.
• The Lieu historique national du Canada des Forges-du-Saint-Maurice (Forges du Saint-Maurice National Historic Site of Canada) also in Trois-Rivières is the first site of the steel industry and the first industrial town in Canada.

Sanctuary of Notre-Dame-du-Cap

• The Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap (Notre-Dame-du-Cap Sanctuary) is a place of worship and spiritual gathering of the Catholic faith (e.g., pilgrimage). Sanctuary Museum. It has the second largest and most important Marian shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary in North America, after that of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico; this basilica was erected from 1955. Pont des Roselets, erected in 1924. Illuminated Stations of the Cross. The site has 500,000 visitors per year.

Do

Events

The Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières at the beginning of August is the largest motor racing event to take place on a street circuit in the Americas. }}

The Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie is an annual competition on the Labour Day weekend in early September. This canoe, kayak and rabaska competition follows a course from La Tuque to Trois-Rivières.

The Festival Western de Saint-Tite is the most important western festival in Eastern Canada. Great shows and equestrian competitions.

The Festival de la galette de sarrasin de Louiseville in early October over 10 days celebrates buckwheat pancake and local products.