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La
Mauricie National Park
Backpacking the Laurentian Trail
©
Outdoor Adventure Canada
La
Mauricie National Park, established in 1970, is located in the
center of Quebec, north of Trois-Rivières. This park encompasses
536 square kilometers (333 miles) of rolling plateau covered in
forest and dotted with lakes. La Mauricie National Park is at
the southern end of the Canadian Shield in the Laurentian Mountains.
Twenty thousand years ago this area was covered in glaciers that
were higher than mountains in the Himalayas. The glaciers have
gouged, eroded, scraped and shaped this landscape. This region
is a transition zone between the boreal forest of the Laurentian
Plateau and the deciduous forest of the St. Lawrence Lowlands.
As a result plants and animals from both types of habitat are
found in the park.
 There
are also more than thirty archaeological sites dating back thousands
of years. These sites belonged to the Attikameks, a subgroup of
ancient Algonquin people who roamed the region in the Paleolithic
Era. These people were hunters and gatherers who left paintings
at Lake Wapizagonke. The area was rediscovered in the 1600's by
explorers and was logged in the 1800's.
The Laurentian Trail
was added to La Mauricie in 1998, so it is a relatively new feature
that offers a minimum of a 5 day hike along a 75 km (47 mile)
trail though Laurentian forest. It is a linear trail with many
spectacular lookouts. The trail head is at Rivière-à-la-Pêche
and the trail ends at le Passage Lookout. As you travel through
the forest, you will journey to the northern end the park in large
loop that eventually takes you south to the trail's end. At the
end of the trail you have a 30 km (18.5 mile) trip back to you
car. If you are traveling in a group you might want to arrange
to have a vehicle at each end. There are nine campsites placed
approximately 7-9 kilometers (4 to 5.5 miles) apart and eight
of the sites border a small lake. Campfires are prohibited so
you must to take your backpacker's stove.
You hike under the
shade of sugar maple and yellow birch that grow in the rich soil
on the abundant hills. More than ninety percent of the park is
forest and over 30 species of trees have been reported including
a substantial white spruce plantation. The scenery and vistas
are plentiful and can be viewed from lookouts as high as 450 meters
(492 yards). As you descend into the valleys, you pass by spruce,
fir and pine that flourish in damp, thin soil here. Towards the
north end of the park the maple and birch diminish to give way
to fir. There are numerous lakes, ponds, steams, and water falls
to see along the way.
The varied forest and
wetlands allow for a diversity of animals to exist within the
park and there are more than 40 recorded species of mammals. The
predator species of La Mauricie include bear, wolf, red fox, coyote,
fisher and lynx. Moose graze around lakes and ponds where one
might also see beaver, muskrat, mink, or even a playful otter.
Waterfowl includes duck, the common merganser and loon. Among
the amphibian and reptiles are the salamander and the rare wood
turtle who survive here because of a healthy ecosystem and the
perfect balance between water and woodland. La Mauricie is also
home to red squirrels, brown bats, red-eyed vireos, ovenbirds
and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. There are blue jays, chickadees,
hawks and owls.In fact there are over 180 species to delight any
birder including northern orioles and ravens at their southern
most limits. This is a textbook forest environment with each one
of your steps turning a new page.
La Mauricie National
Park provides the backpacker with a memorable wilderness experience.
The Laurentian Trail is wonderful for a weeklong trip and is very
beautiful in late September when the sugar maples and yellow birches
are drenched in the rich colours of fall.
The Laurentian Trail
is open from early May to October. To make reservations call (819)
538-3232 or visit http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/qc/mauricie.
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