parc national des grands jardins

Done the trail to the summit of Mont-du-lac-des-cygnes and wowwww such a wonderful view. Really nice hike I recommand it !!

Spectacular scenery and a great get-away. Gentle mountain climbing, hikes and kayaking all available. would recommend staying in a Hutopia Tent if you wanted to stay. Was perfect for a three night stay, think any longer and you would want to move on. I'm sure would be great for one or two days.

We hit the Le Chouenne trail earlier today.The trail is rated as "intermediate" at 4.4km long and two hours. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the top and another 30 to get down (so about half the time allotted). We did stay a good 30-45 minutes at the top to enjoy the view. So all in all it was just shy of two hours.In terms of difficulty, if you have walked around old Quebec city than it shouldn't be any different.One thing to note is that the parking is limited at the visitor centre so you may have to park on the highway unless you arrive early or later in the day. We arrived at around noon and it was packed with already a lot of cars on the road.Do be careful on the way down though as the chance to slip is a lot higher than going up. The missus slipped and cut her knee.

Just at the entrance of the park (about 30 minutes from Baie-St-Paul) you'll find the main entrance. Pay for daily free (about $8) and choose you hike, we did La chouenne (4,9km, 2 hours, round trip) some of us had difficulties to reach to top but it worth the price. The view is amazing.You can rent a kayak at the main entrance, but you'll have to ride another 30 minutes in car to reach the lake where the kayak is.

We arrived later in the afternoon and decided on climbing up the La Chouenne trail from the visitor center. Nice trail which I would consider of intermediate difficulty. Although its one of the short trails the view from the treeless top is stunning. Well worth it. Probably great views from the higher mountain that the Lac du Mont des Cygnes leads to but either way you get great views all the way to the St. Lawrence and much of Charlevoix. The roads into and out of the park are worth it just for the drive.

We decided to do the trail named "la Chouenne" considering we do a few hikes per summer. However, be ready to climb because this trail is an intermediate - difficult level according to us even if it's written intermediate. The view is beautiful but we have to be in shape. We did it all but slowly, by taking some breaks here and there to enjoy the view.....and to catch our breath ! It cost 7.50$ per person to enter the park. We could have stayed longer but we were exhausted.

We decided to go to the Charelvoix Region because I had heard so much about it and am very interested in painting and have several paintings that were painted in the area. We read about the parks in the Tourist Guide and decided to investigate the Grand Jardin Park first. We set out for the park with our picnic lunch in our backpacks though the day didnt look very promising. The park seems to be being developed continuously and the signs for the information centres were immediately at the turn off to them. This was a little annoying as we had passed the first exit before we knew it and had to turn around in order to find out where to start. We ended up starting at the second station and were amazed by the gardens of lichens that seemed to go on forever. Then the scenery changed and we left the lichen and walked among the trees and lakes. When we ended the walk we sat by the lake and had our picnic in the company of a friendly groundhog. Not having seen enough we then returned to the first station and undertook the walk to the summit. This was a harder walk but by then the day had cleared and the view from the summit was just unbelievable. We returned to St Irene to our rented house tired little puppies but ready to take on the other Park the next day. This park should not be missed. It is truly a gem.

I checked on sepaq.com the various hikes. You can get all the possible hikes and stats and park map there. As hikers we picked Lac du Mont des Cygnes. It is rated as difficult however it is not really difficult especially as most of this trail is groomed and wide. Meandering gently it is not a steep ascent. Hardest parts are towards the end. Towards the beginning there's a small lake Lac George with picnic benches nearby. There are a couple of picnic tables by the water. It is not possible to walk around this lake. Apparently the Pioui trail that also leads to the top is quite steep. It is not that much more scenic for all that another hiker told us. You can look down and see the lake from the top. The views of the mountains are wonderful. In summary I enjoyed the reward at the end however I found the climb up rather boring except at the end.

This is a beautiful park that was damaged in a big fire 20 years ago and which is recovering well. The camping area at the end of the dirt road on the Malbaie River was very nice, and out of the way. Hilly area, not far from Quebec City and Baie St. Paul. Probably worth staying at least two nights in this park because of the effort involved in getting there and also some of the trails are spread out in different areas. Interesting landscape that caribou reportedly inhabit in some places. This is also one of the national parks of Quebec, not Canada. SEPAQ website has more info on these places province wide. Some of the cabins also looked awesome in this place, one on the river and then another a mile away, etc.

My favorite place. The trails are great, and each year I redescover the wild beauty of the tundra vegetation and landscape. The trails are rated from easy to difficult, but even the difficult ones are not so difficult. Great place to spend your vacation.

To US visitors: this is not the kind of national park we're used to. Somewhat an honor system for paying and very much a wilderness area. Once you turn off Route 381, you're traveling a dirt road for several miles to reach some of the trails. But I think it's well worth it. The trails are easy to navigate but no necessarily marked with the color coded markings on trees as we may be used to. There also aren't a ton of people on the trails, although today was one of the busier days I've seen, we passed 8 other people over 3 hours. We hiked the Le Chute trail, which is a roughly 4.15 miles out and back trail to a "chute" or waterfall. Although in this case, chute is a better description. This isn't some majestic high waterfall, but rather a point in the river that rocks cause the water to be concentrated into a narrow chute, while dropping several feet over a short distance. The real magic here is in the surroundings at the chute area. Pristine wilderness. Quite, yet noisy from the rushing water. Brilliant greens of the trees against a blue sky. The chute opens out, back into the river but in a large pool creating a tranquil effect. great place to have a picnic lunch before your return journey. We've done some other trails here and the scenery is just as spectacular.

This like all the national parks in Canada are run professionally and with great care. The trail maintenance is better than any I have ever seen.The cliffs and trails and scenery is incredible. The place is like Yosemite but with more trees on the cliffs.

The country side is just exceptional ; mountains, fleu ve , St- Lawrence, fishing, biking, kayak. nice camping ground, fishing wild rainbow trout, good hiking mountains and on top of thisthe prices are more than reasonable.Have a nice trip in the region of Charlevoix and for you staying go to Chateau Charlevoix being built in 1864; the rooms are exceptional.

The poor snow conditions this year over our yearly winter Charlevoix visit caused us to waive downhill and x-country skiing and rather opt for some hiking. We had not been to Parc des Grands Jardins for many years and never in the winter time so we went for it. We got there quite early on a cold clear day so the guide suggested the longer higher peak of Mont-du-Lac-des-Cygnes. The views were beautiful, the trees offered decent protection against the wind almost right up to the top and it very reasonable in terms of difficulty! At about 1 km from the top, there is a wonderful little lake with a protective cabin or some picnic tables for snacking purposes.Don't miss this beauty, even more so in the winter!

Si vous aumez la nature , c'est un incontournable les sentiers sont bien aménagé , pour tous les niveaux de difficulté. Il est important d'avoir de bonne chaussure de marche et de ne pas surestimer votre capacité. Les sentiers en montagne sont aussi exigent en descente lors du retour que lors de la monté.