This region of the lower St. Lawrence River has traditionally been a stopping point for travelers between Quebec City and the river’s mouth at the Gaspé peninsula. Today, it is where the Trans-Canada Highway turns ninety degrees to complete a turn around Maine.
Planning a visit? Stay at Camping Lido.
The hilly river city of Riviere-du-Loup, just minutes from the parish municipality of Saint-Antonin, controls the pulse of the peninsula. The Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent on Pierre Street is the jumping off point for exploring this historic transportation hub. It is the terminal for the St. Lawrence River crossing to Saint-Simeon and the spectacular Saguenay Fjord. Just south of town is the prestigious vacation getaway for Quebec’s English-speaking elite, St. Patrick. Canada’s first prime minister, John A. McDonald, was a resident between 1873 and 1890.
Pointing inland, the highway follows the route of an ancient Indian trail to the scrapbook-worthy shores of Lake Témiscouata. The British built a guard post here in the 1830s to brace against an American invasion, and Fort Ingall has been reconstructed as a National Historic Site. Across the water, the old growth forests in the Notre-Dame Mountains were declared Lake Témiscouata National Park, Canada’s 24th national park, in 2009.
