The Jacques Cartier river runs for several kilometres through an enchanted decor of vast conifer forests. Quebec's national park has lots of different open air activities on offer. Trekking is definitely the most popular, but canoeing, kayaking and rafting are also well loved, and give you a unique view of this splendid countryside of the east of Canada.
If you go there in winter, I can promise that you will be amazed. Everything is covered with a blanket of white, and although you can't do any of the river activities, there are lots of other things for visitors to do, such as snow shoeing, or cross country skiing. Enjoying the beauties of nature in winter makes it easier to bear the bitter cold!
For me, Quebec has always been synonymous with great open spaces. As it's really easy to get to from Quebec (even without a car for once!) I had decided to go walking in the Jacques Cartier National Park. In the end the buses were a bit complicated, because the times weren't very practical. But I was lucky, and on the park's Facebook page I found someone who offered me a car pool for the next day.
Steve was a regular at the park so I was very lucky! You may just be going to walk but there are lots of sporting activities available, such as mountain biking, kayaking, fishing...Steve had everything possible to protect yourself from bears: pepper spray, whistles...which didn't reassure me much, but apparently it's not unusual to meet a bear, aargh...
Happily on this beautiful Sunday there were lots of people and so the bears were in hiding: whatever; we didn't see any, and I was very happy like that! On the other hand, we saw a lot of squirrels (apparently they are called "suisses"). After a long climb we came out of the woods and had a great view over the river and the forests spread around us. We turned round and walked the other way along the path beside the river where we saw some kayakers. It was just how I imagined Quebec.