Length of stay: 2 days
Visited: August 2026

After spending the first couple of days at the cabin we made our way closer to the Gaspé Peninsula, stopping at La Mauricie National Park for a couple of days to break up the drive and do some hiking. La Mauricie is located in the Laurentian Mountains near Shawinigan and features an extensive network of canoe routes and trails for hiking, cycling, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, depending on the time of year.

There are two main access points to the park. We headed to the eastern entrance as we reserved an oTENTik in the Rivière-à-la-Pêche campground. Regular readers will know that we’ve stayed in quite a few oTENTiks across Canada’s national parks. They all have a similar setup with a few differences in terms of a heat source, lighting and whether it provides dishes, utensils and a BBQ.

The oTENTik we were staying in had a wood stove, which we didn’t plan on using considering we were visiting in the summer. It also had a small solar light, kitchenware, a sheltered BBQ outside with a side burner and a spacious outdoor seating area. The best part was that all the oTENTiks in the campground (there were 13 of them) were very private and clustered together with a service building in the middle that contained washrooms and a kitchen shelter.

We arrived later in the afternoon on a very wet and humid day. We just brought the essentials inside and things to get started on dinner while we waited for the heavy rain to subside. Once there was a break in the rain we grabbed the rest of our stuff from the car and settled in.

Day 1: Hiking in the Rain

It continued to rain for most of the night. Unfortunately it didn’t do much for the humidity. But at least it was peaceful and quiet and dry inside our oTENTik. The forecast was calling for more rain during the day with 5mm in the morning and another 20mm in the afternoon. After eating breakfast we hit the trails to avoid the worst of the downpour.

Our game plan was to drive through the park towards the western entrance at Saint-Mathieu and stop at the viewpoints and some of the shorter and easier trails along the way. Our first stop was to check out the waterfall at Lac Bouchard Picnic Area. From the parking lot there’s a short trail to get to the waterfall. There’s also a bunch of picnic tables spread out under the trees, along with a short boardwalk along the edge of the lake. We followed this to a sheltered gazebo that also provides some steps down into the water for those that want to go for a swim.

It started to rain so we took our umbrellas for the next hike around part of La Cache Trail (3km loop, rated easy). We’ve hiked this trail before and just planned to hike to the lake and back, which would amount to 1.6km round trip. Toddler M managed to hike most of the way on her own and was so proud carrying her umbrella. Considering how much rain we got yesterday and overnight, the trail wasn’t overly flooded or muddy. We took things slow which gave us an opportunity to see a bunch of fungi through the forest.

Down by the lake there’s a sheltered viewing platform. We took a break to enjoy the views out of the rain. That is until the mosquitoes discovered us. The trail splits off and loops through the forest. But we turned around and walked back the way we came to the parking lot.

Next stop was at the Vide-Bouteille Lookout, which contained a giant Red Chair and featured a nice view of the scenery.

And then onto the Île-aux-Pins Overlook. It required walking 250 metres, mostly all downhill, to get to a viewing platform overlooking Wapizagonke Lake and the surrounding forest.

We squeezed in one last stop to hike the super short La Tourbière (300m), which in English means The Bog. The trail follows a boardwalk through a bog and contains a few signs about how it was created from when the glaciers melted. Very little wildlife lives here, including the adjacent lake which contains no fish as the water is stagnant, acidic and has very little oxygen.

We made the drive back to the campground, had some lunch, then put M down for a nap. The rain got heavier in the afternoon and it got windier. This seemed to cool things down, so we didn’t mind too much. The rain subsided later in the afternoon, but the wind didn’t. We drove towards the other entrance in Saint-Jean-des-Piles and stopped at a couple more viewpoints at Saint-Maurice and Mekinac that provided a lookout, somewhat obstructed by all the trees, of the Saint-Maurice River. And just like that it was time for dinner so we headed back to the campground.

Day 2: Hiking in the Sun

The one nice thing about all the rain over the past two days was that it finally cooled down. It dropped to 12°C overnight, which was much more comfortable for sleeping. And today the forecast promised nothing but sunshine.

We got another early start to the day as we had a long drive to get to Rimouski. And we wanted to do some hiking this morning to enjoy the beautiful weather. We initially planned to hike to Solitude Lake, but given all the rain, we opted for something easier. We headed towards Saint-Mathieu to hike the Cascades Trail, but couldn’t resist stopping to first hike the Bog Trail again. Bogs and boardwalks are one of my favourite combinations. Plus it’s perfect for little toddler feet to walk on too.

There was much more traffic on the road this morning compared to yesterday. We parked at the Shawinigan Picnic Area and the parking lot was already half full. We set off to find the trailhead for the Cascades Trail (2.4km loop, rated easy), which is located across the lake. The most direct path to get there is along the suspension bridge, but it was closed for construction. Instead we followed the detour signs across a floating pontoon bridge.

The trail loops through the forest and contains a few turnoffs to enjoy the cascades and natural pools. We actually hiked this trail last summer, but not as a loop. This was because M’s hat fell off during the first part of the trail so we backtracked in the hopes of finding it (we didn’t).

The first part of the path is paved. Within the first few hundred meters we reached the first turnoff to a small beach along the shore of Lake Wapizagonke. The trail then follows the cascades and there’s a few more turnoffs to get a closer look of the water.

The paved path ended and we followed a short boardwalk. After crossing two bridges there’s a turnoff for Les Falaises (The Cliffs) Trail. But we continued on the main path through the shaded forest. It was mostly downhill with several wooden stairs and steps. We passed one last lookout of the cascades, which looked like a popular spot for swimming as there were quite a few people in the water below the falls.

It was close to noon by the time we circled back to the parking lot. We ate a quick lunch then hit the road as we still had a five hour drive to Rimouski. Traffic wasn’t too terrible and toddler M fell asleep for about half the drive.

L