With its territory composition being at 95% water and forest, the Témiscamingue is one of Québec’s raw gems. Here, nature welcomes humans, and not the opposite. This observation describes marvelously the emotions emerging inside of us when we ride in Témiscamingue, range roads, and valleys of this pastoral territory which deserves to be known not only for its nature, but also for its terroir and local products. Follow us on this road itinerary.
A prelude via the Road 117
If you depart from the urban centers of Québec, we suggest that you come to Témiscamingue via the famous Road 117, so you can enjoy the many attractions the Abitibi has to offer. After the long forest-bordered corridor through the Réserve Faunique La Vérendrye (La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve), a well-deserved stop in Val-d’Or will feel natural to you. In this mining city, you can visit the heritage site of the Village-Minier-de-Bourlamaque (Bourlamaque-Mining-Village), a unique neighborhood where the workers of the former Lamaque Gold Mines Limited company. At the end of its main street, you can find the fascinating site of the mine, set up as a museum, the Cité de l’Or, which offers guided tours. It unravels a huge part of our area’s History.
Before or after this visit, you will want to hit the town at the Prospecteur. The craft microbrewery is a must-see of the area, with its smooth flavorful beers.
A little farther North, heading towards Rouyn-Noranda, still on the Road 117, you will find a second microbrewery, the Trèfle Noir, the first of its kind in the whole region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue. If you are looking for another kind of tonic, the Balthazar Café will delight you with its excellent caffeinated decoction.
Because of the abundance of events and festivals taking place there, Rouyn-Noranda is considered the cultural capital of its administrative area. Aside from its cultural effervescence, the city’s proximity to nature really makes it shine. Only 20 minutes away, via Road 117, the Collines Kékéko (Hills) are a bucolic mountain range offering over 43 km of hiking trails.
When you take Road 101 northbound from Rouyn-Noranda, you can find another site of breathtaking beauty, the Parc National d’Aiguebelle (d’Aiguebelle National Park), known for its striking landscapes, its helix-shaped staircase, its japanese bridge and its suspended bridge.
The Great Entrance to Témiscamingue
When you will take Road 391 southbound, you will understand how different the Témiscamingue is from its sister area, Abitibi. This road marks a transition between the boreal North and the West, where the forest coexist with agricultural lands and the marvelous Rivière des Outaouais (des Outaouais River). Indeed, the landscape is much closer to the Outaouais’ (the other neighbor of the Témiscamingue) than to the Abitibi’s. After an hour of driving from Rouyn-Noranda, the arrival to Angliers is particularly luminous and memorable.
We then stop at the Rond-Point convenience store. Modest in appearance, the place allows you to stock up on local products.
We head onto the Road 382 for a little hike in the trails of the parc de la Pointe-aux-Roches, in the village of Moffet. Well cared for, the site overlooks the magnificent Lac des Quinze (Lake des Quinze).
To see everything, we invite you to drive the whole loop of the Témiscamingue area, which then leads you up North on Road 391 towards Notre-Dame-du-Nord, a town located at the frontier of Quebec and Ontario.
Beer lovers, better your way through Notre-Dame-du-Nord to go up for a few kilometers, to Nedelec, and taste the brews of the Barbe Broue Microbrewery. On top of their delicious beers, the location also consists of a snack-bar and, since last year, a mini-farm to entertain the kids. What can be better than petting a donkey while having an IPA?
101 Reasons to Go to Ville-Marie
Time to discover the Road 101, the one bordering the beautiful Lake Temiskaming. First stop: the Éden Rouge, the most famous country-style dining table in the area. The place is closed for Fall, but if you have the chance to try it next year, you will taste the heart of regional agro-tourism. The food related activities evolve to the rhythm of the harvest. First centered around the production of tomatoes and cucumbers, the mother-daughter business expanded their activities to offer a prized seasonal menu: red deer tartar, beef cheek stuffed tortellinis, strawberry-rhubarb tartelettes… The Éden Rouge adapts to the harvests and arrivals, with great delicacy.
For the Food-Lovers
Take the Road 101 again and make a stop on du Collège island, in Duhamel-Ouest (Duhamel-West), at the Domaine DesDuc. Founded by a couple of agronomists (Richard Dessureault and Claire Bolduc) in the middle of the nineties, the vineyard produces between 3000 to 5000 bottles per year. With its grapefruit aroma, hinting towards the taste of green apples, the white wine is their most famous product, but let’s bet that you will also love their red wine, their rosé and the cheese, Le Coeur du Village from the cheese shop Fromage au Village, and their delicious wine jellies.
On Road 101 again towards Ville-Marie. Located on the border or the lake, the Témiscamingue metropolis is populated with nice restaurants, such as the breakfast restaurant La Gauffrière, La Gauloise Snack-Bar (the poutine is delightful) and Le Cimonak resto-pub, which offers a menu of varied dishes and beverages. Once you’re there, you have to stop by the Caféier-Boustifo, where you can find an impressive range of coffees.
Where do we sleep?
If you are in the lookout for a place to sleep, we suggest two very different options: La Bannik and Auberge Nouvelle-France. The former will charm you by its bucolic site nested in nature and its camping and cottage accommodations, while the latter the second will appeal to lovers of picturesque charm near the city center.
Opémican, a little marvel to conclude the adventure
Road 101 will lead you directly to the Parc National d’Opémican (Opémican’s National Park), the latest establishment of the SÉPAQ. The park opened in 2019 right over the transition line between the boreal forest and the deciduous forest, rendering its 250 sq. km of land very abundant. A few nights long camping stay sprinkled with hikes on the trails becomes the obvious choice to discover the richness of its biodiversity.
Rested and relaxed, you will be ready to take Road 101 again, so you can enjoy the last kilometers of Quebec before Ontario. In the city of Temiscaming, where the territory extends over the two provinces, you can stop for a snack at the local Snack-Bar. We highly suggest continuing this road circuit by eating your poutine a few hundreds of meters away from there, down from the Letang Road.
On your trip back home, by the road 63, natural prolonging of the road 101 in Ontario, the view on the Rivière des Outaouais will give you non imperishable memories.
On your return, you will want to tell everybody to go quickly discover these lesser explored landscapes.
