Exploring Lanaudiere-Mauricie: Outdoor Adventures Await

Today on Go Nomad, we return to Canada, to our nearby neighbors to the north.

In June, I once again felt very welcomed by our Canadian neighbors, despite how impolite our tariff policies have been to a 50 year old ally.

A year later, I still had the American currency advantage, which meant that each Canadian dollar cost 75 cents.

On this trip I had a packed Dyson Air area that would take us from Quebec City to a rural area called Mauricy, about one and a half hours south.

Here we enjoyed a spectacular mountain biking course at St. Raymond, with trails that all led to a fantastic waterfall in the middle of the woods.

I highly recommend the excitement and exhilaration of riding an electric mountain bike on narrow trails through deep woods.

What a blast.

After our vigorous ride to the falls, we relaxed in chairs that were immersed in a wading pool about 8 inches deep.

It's hard to explain, but it was very comfortable in the terrific heat of June in Quebec.

It paired well with a local beer, I suppose.

Our accommodations were in Maurici, at a unique place called La Baluchon Eco Village, a sprawling enterprise in a woodsy setting that offers six different accommodations, weddings, large banquets, horse carriage rides and trail rides.

We met the horses who pulled the big wagon, but percherons, one of the largest breeds of horses, and later they would be my steed when we took a trail ride the following day.

La Balochon spans 1,000 acres of preserved land, including 200 acres of farmland and 40 kilometers of forest trails for hiking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and mountain biking.

The scenic, fast flowing Duloop river runs through the property, offering kayaking, canoeing or relaxation by the water.

A A variety of outdoor activities are available to guests with equipment provided.

The morning walk to the main lodge for breakfast was along a trail that went beside a roaring river and the path was lit along the way.

In the evenings.

Our trail ride in these forests was memorable.

Perhaps because the horse named Guy was so strong and capable I didn't need to do much except steer him away from eating grass.

We left La Balachon on another hot, sunny morning, resuming our journey, zooming over the flat roads.

Everything was wide open.

This is a big part of Canada.

You get a sense of this when you see the great sweep of land and the low population density.

Quite a contrast between Massachusetts and Quebec.

In Quebec, there's nine people per square mile.

In our state, there's 920.

The drive across Quebec provides many expansive views and a horizon that goes on forever.

Our lunch stop was at La Presbytere in Trois Rivieres, where you could find seal, the animal on the menu.

La Presbytere had been awarded Canada's Blue Fork certification, meaning that a high percentage of the menu was sourced locally.

In addition to the seal, fish from the nearby St. Lawrence river were also on the menu.

Another day, we stopped for lunch in the middle of a park next to a rushing river.

Monsieur Dubois had a food truck and a picnic table set up for us.

The company specialized in offering mushrooms, plants and other forest edibles found in the nearby woods.

Lunch included wild asparagus, stinging nettles, wild mushroom arancini, which are rice balls stuffed with fiddlehead, ferns and pesto.

The whole menu came from these woods.

Quebec has more than a million legs.

We made another interesting stop at La Terre de Bisons, a bison farm in Rawson.

It's one of several ranches in Quebec specializing in these giant bovines.

There's a lot to learn about bison.

The first thing I was told was that they are not very friendly and we are not to approach them or pet them.

We were taken on a ride in a special bison mobile towed by a tractor right next to where a group of bison stood waiting for food.

Babies suckled while the big ones stared us down.

Later, we sampled their tender meat in a museum with many exhibits about bison life and how they are thriving here in Quebec.

I was happy to hear about the current family that runs this bison operation and their interest in continuing this family tradition with a new generation of bison farmers coming up next, we continued our adventures by heading south to a more populated part of Quebec, the destination with the city of Laval, just outside of Montreal.

We took a kayaking trip at the Parc de Riviere de Mille Isles, which is the largest protected green space around Greater Montreal.

As we paddled up to and around an island, our guides pointed out a very impressive riverside house with huge glass windows that once belonged to singer Celine Dion, Quebec's most famous star.

It was one of the hottest summers on record in Quebec.

We soldiered on to a visit to a strawberry farm and took refuge in the shade where a picnic awaited us in a gazebo.

We arrived at Agno de Laval, where they grow many vegetables and have a kids farm play area, including climbing towers and many baby animals to pet.

Our final activity in Laval brought us to the escape area, which is a highly ranked and very elaborate escape room at an industrial park.

The theme here is Circus Magnifico and the Forgotten Cathedral, two shows.

Both productions have up to eight actors and each follow an elaborate two and a half hour long plot.

It did not take long before everyone in our small group was helping solve the puzzles and uncovering hidden secrets as we navigated the circus atmosphere.

Escape rooms are a very fun way to spend an afternoon.

You forget where you are and you dive straight into the magic.

The other thing we enjoyed was Ifly which.

Which is an exceptional experience where you go into a chamber and air blows from a giant fan and you actually are suspended in midair at Ifly in Laval, Quebec.

Quebec is so close and there's so much to see and so much to do.

It's a four hour drive and it gets you to the heart of it all and it's certainly worth discovering.