Side Trips

Canyon Ste-Anne, Ste-Anne Falls

42km (26 miles) NE of Québec City, about 9km (6 miles) NE of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré

After Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, you're finally in thick evergreen woods, and the busyness of urban life begins to slip away. A short drive off Route 138 is the deep gorge and powerful waterfall created by the Ste-Anne-du-Nord River. Unseen from the main road, the Canyon Ste-Anne and its falls are an exhilarating sight to experience and only take about an hour and a half to visit. Nearby is the Parc Mont Ste-Anne, which surrounds an 800m-high (2,625-ft.) peak. Summertime invites camping, hiking, and biking (rentals available), while wintertime turns it into Québec City's busiest ski area.

Getting There

By Bus -- From about mid-November to the end of April, the Hiver Express (tel. 418/525-5191) shuttle service from Québec City carries passengers to a variety of ski slopes, including Mont Ste-Anne, making it possible to stay in the city at night and ski the mountain by day. The cars or minivans are equipped to carry ski gear, and the round-trip fare is C$25 (US$22/£11).

By Car -- Continue along Route 138 from Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré. To get to the Parc, follow the signs; the resort entrance is easy to spot from the highway. To get to the waterfalls, turn onto the secondary Route 360. The marked entrance is on the left.

Viewing the Ste-Anne Falls

The dirt road from Route 360 leads through the trees to a parking lot, picnic grounds, and building containing a cafeteria, a shop, and the ticket booth. The falls are less than a 10-minute walk from the entrance, but an open-sided shuttle bus is available. It takes you to the top of the falls, where there are trails that go down both sides of the water. Three footbridges go directly across the falls, too: The first goes over the narrow river just before the water starts to drop, and the second crosses right over the canyon, from the top of the rock walls that drop straight down to the water. Proximity to the unending, thundering water crashing over massive rocks is likely to induce vertigo in even the most stable of nerves. The final bridge is at the base of the gorge, just 9m (30 feet) above the water where it starts to flatten out again, and ends at an observation platform. Along both trails are eight platforms that jut over the water and well-written information plaques.

The falls are 75m (243 ft.) high and at their most spectacular in the spring, when melt-off of winter snows bloats the rivers above and sends 100,000 liters of water over per second. (The volume drops to 10,000 liters in Aug and Sept.) From 1904 to 1965, the river was used to float logs from lumbering operations, and part of the dramatic gorge was created by dynamiting in 1917, to cut down on the literal log-jams. So voluminous is the mist coming from the fall that it creates another wall of mini-waterfalls on the side of the gorge. Management has wisely avoided commercial intrusions along the trails, letting the awe-inspiring natural beauty speak for itself.

There is an option for visitors to zip across the canyon directly over the water harnessed onto a cable wire (an extra fee, for the very brave-hearted only). Visitors who have difficulty walking can see the falls without going too far from the bus, and those who suffer acrophobia can stay on the side trails, strolling amid the hemlock and poplar trees, avoiding the bridges. A minor claim to fame: Scenes from the 2000 John Travolta film Battlefield Earth were filmed here.

Admission is C$10 (US$8.70/£4.30) adults, C$7.50 (US$6.50/£3.25) ages 13 to 17, C$4.50 (US$3.90/£1.95) ages 6 to 12. The site is open daily May through late October. Hours are 9am to 4:45pm, with an extra hour to 5:45pm from June 24 to Labour Day. It's closed the rest of the year. Confirm the hours, which are subject to change due to weather, by calling tel. 418/827-4057.

Parc Mont Ste-Anne

Parc du Mont Ste-Anne (tel. 888/827-4579 or 418/827-4561; www.mont-sainte-anne.com) is a wilderness resort surrounding an 800m-high (2,625-ft.) peak and an outdoor enthusiast's dream. In summer and early fall, it offers camping, hiking, golfing, in-line skating, paragliding, and canyoning. It's well known for its huge network of trails for both hard-core mountain biking and milder day-tripping (bikes can be rented at the park). A panoramic gondola to the top of the mountain operates daily between mid-June and mid-October and on weekends for about a month on either end, weather permitting.

General admission to the park is C$8.85 (US$7.70/£3.80) for a family in a car, C$3.55 (US$3.10/£1.50) for adults, and C$1.75 ($1.55/75p) for children 7 to 17 years old. Gondola ticket prices are C$15 (US$13/£6.45) for adults, C$12 (US$10/£5.15) for ages 7 to 17, and C$13 (US$11/£5.60) for seniors, with a variety of family rates.

In winter, skiing on Mont Ste-Anne is terrifically popular. Just 40 minutes from Québec City, this is the region's largest and busiest mountain. There are 65 trails on three sides of the mountain, with a 625m (2,050-ft.) vertical drop. At night, 17 trails are lit. Full-day lift tickets are C$55 (US$48/£24) for adults, C$45 (US$39/£19) for seniors, C$42 (US$37/£18) for ages 13 to 17, and C$29 (US$25/£12) for ages 7 to 12.

Also in the winter, the park offers the largest network of cross-country ski trials in Canada, at 212km (131 miles). There are seven heated rest huts, three of which can accommodate overnight guests. A day ticket is C$18 (US$16/£7.75) for adults, C$13 (US$11/£5.60) for seniors, C$12 (US$10/£5.15) for ages 13 to 17, and C$7 (US$6.10/£3) for children 7 to 12. The park also offers dog-sledding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice-canyoning, and winter paragliding.

The park is an easy commute from the city, which is what most people do. Its entrance is easy to spot from the highway. For information about what's happening at the resort, hours, and rates, call tel. 418/827-4561 or visit www.mont-sainte-anne.com.