The Outaouais is a large region of western Quebec. This journal is limited to the area a couple hours drive of Montreal, or a "daytripping" distance from the city.
Preliminaries & Discovery:
Outaouais, the word, is the French name for the Ottawa River. It's a weird word in English and nearly impossible to spell.
I've lived in Montreal for 6 years and have mainly explored the Lanaudiere, Laurentides, and Canton D'Est regions around the city because of my interest in hiking as a primary outdoor activity. Those regions have the best "mountains" close to Montreal.
After doing a decent amount of hiking in those areas and summiting most of the tallest peaks available, we found ourselves unsatisfied (nothing in this area compares with New England or the Gaspe Peninsula - both previous places we've lived).
Realizing that hiking in this area will never satisfy our desires for the challenges and vistas we seek, we turned out sights to paddling and bought a canoe in June 2020. Now that we are seeking water adventures I turned my attention to the Outaouais, an area defined by beautiful and historic river waterways, populated with untold numbers of lakes, including some significant reservoirs where a person could be canoeing for days.
(Of note: rivers, waterways, and lakes where one can canoe for days and weeks at time cover most of Quebec's landmass.)
The water brought me to the Outaouais but it's charms extend beyond canoeing.
And those charms and treasures are what you'll find in this journal.
Purpose of this Journal:
As I explore the region I will be adding interesting outdoor places and destinations.
Each picture in this journal has a map to show you exactly where you can find that place.
These Outaouais destinations will all be day-trippable from Montreal. (And easily accessible from Gatineau/Ottawa.) Or you could stay in the region and string together a tour of them and other places.
Other journal entries related to canoeing, camping, etc. in the area can be found by clicking here -> #outaouais
