Riviere-Rouge to Parc du Mont-Tremblant: The mythical cyclist

September 28, 2016

For a change, I made a sensible decision about my route. Instead of taking the back road into Parc du Mont-Tremblant, which was undoubtedly hilly and quite possibly unpaved, I took the main route.

It was one of those backlit, misty mornings where even the piles of dirt look majestic.

Dew and glistening spiderwebs decorating trees along the path this morning.

It didn't save my legs, but it did route me through Mont-Tremblant the ski town, which is where a car pulled up beside me and asked for directions to a beach.

The best I could do was tell them they were heading the wrong way--they were going toward Mont-Tremblant Village when they needed to be closer to Mont-Tremblant Pedestrian Village.

Confused? Not as much as they were. And not as much as I was at being asked for directions in the first place. In winter, Mont-Tremblant is packed full of exceptionally happy people. Today, on that road, there was only me.

And the confused tourists. Who decided it was a good idea to ask directions from the girl on a bike piled high with luggage and standing at the side of the road scratching her head over own map.

Tourists.

I wasn't going to the beach; instead I went on a hideous paved bike path through the woods, a constantly twisting, turning, steep up and down path; the sort of path that would've been tons of fun if I hadn't loaded the bike with a bunch of camping gear and three days' worth of food. And even more fun without people on rented bikes who decide to resume zig-zagging uncontrollably up a hill directly in front of me, thus killing my momentum and putting both of us in the wrong gear.

Tourists.

Even near Mont-Tremblant the village, the colours were drab

Eventually I escaped Mont-Tremblant the village and walked up many hills on the way to Mont-Tremblant the park. After a while, I could see colourful hillsides starting to reveal themselves. Finally!

But the situation improved along chemin Duplessis going toward the park.

While it's definitely worth a visit, there are several confusing things about the park. I will try to clear things up.

First, it's Parc National du Mont-Tremblant. But it's not a national park and your Parks Canada pass is no good here. It's a national park only in the sense that Quebec considers itself a nation. All the national parks in Quebec, except for the couple of actual national parks, are actually provincial parks. Quebec has no provincial parks.

Make sense?

Second, there is an easily-missed self-registration box at the park entrance. You can self-register if you have cash. A bit further along is the welcome centre, which is open during the day and you can pay your entrance fee there. It appeared to be closed when I arrived in the middle of the day.

This is the self-pay box at the park entrance.

And a booth further along. It was unattended. The welcome centre is here, too.

Third, the Route Verte has approved accommodation, called "Bienvenue Cyclistes". The park has a campground under this program. Do not, under any circumstances, contact them in advance for details. They will tell you to make a reservation and direct you to the website. You can't reserve Bienvenue Cyclistes sites on the website.

What you need to do is pay for a site at the welcome centre or Discovery Centre (Centre de découverte). Check the opening hours and arrive during this time. You need to specify you want to camp at the Bienvenue Cyclistes area, otherwise they'll give you a $35 regular site instead of a $7.50 (plus tax) site.

Even if you show up in a helmet, sweaty jersey, and all the rest, expect them to look surprised when you say you're a touring cyclist. I don't think they see very many of us. They'll give you a camping permit and tell you to attach it to the post at your site. Bring your own tape.

Fourth, the cyclist campground is the ugliest patch of ground in the park. Don't be put off because the rest of the park is gorgeous. The washrooms and shower (which may or may not have hot water) are at the nearby Discovery Centre, as are the garbage cans and wifi. The bike rack is wooden and not attached to anything. I recommend a tree or the bear pole as a more secure alternative.

After I set up my tent, I stupidly biked the easy path around Lac Monroe. But my legs were completely decimated and the 12 or 13 km was a major struggle. Great scenery, though. Even though you don't ever really see the lake from the path: I thought it was a nice parallel to my tour around Lake Ontario, which is currently around 350 km away.

I would love to explore this place because the colours are starting to look amazing but I'll have to take it easy. I can't even walk properly; I'm mostly shuffling around and so I'm under strict orders to do nothing for next couple of days.

Get out of the way, I'm trying to take a photo here.

I waited for the deer to wander into this shot, but it veered down toward the lake instead. Path around Lac Monroe.

Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles)
Total: 1,091 km (678 miles)

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