I’ve wanted to hike in Jacques Cartier National Park ever since my sister-in-law told me about her experience there a decade ago. Her best story was peppered with the hilarity of her husband trying to carry their young daughter up a hill in one of those backpack carriers. The carrier wasn’t the villain though; the steep terrain was. This, of course, piqued my curiosity about how hard the trails actually are there.  

Getting to Jacques Cartier

Jacques Cartier National Park is located just 30 minutes north of Quebec City. On the drive up, I noticed plenty of mountains with downhill ski runs. This of the hills to come.

At the park, we had to pay a small entrance fee. It was only $17.80 CAD, so pretty cheap compared to some US National Parks. And it nets you a pretty awesome full-size discovery guide showing some of their best winter and summer activities.   

My favorite part of this brochure was a page listing out their top 15 recommended trails. (Don’t be scared by how long the distances seem.  They’re all in kilometers, so just multiply it by 0.62) Beyond that, they also rate each of the various trails by difficulty and provide specifics on where each trailhead is located.   

Hiking Les Loups

After reviewing the trail guide, we settled on hiking Les Loups. It’s an 11 kilometer out-and-back trail, and gains 447 meters (1,466 feet) during it’s 5.5 km ascent. Rated for advanced hikers, we made sure to take plenty of water.

We found the trailhead’s tiny parking lot packed when we arrived. But, there was a bilingual Park Ranger directing people where to park people along the side of the dirt road next to the river.

At the trailhead, we had a quick lunch at one of the two picnic tables before starting up. I’m sure glad we fueled up because the trail is only flat for about 100 meters before it starts to slope upward. We passed a lot of people on our way up who probably didn’t realize what an “advanced trail” meant in terms of effort. As frequent hikers, we thought the ascent was challenging, but still very manageable.  

Oh the views…

At the 2.5 kilometer point, there’s a spur trail that goes off toward an observation deck. The views from the deck were a huge payoff for the effort it took to get up there. And it certainly provided a little extra motivation to get to the end of the trail — where there would be a much higher and grander view from the second observation deck.

I loved all the mature trees providing shade to keep us cool during all the steep elevation gain. Of course, that meant the views were mostly reserved for a few select spots with lookouts. Nonetheless, hiking in the shade on a warm summer day is a reward in and of itself.  

Once we finally made it to the second observation deck, the view that went on for miles and miles. It rivaled anything you will ever see in the Smoky Mountains, with the green tree-covered hills taking on that blueish hue that I love so much. The river where we started that morning seemed so far below us, creating a swell of pride in what our legs accomplished getting us up there. This hike gets an A+ in my book.

I didn’t take away any hilarious stories involving baby carriers from our time in Jacques Cartier. But, I can vouch for the challenging terrain and the sublime views. I rate Les Loups as one of the best hikes I did all summer. And I was especially glad we did this hike about a week before we submitted Mt. Katahdin, because it provided some outstanding physical conditioning for what was to come!