Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie
Walls rising eight hundred metres above a flat river, among the highest cliffs east of the Rockies.
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The Malbaie river runs through a valley whose walls rise about eight hundred metres, among the highest east of the Rocky Mountains, and the contrast is the point: the water at the bottom is calm and paddled in open canoes and on a small cruise boat while the rock goes almost straight up on both sides. The valley is inside the Charlevoix meteorite crater. L'Acropole des Draveurs, the main hiking route, climbs about eight hundred metres in five kilometres to a ridge with three summits, and it is genuinely hard. Vegetation zones change with altitude from maple forest to taiga near the top.
What you actually see
- The eight-hundred-metre walls - among the highest cliffs in eastern Canada.
- The flat river - calm water paddled directly beneath the cliffs.
- L'Acropole des Draveurs - a steep climb to a three-summit ridge.
- The vegetation zones - maple forest giving way to taiga with height.
When to go
June to October; the park closes the road in winter. Autumn colour on the walls in late September is the peak. The Acropole trail has a daily capacity limit.
Honest expectations
The access road is long gravel. The Acropole climb is brutally steep and takes most of a day. Trail capacity is limited and reservations may be needed in peak season.
Nearby
La Malbaie lies south; Grands-Jardins is west.
What to pack for Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
