Des Grands-Jardins National Park

The Parc national des Grands-Jardins (Des Grands-Jardins National Park) is a national park of Quebec, in the unorganized territory of Lac-Pikauba, in the regional county municipality (MRC) of Charlevoix, in Quebec Region in Quebec.

The management of this protected area is the responsibility of the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (Society of Outdoor Establishments of Quebec) (SÉPAQ)

Understand
The park is one of the two central areas of the Charlevoix biosphere reserve listed as a biosphere reserve; the other being the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie National Park which is located downstream on the course of the Malbaie River. These two preservation areas are popular with anglers, hikers, campers and vacationers.

Through its flora and fauna at this altitude, Parc national des Grands-Jardins is an area of reproducing an environment of the Far North of Quebec.

Geography
Parc national des Grands-Jardins is located on the outskirts of the Charlevoix crater, on the north side of the rim of this former crater of in diameter resulting from the impact of a large meteorite nearly 400 million years ago.

It is surrounded on three sides by the Réserve faunique des Laurentides, except for its eastern limit. Route 381 linking Baie-Saint-Paul to Saguenay City is the eastern limit of the park, except for a strip of land to the south-east of the territory which is delimited to the south by the territory of Saint-Urbain. This road 381 is also the western limit of the zec des Martres. The Malbaie River forms the southwestern boundary of the territory, east of Lac à Jack.

The terrain of the park is mainly made up of mountains and valleys of the Canadian Shield. Its bedrock is mainly composed of granitic rocks including igneous rock. In addition, part of the territory is composed of anorthosite, a type of igneous rock. The main peaks of the park are:
 * Mount of Swan Lake (summit at ),
 * Mont René-Richard (summit at ,
 * Mont du Lac à Moïse (summit at ),
 * Mont de l'Ours (summit at ),
 * Mont Jean-Palardy (summit at ),
 * La Chouenne (summit at ).

History
At the beginning of the 20th century, this sector of the Canadian Shield was already known for its fishing lakes and its exceptional panoramas of mountains and valleys. Given the northern vegetation, in particular a thick carpet of lichens and wild flowers at high altitude, the people of the region (fishermen, hunters, hikers, campers) have designated this Grands-Jardins sector at least since 1872 because it is similar to the taiga of the northern regions, i.e. beyond the 52nd parallel.

A herd of caribou, a subarctic wildlife species, was estimated at 10,000 animals at the beginning of the 20th century. This herd would have been almost decimated in 1928. Nevertheless, this breed was reintroduced between 1969 and 1972. Since then, the caribou herd has increased significantly.

Parc des Laurentides was established in 1895. Parc national des Grands-Jardins was established in 1981 (as a conservation park) as part of the reorganization of the former Parc des Laurentides and the abolition of private clubs in the end of the 1970s. Thus, hunting, log driving and logging ceased. In 2001, it was designated a national park, with a mission to protect natural environments.

By car

 * From Baie-Saint-Paul (, in half an hour), take Route 138 (northbound) along the course of the Gouffre River (west bank); take route 381 (northbound), i.e. chemin du Parc-des-Grands-Jardins, to the reception desk of Parc national des Grands-Jardins.
 * From Tadoussac (, in 2 hr 20 min), take the Tadoussac-Baie Sainte-Catherine ferry; take Route 138 (westbound), to the village of Baie-Saint-Paul (after the bridge over the Rivière du Gouffre); take Route 381 (northbound), to the Grands-Jardins National Park reception desk.
 * From Quebec (, in 1½ hr, take route 138 (Eastbound), and cross the village of Baie-Saint-Paul following the course of the Gouffre River (west bank); take Route 381 (northbound), to the Grands-Jardins National Park reception desk.

The territory of Parc national des Grands-Jardins is also accessible from the west side by a few forest roads that connect to the south with Lac Malbaie and Lac des Neiges, then even further south to the valley of the Montmorency River.

Get around
The map of winter trails is available at: Map of Parc national des Grands-Jardins

Sleep
In the summer season, the park offers fishing-camping packages (at the Pied-des-Monts and Arthabaska campgrounds) and fishing with accommodation (assignment among some sixty lakes, with a daily catch and possession limit).