La Tuque

La Tuque is a town in Haute-Mauricie (Upper-Mauricie), in La Tuque Region of the province of Quebec. It is the second largest municipality in Quebec by area after the municipality of Baie-James, and the sixth largest in Canada.

Named after a nearby rock formation that resembles the famous French Canadian hat, La Tuque is a city of in the Mauricie. It's best known as the birthplace of Québécois singer Felix Leclerc.

Understand
A town of over 11,000 people (2011), its local economy is based on pulp and paper; the city has a pulp-milling centre and a major hydroelectric station. As the gateway to the upper Mauricie, La Tuque's economy also offers outdoor tourism opportunities and caters to hunting and fishing trips in its large hinterland; the city is known as the Queen of Haute-Mauricie and the Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie canoeing race begins at La Tuque.

La Tuque has a lively town centre with many shops (e.g., specialty shops, restaurants) and offering many services (e.g., accommodation). This city centre is surrounded by mountains and vast forests favoring recreational and tourist activities.

La Tuque has an area of, of which 3,316 km² are covered with fresh water.

History
The territory of La Tuque was first inhabited by Atikamekw Indigenous people. In the early 1850s, settlers were drawn to the area to exploit the forest resources. The La Tuque Post Office opened in 1887, but the area remained isolated from the rest of the Mauricie until the early 1900s when the National Transcontinental Railway was built, prompting industrial development and the growth of a community on the east bank of the Saint-Maurice River where there was a large set of falls.

In the 1940s, the hydro-electric generating station on the Saint-Maurice River was built, resulting in the partial destruction of the rock formation that gave the town its name.

Founded in 1911, the city occupies a site known to the French since 1651. In 2003, the city merged with the municipalities of La Bostonnais, La Croche, Lac-Édouard, the municipality of the village of Parent, as well as all the non-organized territories within the Haut-Saint-Maurice RCM. La Tuque therefore becomes the second largest municipality in Quebec for its area.

In May 2010, some 120 forest fires broke out around La Tuque, burning until June. Smoke from these fires reached portions of Eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, including the cities of Ottawa and Montreal, as well as the northern US states.

Get in
The village of La Tuque is accessible by air, road and rail.

By car

 * From Trois-Rivières (, time: 1 hr 50 min), take highway 55 north; then take route 155 (northbound), from the Grand-Mère sector.
 * From Chambord (intersection of route 169) (133 km), time: 1 hr 28 min), to Lac-Saint-Jean, take route 155 (westbound) to La Tuque.
 * From La Tuque, the village of Parent is accessible by forest road 461 (25) (, time: 4 hr 10 min). From Saint-Michel-des-Saints, the road to Parent is (, time: 5 hr 10 min). From Val d'Or (Abitibi), the road to Parent is (, time: 7 hr 9 min).
 * From La Tuque, the village of Obedjiwan is accessible by forest road 461 (25), then RO-450 (, time: 6 hr 13 min).
 * From route 155 (Grand-Mère to Chambord) and route La Tuque to Parent, many forest roads give access to remote areas (hamlets, ZEC, hunting and fishing camps, forest camps).

By train

 * Operates a route between Senneterre and Montreal including stops in La Tuque, Hervey-Jonction, Shawinigan, Saint-Paulin, Saint-Justin, and Joliette. Travel time to La Tuque from Senneterre is 6 hours, from Shawinigan is 2.5 hours, and from Montreal is 5 hours ($50 one way as of 2021). The route makes one round trip per week. Trips from Montreal depart Fridays at 8:15 am and depart from La Tuque on Sundays at 2:53 pm toward Montreal.
 * Operates a route between Senneterre and Montreal including stops in La Tuque, Hervey-Jonction, Shawinigan, Saint-Paulin, Saint-Justin, and Joliette. Travel time to La Tuque from Senneterre is 6 hours, from Shawinigan is 2.5 hours, and from Montreal is 5 hours ($50 one way as of 2021). The route makes one round trip per week. Trips from Montreal depart Fridays at 8:15 am and depart from La Tuque on Sundays at 2:53 pm toward Montreal.

On runway
Some outfitters have a private airstrip, such as the "Pourvoirie Barrage Gouin & Magnan".

Hydrobase
Considering the very large number of bodies of water in Haute-Mauricie, the seaplanes have a landing capacity on the whole of the territory in order to serve in particular the ZEC (controlled zones of exploitation), the outfitters, the chalets, the hunting & fishing camps, the Obedjiwan reserve, holiday centres, etc.

Hotels



 * Parent Sector