Lac-Taureau Regional Park

The Lac-Taureau regional park (French: Parc régional du Lac-Taureau) is a protected area extending in the locality of Saint-Michel-des-Saint], as well as in the unorganized territories of Baie-de-la-Bouteille and Lac-Matawin, in Matawinie, in the administrative region of Lanaudière.

The mission of this regional park is to ensure the conservation of nature while offering services and recreational activities to users. This park is an exceptional site for vacationing, including camping, hiking trails, sport fishing, nautical activities including boating and swimming.

Geography
This regional park includes in its centre Lake Taureau, which constitutes an immense reservoir of in area, comprising 45 islands,  of shores, numerous bays and 32 km of sandy shores. This reservoir has many magnificent beaches with fine sand. Its main islands are Île Lacroix, Île Lapierre, Île de France and Île du Village (Baie Ignace). The Taureau reservoir has a watershed of.

The Taureau reservoir is mainly fed by the rivière Mattawin (flowing into the bay of the village of Saint-Michel-des-Saints), the rivière du Poste (flowing into Baie du Poste), the rivière du Milieu (flowing into Baie du Milieu), the rivière Sauvage (flowing into the bay at the top of the dam) and the rivière aux Canelles (flowing into the bay at the top of the dam). The other main tributaries are the Canot Rouge stream (flowing into the Baie du Canot Rouge), the Lacroix stream (coming from the north), the Price stream, the Brûlé stream and the Bouteille stream (flowing into the Bay of la Bouteille) and Ignace stream (flowing into Ignace Bay).

The Matawin dam is operated by Hydro-Québec for the production of hydroelectricity. The draining of the Taureau reservoir begins annually in November and is completed in early April in order to be able to contain the water resulting from the melting snow. Hydro-Québec manages the water level in the reservoir by matching the demand for electricity with the needs of the various users of the water body.

The Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve located south of the Matawin river. This reserve shares a common border with the Lac-Taureau regional park, because its western limit is the eastern shore of the Taureau reservoir (ie the Baie de la Bouteille sector). The reservoir is surrounded by beautiful mountains. The shape of the tank looks like a capital A, followed by a U; and the regional park follows this shape by generally covering a riparian strip of land between 400-500 m from the shore, sometimes more than a kilometre.

The village of Saint-Michel-des-Saints is located at the end of a bay on the southwest side. And the hamlet of Saint-Ignace-du-Lac is on the edge of the west shore of Baie Ignace.

Tourist information
Visitors can inquire at the park entrance:

Recreational tourism activities
The Lac Taureau Regional Park is a great destination for recreational tourism (including swimming, water sports and boating), camping and forest hikes (hiking, snowmobile and Quad trails). The Pointe-Fine municipal beach, located at the north end of a long peninsula attached to the south shore, offers a bucolic setting surrounded by nature. Visitors have several choices of rustic campsites (notably that of Baie du Milieu and Baie du Poste), cabins, lodges, landing stages and nature trails. Users have access to septic emptying areas at designated locations.

In the Dominique Bay sector, a well-marked 4.6 km trail gives access to bucolic panoramas of Lac Taureau. This nature trail also offers the possibility of completing a 3.1 km loop. In this area several other trails designed for the public are operated by third-party organizations, in particular the pedestrian network of the Auberge du Lac Taureau (western part of the lake) established at the end of the peninsula separating the "middle" bays (in the North-West) and "of the village" (in the South-East).

The amateurs of nautical activities benefit from the offers of outfitters for excursions with various types of boats, thus giving access to the wild nature in zones out of the ordinary. The Nerrivik Aventures team, member of Aventure Écotourisme Québec, offers kayak rental services, guided excursions and kayak expeditions to the Baie du Milieu. Other outfitters also offer discovery tours in sea kayaking.

Snowmobiles and ATVs
The passage of snowmobiles and ATVs can cross on the Matawin dam, located in the unorganized territory of Baie-de-la-Bouteille. A snowmobile trail is set up from the Auberge du Lac à l'Eau Clair (Saint-Alexis-des-Monts) to the Lac Taureau dam. It is possible to make the grand tour of the Lac Taureau regional park by a quad/snowmobile trail.

History
The Matawin River valley has been the subject of intense logging since the middle of the 19th century. This economic development of this sector is mainly dependent on forestry. The large winter logging allowed the accumulation of large piles of logs deposited on the ice of the river. In the spring, the timber was transported by flotation down the current of the Matawin river; if necessary, loggers redirected the logs in the current. Thus, the logs flowed downstream to the Saint-Maurice river in order to feed the pulp and paper mills that are downstream, in particular those of Grand-Mère, Shawinigan and Trois-Rivières.

Get in
Routes to the village of Saint-Michel-des-Saints:
 * From Montreal (164 km, 1 hr 59 min), take highway 40 eastbound, until the Joliette exit; take route 131 (northbound), bypass the town of Joliette on the east side to the village of Saint-Félix-de-Valois; continue on road 131 to the village of Saint-Michel-des-Saints.
 * From Quebec (134 km, 3 hr 7 min), take highway 40 westbound to Yamachiche; take route 138 (westbound) to the village of Louiseville; take route 348 to the junction of route 131; take road 131 to the village of Saint-Michel-des-Saints.

North of Saint-Michel-des-Saints, the relief is mountainous. Forest roads provide access to many beaches, marinas or landing stages, several hiking trails, and several campgrounds. The Manawan road (connecting Saint-Michel-des-Saints to Manawan) serves the west shore of the reservoir Taurus.

Get around
To travel in the Forêt Ouareau, Sept-Chutes and Lac Taureau regional parks, visitors must access the online ticket office offered by the MRC de Matawinie. Anyone accessing the park facilities must pay either the right of access (including the users of the campsites). Camping is only allowed in the places indicated and reservations are required.

Do
Visitors to the park must bring their hiking equipment: ski touring, snowshoes, trekking poles, camera, etc. Several outfitters offer the rental of certain equipment.

In winter, snowshoers and cross-country skiers (cross-country skiing) can venture into the park's territory. Snowmobile tours are very popular.
 * Winter activities


 * Summer activities
 * The walks on the beaches or the marked trails allow you to admire the magnificent forest and mountain scenery surrounding Lake Taureau.
 * Pleasure craft hikes allow access to the various bays of the reservoir.

Ornithology and mycology enthusiasts and nature lovers regularly come to visit this regional park.



Eat
The various trails around the lake include several picnic table areas.

Interested parties can consult the list of restaurants or businesses offering ready-to-take meals in Saint-Michel-des-Saints.

Campsites
This regional park offers a variety of wilderness camping sites on the beaches and islands of the lake.