Rivière-du-Loup

Rivière-du-Loup is a city of 19,400 people (2011) in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Southeastern Quebec.

History
The city was named after the nearby river, whose name means "Wolf's River" in French. This name may have come from a native tribe known as "Les Loups" or from the many seals, known in French as loups-marin (sea wolves), once found at the river's mouth.

Rivière-du-Loup was established in 1673 as the seigneurie of Sieur Charles-Aubert de la Chesnaye. The community was incorporated as the village of Fraserville, in honour of early Scottish settler Alexandre Fraser, in 1850, and became a city in 1910. The city reverted to its original name, Rivière-du-Loup, in 1919.

Between 1850 and 1919, the city's anglophone population grew dramatically. Most of them left the region by the 1950s. 1% of the population still speaks English as its first language.

In autumn of 1950, Rivière-du-Loup was the site of a nuclear accident. A USAF B-50 was returning a nuclear bomb to the USA. The bomb was released due to engine troubles, and then was destroyed in a non-nuclear detonation before it hit the ground. The explosion scattered nearly 100 pounds (45 kg) of uranium (U-238).

By car
Rivière-du-Loup is 200 km northeast of Quebec City (about two hours drive) at the junction of Autoroute 20 and Autoroute 85 / Route 185. Autoroute 20 is part of the Trans-Canada Highway between Longueuil and Rivière-du-Loup, enabling travel east from Montreal and Quebec City. Autoroute 85 (freeway) and Route 185 (non-freeway, being gradually replaced by Autoroute 85) is also part of the Trans-Canada Highway and enables travel from Atlantic Canada including Moncton in the adjacent province of New Brunswick.

By train

 * Train operator:
 * Operates The Ocean route between Halifax and Montreal, including stops in Moncton and Sainte-Foy (near Quebec City. Operates three trips per direction per week. A shuttle between train stations in Sainte-Foy and in Quebec City is available for The Ocean trains, but must be reserved in advance.

By bus

 * It is possible to transfer at Campbellton, NB, which is a 4.5 km taxi ride from the bus stop in Pointe-à-la-Croix, QC. Service from Pointe-à-la-Croix to Rivière-du-Loup via Orléans Express (see below.)
 * Operates two trips per day in each direction between Quebec City and Rimouski including stops in Rivière-du-Loup and Trois-Pistoles. Same day transfers to and from Montreal are available via Quebec City. Same day transfers to and from Pointe-à-la-Croix, Gaspé, and Percé are available via Rimouski. Travel time to Rivière-du-Loup from Montreal is 5.25-6 hours, from Quebec City is 2.5-3 hours, from Rimouski is 1.5 hours, and from Gaspé is 9 hours.

See




Do
The city offers a number of outdoor recreation opportunities such as hiking, cycling and whale watching.

Buy
The main shopping district is along rue La Fontaine between Laval and Ste. Anne.

Go next

 * Tadoussac and Saint-Siméon on the north shore are reachable by ferry.
 * The Atlantic Ocean is within reach via New Brunswick or from Québec's Gaspé Peninsula