Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs

Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs is a municipality of the Regional County Municipality (RCM) of Charlevoix-Est, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, in Quebec, Canada.

This municipality is wedged between the mountains which were formed on the north side by the impact of the great meteorite of the astrobleme of Charlevoix. Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs borders the town of La Malbaie, the town of Clermont, Notre-Dame-des-Monts and the territory not organized from Mont-Élie (Lacoste township). Its territory is crossed by Route 138 which runs along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River; nevertheless, the segment of road between Baie-Saint-Paul and La Malbaie is distanced from the river. In addition, the chemin du pied-des-Monts which begins at rue Principale (north of Lac Brûlé), leads to the[Parc national des Grands-Jardins (east entrance) by going up the course of the Gouffre river and passing near Lac du Rat Musqué, Lac Long, Lac des Bonnes Gens and Lac Nice.

This residential municipality is centred on forestry and recreational tourism activities (vacationing, hunting, fishing, hiking in the forest, camping, picking wild fruits, observing nature, flora and fauna, snowmobiling and mountain biking). On the outskirts, the Gouffre and Malbaie rivers attract fishermen. The Nairne (length: 3.1 km) and Sainte-Marie (length: 1.3 km) lakes are important holiday resorts. In short, on the territory of Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs, nature and resort enthusiasts are delighted.

History
The territory of Saint-Aimé-des-lacs is located in the northern part of the large crater of the Charlevoix astrobleme. The northern limit of the municipal territory is more or less at the foot of the mountains which form the rim of this large crater. The hills and mountains of the rest of the municipal territory would have been formed by the raising of the ground inside the crater after the impact of the meteorite.

The fall of a large meteorite significantly modified the relief of Charlevoix, creating a crater 54 km in diameter occurred nearly 400 million years ago; it is the eleventh largest identified impact site on earth. The impact zone would be located along the St. Lawrence River; 60% of the Astroblème de Charlevoix covers the north shore of the river and 40% is located under the water of the river. The astrobleme begins on the southwest side a few kilometers west of Baie-Saint-Paul, up to Cap-à-l'Aigle, located on the east bank of the Malbaie River, in La Malbaie. In the northern part, the rim of the crater is located north of the village of Saint-Urbain; coming from the borough of La Baie (Ville-de-Saguenay) by road 381, travelers enter the astrobleme when the road descends from the Parc national des Grands-Jardins to head towards the village of Saint-Urbain. The eastern rim of the crater extends from Cap-à-l'Aigle up north, on the east side of the Malbaie River.

The centre of the astrobleme would be the Mont des Éboulements (summit at 768 m), formed by the effect of the raising of the bottom of the crater following the impact. Since this impact, the crater has been strongly metamorphosed under the effect of various erosion agents, making it more difficult to recognize its outline, particularly the part immersed in the St. Lawrence River. Consequently, experts define this ancient impact structure as the astrobleme. Inaugurated in 2014, an interpretation centre dedicated to the Charlevoix astrobleme is open to the public in the former Club House of the Manoir Richelieu in La Malbaie.

The municipality was incorporated in 1942. The Commission de toponymie du Québec indicates that the hagionym Saint-Aimé evokes the Benedictine Aimé (died in 690), bishop in the 7th century of Sions, in Switzerland. His feast day is celebrated on September 13.

By car

 * From Tadoussac (, 1 hr 29 min), take the Tadoussac-Baie Sainte-Catherine ferry; take route 138 (westbound) to the village of Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs.
 * From Quebec City (, 1 hr 33 min), take route 138 eastbound to the village of Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs.

Connect
The federal government installed additional communications infrastructure in La Malbaie (and along highways 138, 170 and 362 between Charlevoix and Quebec (city)) for the G7 Summit in 2018. These facilities were left in place afterwards, so cell phone and wireless internet connections are better than they were before.