Saint-Urbain

Saint-Urbain is a municipality in Charlevoix, in the province of Quebec. A rural, forest and mountain community, Saint-Urbain has a lot to offer in terms of recreational tourism: snowmobiling, mountain biking, bicycles, hunting, fishing, hiking trails, picking wild fruits, observation of panoramas, flora and fauna. Nestled in the magnificent valley of the Rivière du Gouffre, nestled in the Laurentians, Saint-Urbain is the gateway to Parc national des Grands-Jardins and the Charlevoix hinterland.

Understand
The region has many natural attractions: grandiose landscapes of valleys and mountains, a superb border of the river, maritime space, magnificent forests, picturesque architecture, history (in particular the astroblème of Charlevoix), artistic and cultural life.

History
The fall of a meteorite significantly modified the relief of Charlevoix, creating a crater of 54 km in diameter occurred almost 400 million years ago; it is the eleventh largest impact site identified on earth. The impact zone is along the St. Lawrence River; 60% of the astroblème covers the north shore of the river and 40% is under the river's water. The astrobleme begins on the southwest side a few kilometres west of Baie-Saint-Paul, up to Cap-à-l'Aigle, on the east bank of the Malbaie River, in La Malbaie. In the northern part, the rim of the crater is north of the village of Saint-Urbain; Coming from the borough of La Baie (Ville-de-Saguenay) via route 381, travellers enter the astrobleme when the road descends from Parc national des Grands-Jardins to go to the village of Saint-Urbain. Thus, the village of Saint-Urbain is entirely part of this crater.

The centre of the astrobleme would be Mont des Éboulements (summit at 768 m), formed by the effect of the raising of the crater bottom following the impact. Since this impact, the crater has undergone significant metamorphosis under the effect of various erosion agents, making it more difficult to recognize its outline, particularly the part submerged 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; this interpretation centre is housed in the former Club House of the Manoir Richelieu in La Malbaie.

The French colonial government sent a mineralogical engineer to explore this territory in 1665. Colonization of the area began in the middle of the 17th century. Locals and explorers were interested in the exploitation of large red and white pines, as well as in the mineralogy of the region.

A winter road was built from 1843 to 1850 between Saint-Urbain and Grande-Baie; which creates the first direct access by land between the two municipalities.

Geography
The village of Saint-Urbain is located at the confluence of the Le Gros Bras and the Rivière du Gouffre, in a valley deeply embedded in the Canadian shield.

Apart from the valley of the Gouffre river, the municipal territory is mountainous and above all covered with forest.

Sometimes earthquakes are felt in the area; the strongest earthquakes occurred in 1870, February 28, 1925 and November 25, 1988.

By car

 * From Tadoussac (117 km, time: 1 hr 52 min), take the Tadoussac-Baie Sainte-Catherine ferry; take route 138 (westbound) and cross the Rivière du Gouffre at Baie-Saint-Paul; take route 381 (northbound) to the village of Saint-Urbain.
 * From Quebec City (106 km, time: 1 hr 20 min), take route 138 eastbound, and cross the town of Baie-Saint-Paul; take route 381 (northbound) to the village of Saint-Urbain.

Get around
The municipality is crossed by: The main mountain peaks are Mont Blanc du Grand-Lac (786 m), Montagne des Îlets (971 m) and Cap Martin (313 m), near route 138, to the south-east of the village.
 * Route 381 which goes up the right bank of the Rivière du Gouffre, gives access to the Grands Jardins park and continues north to Saguenay (Port-Alfred sector);
 * Route 138 which runs along the north coast of the St. Lawrence River.

Eat
Since March 2020, in the context of health measures resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, several restaurants or dining rooms in Charlevoix have transformed the mode of meals at the tables into take-out or by delivery service. In general, restaurateurs have shown great resilience by updating their website, integrating interactive and automated applications for remote orders, as well as displaying the menu, opening hours, their mode of operation (e.g., by reservation, car service), health measures required (e.g., vaccination record, mask, distancing), other services (e.g ., caterer, shops, accommodation, access for the disabled, Wi-Fi, take-out, delivery), contact details and often the history of the restaurant or site. Considering the evolving context of the pandemic and government measures, it is recommended that customers obtain information from each establishment by consulting their respective website.