Lanaudière Travel guide
Lanaudière Travel guide
Mountains, Plains and… Lords
Depending on the area you visit in the Lanaudière region, you can qualify it as a “green" region. Located only a few minutes from Montréal and surrounded by the St. Lawrence River and the Laurentian Mountains, this region presents a peaceful haven for city dwellers, but especially for those who inhabit the region. Its 13,537 km2 proposes densely populated territories or large virgin, wild, green spaces where only a few people live.
Lanaudière owes its development to the St. Lawrence River because without it, the Aboriginals, and later the French, would never have settled in the area in the 14th century. Nowadays, in the Saint-Alexis-des-Monts area, you can find an Attikameks reservation. As for the French, they passed on their rectangular-shaped fields, located near the rivers and lakes to provide inhabitants with a great place to build flour and sawmills.
To go from one place to the other, but especially to build Canada’s first road suitable for vehicles, the inhabitants of the region decided to continue the construction of the Chemin du Roy. This road that stretches along the St. Lawrence River links Québec City to Montréal (more precisely Repentigny). The construction of this road lasted for six years, from 1731 to 1737. At that time, the road allowed mailmen to distribute mail and lords and companies to travel through the province. Nowadays, even though it slightly deviates from its original course, the Chemin du Roy, or Route 138, goes all the way up to Pointe-Parent in the Duplessis region.
By following this road, you will see the remnants of this epoch during which lords used to rule over their estates. Of course, we cannot pass the Laurentian Mountains over in silence, especially because the National Geographic Traveler gave it the title of the “7th best preserved destination”. Almost all the lakes and rivers of the region are embellished by the ancestral houses and their outbuildings, which are all ancient residencies of lords that are still standing.
The secondary panoramic roads of the region will take you from one city or village to the other, through four main areas. In the Chemin du Roy and the Berthier Islands area, visitors will find the 2nd most populated city of Lanaudière: Repentigny. The agricultural plain area gives tasty vegetables and hides several charming villages. The To the Foothills area is the backdrop where hills and valleys embellish the region. Finally, the Matawinie Tour area presents wild nature where parks, zecs and preserves abound. In short, the Lanaudière region provides all the space necessary to do your favourite outdoor sports.
