RÉSERVE FAUNIQUE LA VÉRENDRYE
Quebec’s La Vérendrye puts many parks to shame. PHOTO: SIMON GRUDA DOLBECL
Chochocouane River
NEED TO KNOW To paddle the Chochocouane, the reserve’s biggest river, you will want to follow circuit 61, a loop of 65 kilometres, or circuit 63, a varia- tion that traverses 132 kilometres. But wait, you say, how does a river trip constitute a loop? You have to ascend the Canimiti River at either end of the loop for a total of 31 upstream kilometres. At summer levels the current should only be noticeable for 10 kilometres and it means you won’t have to arrange a shuttle. The put-in and take-out for both loops is
the bridge on the Canimiti River, 113 kilome- tres northwest of Le Domaine, the CCLV visi- tor’s centre on Highway 117. The amount of the Chochocouane you descend will depend on which loop you choose, but either section offers plenty of easily avoided whitewater, making it suitable for any skill level. Permits and fishing licences are available at
Le Domaine. Permits for each circuit are handed out on a first-come, first-served basis every day.
INFO You can learn everything you need to know from CCLV (819) 435-2521,
www.canot-camp-
ing.ca.
MAPS CCLV: Map #6 (order for $8 through the website).
TOPOGRAPHICAL: 31 N/11, 31 N/14, 31 N/15.
OUTFITTER Rent canoes at the CCLV base at Le Domaine. You can also arrange a shuttle if you want to spare your vehicle some logging road travel. A round trip from Le Domaine for two canoes or less is $226.
PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW You don’t need to own a car or freeload off your friends to paddle La Vérendrye. Le Domaine enjoys daily bus service from both Ottawa and Montreal, both less than 350 kilometres away. Once at Le Domaine you can pick up your rented canoe and pre-ar- ranged shuttle. Bus from Montreal, $109, (514) 842-2281. From Ottawa, $106, (613) 238-5900. Schedules are posted on the CCLV website.
NEED TO BRING Your dog. Though some restrictions exist, Sparky is welcome in La Vérendrye. —Ian Merringer
C ANOE ROOT S n 35
BEFORE WE GET A LETTER of correction from the Official Languages Commission, we should point out that réserve faunique does not, strictly speaking, translate into English as provincial park. It’s true that there is hunting and logging in La Vérendrye, but they also occur in some so-called parks, and La Vé- rendrye has a maintained network of canoe routes that puts most parks to shame. For 15 years Canoe- Camping La Vérendrye (CCLV) has made tripping on the 800 kilometres of routes crossing the 13,615- square-kilometre reserve a simple affair.
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