GNBR East Day 9 - Riverside Camp to Mattawin

37.5 miles, 2388’ climbing

August 31, 2026

Moose Sightings: 0

It was cool, damp, and foggy this morning as we broke camp before the mosquitos woke up. Whoever parked a truck and trailer at the other end of the camp site didn’t make an appearance last night, so we had the camp site to ourselves. A squirrel came out and started chittering at us as we brushed off our drive trains. Maybe we woke it up? A few minutes later we saw it next to a tree with a long green pinecone looking deliriously happy, so we were forgotten. During our ride we saw several more squirrels with green pinecones, all looking pretty pleased with themselves, including one that ran right in front of us, requiring an emergency stop.

It was cold as we headed out. We were damp and gritty and a bit sluggish starting. We are almost over our colds, so hoping to feel a little more energetic soon. Around 9:30am the fog lifted and the sun came out. We road along the beautiful Rivière Mattawin which we camped next to. At one point we heard a roar and made our way out to the riverside where there were some dramatic rapids. 

After some rolling climbs, we found ourselves at the exit from the Reserve Faunique du Saint Maurice where there was a gated entrance and a visitor center. It was right by the confluence where the Rivière Mattawin flows into the even larger Rivière Saint Maurice. After a short pedal on pavement we arrived early at our hotel. The entire “town” is our hotel & restaurant and a gas station / quick mart across the highway. There was a sunny balcony facing the Rivière Saint Maurice where we were able to hang out soggy clothes and camping gear. 

GNBR East Day 8 - Saint Michel des Saints to Riverside Camp

45.3 miles, 3815’ climbing 

August 30, 2026

Camped by Riviere Matawin

Moose sightings: 0

Mosquito sightings: 1,000,000

Our hotel turned out to be just what we needed. We were right across the street from the large supermarket, so last night we picked up supplies for the next two days as well as breakfast. We had coffee while packing up and heating breakfast in our kitchenette. There was a hose out back so we could clean our bikes using a squirt of the provided dish soap from our kitchenette.

We rode out of town on quiet streets. We turned a corner and crossed a bridge and found ourselves in a more upscale area with beautiful houses with large lawns and boat docks facing Lake Toreau. 

After a few miles we transitioned to a gravel road. After ~10 miles we stopped at the small visitor center at the Lac Bouteille entrance to the Reserve Faunique de Mastigauche, right beside the lake. This our 4th or 5th Reserve Faunique, and the desk lady told us that they are preserves with no private land within, intended for hunting or passage (we think this means recreation). We told her we wanted to see a moose, and she said it’s impossible but that a hunt starts next week. There’s a little lost in translation in these conversations as she spoke only French, but at the reserve yesterday we were told that hunting starts in 2 weeks and that moose were everywhere. So there’s still some mystery about how to see a moose. But she was friendly and patient with our French. We had a Pepsi and peeked at the lake. The desk lady wished us a good trip.

The road was wide with a layer of loose sand and a little gravel on top. The soft surface made us climb hills a bit slowly. After several miles we turned off onto a smaller forest road which had a firmer surface (mostly), and we pedaled thru beautiful forests with a fair amount of climbing. We’ve had a lot of wildflowers every day, and today was gorgeous. Some clearings from old wood cutting areas gave us good views. It felt a little mountainous at times though the elevation doesn’t really say “mountain” to us.

Eventually we descended on a soft road to a dam, crossed, and a rain storm hit. It rained hard for a while, and we put on both rain pants and jackets. The dirt has seemed sandy for this entire trip, and thankfully it doesn’t get slippery in the rain. Nor do we accumulate mud. We pedaled on as the rain continued. Finally we found a small, primitive campsite that was marked on our route. A truck and trailer are parked there, but no occupants. We took a space on the opposite side from them, set up camp, battled mosquitos, filtered water, and retreated to our tent soon after dinner for purposes of mosquito avoidance. We are right on the bank of a beautiful, wide, slow moving river.

 

GNBR East Day 7 - Lake Monroe to Saint Michel des Saints

 57.5 miles, 3677’ climbing

August 29, 2026

Hotel St. Michel

Moose sightings: 0

It was a slightly noisy night with people arriving to the campground for the weekend, but good noise, a lot of laughter. It’s the coldest night of our trip so far. We woke up early and headed out into some fog with temperature in the forties. Our fingers were cold. We saw deer as we wound around national park trails past amenities we didn’t partake of: beaches, playgrounds, kayak and paddle board rentals, an ice creamery. There must be nearly 30 campsites around Lake Monroe. 

After leaving the series of campgrounds on the north east side of the lake, we turned off onto a gravel road. We had a bit of climbing past forests and lakes. We finally came to a point where there was a barricade and a “Road Closed” sign. The exit part of the road was open. There was no indication of for how long or why. Since we were out of cell phone service all day, we opened our map apps to find an alternative route to our destination, but there was none. Finally we pedaled past the sign.

It was a wide gravel road. There were signs of a little recent road work, a lot of gravel in places, but nothing obvious for why it would be closed. With a lot of uphill pedaling, we proceeded for 18 miles. We were passed by two motorcyclists, but saw nobody else. Unlike many areas, there were no homes or cottages in this area, possible due to being in Mont Tremblant National Park part of the time. 

Finally we came to an exit gate where we would make a turn near the Reseve Faunique Rouge Mayawin. A couple from Montreal were on bikes there. They greeted us and asked about road conditions. Part of their conversation was hard to follow, but it seemed to be a seasonal road closure (in August??) which was inconvenient for local travel. The couple said their good byes, and we crossed the street to a Reserve headquarters where we had cokes and ice creams. The ranger told us that moose are everywhere and that hunting season starts in 2 weeks. We planned our trip to finish by mid September for that reason.

It looked like it would rain. Luckily we had an easy ride on smooth pavement to Saint Michel des Saints. We checked into our hotel, grabbed dinner, and picked up groceries for the next two days. It looks like we may be off the grid.

GNBR East Day 6 - La Concepcion to Lake Monroe

47.2 miles, 2230’ climbing

August 28, 2026

L’Ours Campground, Mont Tremblant National Park

After coffee in our room, we packed up quickly. That was by necessity since the mosquitos were voracious outside our Auberge. We headed out of town on a paved road. After several quiet miles, we had to cross a divided freeway with high speed traffic twice — no underpass or overpass. It was a little stressful since we couldn’t see very far down the road to judge how long a break in traffic was. Afterwards we road briefly on the freeway shoulder and on the access road as we came to the beautiful town(city?) of Mont Tremblant. The downtown area had cute shops, hanging baskets of flowers, all very attractive. We had a delicious breakfast at L’Arôme, a cafe on the Main Street. Then we shopped for supplies at the Metro supermarket. Since we are camping tonight, we needed food for today and tomorrow.

We left Mont Tremblant on separated bike paths and quickly found ourselves on Le P’tit Train du Nord, a paved multi-use trail that runs for a couple hundred kilometers. There were quite a few cyclists and e-bikers on the rail trail. We passed beautiful lakes with floating five platforms, docks with aiderondeck chairs, paddle boards and canoes laid out, motor boats. There were beautiful homes, too. It looked like a resort area with some interspersed farms. 

We glided along the rail trail for about 15 miles until we turned off onto a good gravel road. After another half dozen miles, we turned off onto a forest track in the Secteur Caché of Mont Tremblant National Park. We wound thru the woods around a lake, then took a small detour to a refuge on the edge of the lake that visitors can use. It had firewood, outdoor picnic tables and a fire ring, tables,a wood stove, and bunks inside. Perfect for a cross country ski trip or London hike. We had a snack, then continued along the forest track, cruising next to the stream that came from the lake, passing a small waterfall with a fish ladder, after a few miles we had a long, sometimes steep climb along another stream. The temperature was perfect with intermittent clouds and sun thru the trees. We were amazed that we didn’t see a single other person for the ten or so miles we followed the dirt track. 

After a short ride on pavement, we arrived at the Lake Monroe area which has at least a dozen campsites. We had booked a site in advance since it’s Friday night, but the sites seem half empty. We put up our tent, took showers, walked down to the lake shore. We think there are more amenities across the lake which we will ride past in the morning. We saw a turkey and some deer today, but still no moose. It was pretty easy cycling which we are glad of since we both have colds and yesterday was long and rainy.

GNBR East Day 5 - Duhamel to La Concepcion

58.6 miles, 4682’ climbing

August 27, 2026

Resto Pub Auberge 1939, La Concepcion

We packed up our camp site and headed to the nearby town of Duhamel for breakfast. The restaurant where we hoped for breakfast was closed, so we stopped at the general store. It had a mess of disorganized items around the store: cat toys, fishing lures, candy bars interspersed in half stocked aisles. We did our best to pick out supplies for the day. It gave an uninspiring first impression of Duhamel which later seemed charming and upscale. Almost immediately after leaving, we passed a little shop/bakery where we stopped for croissants, pastries, and coffee, staffed by a friendly pair of ladies.

We left town on a snowmobile/bike trail, and soon turned off onto a series of forest roads which wound around lakes, ponds, wetlands, and forests. We were in the Reserve Faunique de Papineau Labelle again, and on full moose watch all day, but we didn’t see a single mammal. The forest roads wound around, sometimes sandy or rocky, or with murky mud puddles. We probably were passing water bodies for 75% of the time, and it rained intermittently, too. It was a hilly day, a little tough.

We popped onto a stretch of pavement around mile 36, and we took a detour into a town of Vendée to stop for a snack and cokes at the local market. The sun came out just long enough for us to enjoy our break at an outdoor picnic table next to the market.

Returning to the route, we found ourselves on a good gravel road. Whenever we passed large lakes, there were lovely, large homes with decks leading down to docks. In towns, there are lovely homes but also some humble places.

About half a dozen miles before our destination, we came out onto a paved road. It rolled and climbs around a few lakes until we landed at our destination: a room above an upscale pub n the town of La Concepcion. Our space is small, but it is comfortable and conveniently located for a tasty dinner. We left our bikes locked up outside and carried our bags to our room.

GNBR East Day 4 - Notre Dame du Laus to Centre Touristique du Lac Simon

 51.4 miles, 3083’ climbing

August 26, 2026

Lac Simon Campground

The hostess at our B&B brought us a great breakfast at 7:30, all homemade and including tomato slices that tasted fresh from the garden. We pedaled out into the fog onto a paved country road that went past farms and forest. The fog lifted. After about 10 miles, the road turned to good gravel, and soon after that we turned up a smaller track into the Reserve Faunique de Papineau Labelle, an area known for its moose population.

Around mile 18, we turned onto a track so small and overgrown that we checked our route a couple times. Maybe it’s a quad track or snowmobile track? For the first two miles, we dismounted several times to push our bikes up rocky washouts. Bushes and trees were overhanging the route. After that, there were three-ish more miles of riding up a two track, over some thin fallen trees. Here there were signs that somebody had done a little trail work, but maybe not this year. The forest was pretty dark. We both noticed more pines and firs among the aspens and other trees today.

After five-ish miles on the small track, we came to a semi collapsed bridge. With a little teamwork, we got the bikes up the embankment, and we came out on a better forest road. The whole day we passed thru lakes, creeks, and wetlands, moose heaven, we thought. But we didn’t see any animals other than whitetail deer, turkeys, a hawk, some marmots, and some garter snakes.

One road led to another. About two miles before our intended destination, we stopped to walk to a small waterfall near a rail trail, remains of a steam powered locomotive that was used by the timber industry. There were pictures from 1985, so it wasn’t decommissioned so long ago. 

About half a mile from our destination, we came out onto a paved road. The campground is huge, like a national park, but only about half full tonight. They had some small stores with sundries, some washing machines, a huge beach and playgrounds for kids.  People were in the water, under umbrellas, kayaking around. The weather was good, and it was pretty idyllic.

We are only a mile or two from the town of Duhamel where we will pick up groceries and have breakfast in the morning.

GNBR East Day 3 - Gracefield to Notre-Dame-du-Laus

 37.6 miles, 2641’ climbing

Gîte Bertrand, Notre Dame du Laus

August 25, 2026

It was a day of forests, lakes, and light rain showers today. We packed up and left the Pickanock campground, hopped on the nearby Veloroute des Draveurs, and rode back into Gracefield where we had a good breakfast at the eclectically decorated Milano Restaurant.

After breakfast, we hopped on a quiet paved road, crossed the river, and passed a few farms on our eastward route. Soon the road turned to good gravel with few cars, and the only houses seemed to be lakeside vacation homes. We rolled past many lakes, some we glimpsed thru the trees and some obscured by the thick forest. Knowing our ride was short today, we took the time to ride down to the shore in a few places. We rode in a light rain or mist for most of the day. We could often coast down a hill and half way up the next one as we wound around the lakes — fun bicycling. 

The forest is dense with ferns and other undergrowth. There are pines and fir trees, but they are in the minority. We spotted a large heron and a hawk and many birds that didn’t stick around long enough for us to identify them. Some wet areas had blooming water lilies. In spite of all the wetlands, we saw no moose.

We rode down a peninsula peppered with houses and glimpses of water on both sides as we approached our destination. We crossed a hydroelectric dam and were briefly stymied by a locked gate until we saw a nearby opening in the fence.

Because it was a couple of hours before check-in, we lingered at the park near the dam. The outflow from the dam was dramatic. We dried our tent, very wet from last night, talked to a fisherman, and relaxed until we could check in to our charming B&B. The owner spoke little English and our French is a work in progress, but all was overcome. It’s good to be indoors after such a wet night last night. Our bikes are safely stored in back of the house. Tomorrow we will have a homemade  breakfast before we ride through the Reserve Faunique Papineau Labelle, a wildlife reserve. Dinner was from the local market.