Nature Day Trips: Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier (Les Loups Hike) & Baie-Saint-Paul

One of the best things about Quebec City is how fast the cobbles give way to raw northern wilderness: drive just 35 to 40 minutes north on Highway 175 (or ride the seasonal Quatre Natures Shuttle Bus departing straight from Place d'Armes by Château Frontenac and Gare du Palais) and you enter the Boreal forest of the Laurentian Mountains at Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier.

1. Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier (45 km North, Open Year-Round)

Carved during the last Ice Age by a massive glacier that sliced a 550-metre-deep (1,800-foot) U-shaped canyon straight through the high Laurentian plateau, the park centres on the clear, amber-tinted waters of the Jacques-Cartier River (day passes are booked online via SÉPAQ; check the official site for current entry rates):

• The Signature Hike, Sentier Les Loups ('The Wolves Trail': 11 km Round-Trip, 3.5 Hours, 447m Gain): located at kilometre 16 on the park valley road. If you only want the famous first viewpoint without the full 11 km hike, you can walk just to the First Lookout (Premier Belvédère, 5 km round-trip, 1.5 to 2 hours). Continuing to the Second Summit Lookout (5.5 km one-way) puts you on a dramatic rocky cliff nose where the Jacques-Cartier and Sautauriski glacial canyons collide 550 metres below you (in late September and early October, the entire canyon wall blazes crimson, orange and gold with autumn maples and birches).
• Easy Valley Walks & River Canoeing/Kayaking: for a gentle 1.5-hour hike, walk the Sentier L'Éperon (5.4 km loop) right opposite the Discovery Centre at km 10, or hire a canoe, kayak or inflatable mini-raft from the Discovery Centre to float down the calm river sections among moose and beavers.

2. Driving or Riding the Train along the Charlevoix Coast to Baie-Saint-Paul

Have an extra day? Drive 1 hour north-east along the St. Lawrence River (or board the scenic Train de Charlevoix directly from the base of Montmorency Falls, hugging the tidewater cliff edge for 90 minutes) into the UNESCO Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve, stopping in the artistic village of Baie-Saint-Paul (where Cirque du Soleil was born in 1982) for art galleries, organic farm cheeses and whale-watching excursions further up the coast at Tadoussac.