Is there a list of hiking shelters in Quebec?

Question

I am looking for possible multi-days hikes in Quebec (Canada) (and beyond but that would be too broad). I keep discovering new places to stay overnight, as there does not seem to be a central list of shelters of the whole province.

By shelter I mean a place shared by multiple people (bookable as a single hiker) and that is specifically made for hikers (or back-country skiers). I.e. hostels, inns and hotels do not qualify.

I would like to know if some website gathers information about all community shelters of Quebec.

In particular, I am thinking of maybe going along the TransCanada trail (but it is not complete so I am not sure there are actually shelters along the way).

Answer 1

The Fédération québécoise de la marche, a non-profit that promotes hiking in Quebec, lists shelters on its site and Facebook page (http://www.fqmarche.qc.ca/ and https://www.facebook.com/pages/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration-qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9coise-de-la-marche/138582999548977).

Answer 2

I could not find a centralised list of all community shelters in Quebec. However, I could list some organisations that manage shelters and list some of those along a small portion of the Trans-Canada trail (Sentier National in Quebec), from Mont-Tremblant to the reserve Mastigouche. I list them in the order West-East.

For each shelter, I try to list the following:

| [name] | [capacity] | [price per night per person] | [location(optional)] | [access from previous shelter] | [opening period] |

Sepaq

The Sepaq manages many provincial parks (called national parks) and the Trans-Canada trail crosses them in multiple places. The Sepaq operates shelters all over Quebec in its parks of Fjord-du-Saguenay, Gaspésie, Grands-Jardins, Mont-Mégantic, Mont-Orford, Mont-Tremblant, Monts-Valin and Yamaska.

in Mont-Tremblant national park

• | Lac-Ernie | 18 people | ~25$ | access from Lac Monroe Park center : ~13km | open May-March |
• | Lac-des-Sables | 18 people | ~25$ | access from Lac-Ernie : 9.5km | open May-March |
• | Le Lariou | 2 people | ~25$ | access from Lac-des-Sables : ~10km | open May-March |
• | Le Geai-Bleu | 4 people | ~25$ | access from Le Lariou : ~5km, from La Pimbinia Park - entrance : few km | open May-March |

This is an alternative way to link Mont-Tremblant and St-Donnat, the Trans-Canada trail follows the Intercentre trail (see below).

Intercentre

The "Intercentre" trail links Lac-Laurier and St-Donat, and is a part of the trans-Canada trail.

• | Le Nordet | 8 people | 22$ | N 46° 14' 10", W 74° 23' 55.2" | access from parking on the chemin du Nordet : 6.5km (north of Lac-Supérieur) | open year-round |
• | Le Lac de l'Appel | 8 people | 22$ | N 46° 15' 57.2", W 74° 21' 14.8" | access from Le Nordet: 6.7km, to chemin Regimbald : ~15km - open year-round |

From the chemin Regimbald, it is possible to reach highway 329 and from there follow the chemin Wall to continue on the Mont-Ouareau trail.

FQMarche (Quebec Federation of Hiking)

The FQMarche manages two shelters, both along the Trans-Canada trail, one in the area of Mont-Ouareau:

| Paul Perreault | 12 people | 10-15$ | near Lac Lemieux | hwy 329 : 4-6km, hwy 125 : 8.5km | open year-round |

The Trans-Canada trail is discontinued along the highway 125, it starts farther on the Massif trail in the regional park of the Ouareau forest.

Parc Régional de la Forêt Ouareau

I could not find a mention of when the shelters are open, but it seems they are operated in summer and winter. They all appear on the map of the Massif trail

• | Pelletier | 8 people | 30,25$ | near Lac à Pelletier - ~3km from hwy 125, near Notre-Dame de la Merci |
• | Prud'homme | 8 people | 30,25$ | 2.5km from Pelletier shelter |
• | La Loutre | 2 people | 30,25$ | 2km from trans-Canada trail |
• | Corbeau | 6 people | 30,25$ | 2km from trans-Canada trail |
• | Toussaint | 8 people | 30,25$ | 16.5km from Prud'homme shelter |
• | des Capucines | 6 people | 30,25$ | 4km from Toussaint shelter |

Then the trail continues without any shelter (but some lean-to) on the Contreforts and the Swaggin trails.

Parcs Régionaux Matawinie - Sentier National

I could not find a mention of when the shelters are open, but it seems they are operated in summer and winter.

• | Swaggin | 20 people | 25$ | the previous shelter on the trans-Canada trail is on the Massif trail, 38km away (refuge des Capucines) |
• | Lavigne | 8 people | 25$ | 6.5km from Swaggin shelter on La Boule trail |
• | Lac Boule | 8 people | 25$ | near Lac de la Boule - 10km from Lavigne shelter on La Boule trail |
• | Bazinet | 8 people | 25$ | near Lac des Iles - ~11km from Lac Boule shelter, on Perces-Brumes trail |

The trans-Canada trail continues on several successive trails (Ours, Matawinie, Nymphes, Mistikush) without any appareent shelter on the way (see the Cartes tab of Matawinie page for the trans-Canada trail for maps of these trails).

FQMarche (Quebec Federation of Hiking)

A second shelter managed by the FQMarche is at the end of Mistikush trail:

| Grand-Masti | 6 people | 10-15$ | near Morin Creek, parking in ZEC des Nymphes : ~14km through Nymphes and Mistikush trails, ~15km along Cheriore trail to a parking near Petit William cabin (not bookable for only one person) | open in summer (May 17 to Sep 1st) |

Then the Trans-Canada trail arrives in the reserve Mastigouche, with no shelter open to single-person reservation.

This list of shelters along the Trans-Canada trail in Quebec is definitely incomplete as the trail is particularly long (1100km) but I hope to enrich it with time.

SIA-IAT (International Appalachian Trail)

The International Appalachian Trail group manages a set of shelters, not along the trans-Canada trail but still worth noting. They publish a list of their shelters. I do not list them as they are not along the Trans-Canada trail but along the Quebec section of the International Appalachian Trail.