Canada Guide
Northern Québec
Gaspé Peninsula
Running parallel to Hwy 132, the Trans-Canada (Hwy 20) is a much faster route to the attractive town of Rivière-du-Loup, effectively the start of the Gaspé Peninsula. Bounded by the Gulf of St Lawrence to the north and west, and by the Baie des Chaleurs to the south and east, the Gaspé Peninsula is roughly 550km long, with a chain of mountains and rolling highlands dominating the interior and the northern shore. It has always been sparsely inhabited and poor, its remote communities eking out an existence from the turbulent seas and the rocky soil. But the landscape provides some wonderful scenery. Forested hills cut with deep ravines and vistas of craggy mountains tumble to a jagged coastline fronted by the St Lawrence where the winding coastal drive along Hwy 132 is a delight. The principal towns strung along this shore – Rimouski, Matane and Gaspé – are less appealing than its many smaller villages or the peninsula's two outstanding parks: the extravagantly mountainous Parc de la Gaspésie, inland from Ste-Anne-des-Monts, and the Parc National de Forillon, at the tip of the peninsula, with its mountain and coastal hikes and wonderfully rich wildlife. Just to the south of the Forillon park, the village of Percé is famous for the offshore Rocher Percé, an extraordinary limestone monolith that has been a magnet for travellers for more than a hundred years.
The Gaspé is well served by bus, with regular services travelling both the north and south coasts of the peninsula from Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup and Québec City. The interior and the peninsula's parks are, however, difficult to explore without a car. VIA Rail links Montréal by train with Rivière du Loup and Rimouski, then follows the southern coast of the peninsula to Carleton and Percé, terminating in Gaspé town after more than 17 hours – there's no service between Gaspé and Rimouski on the northern coast, though.