Beads of sweat
I didn’t know what the Parc d’aventure en montagne Les Palissades in Saint-Siméon, in the region of Charlevoix, was until recently. I’m not from the region, so there are still attractions unknown to me... But since many of my co-workers talked about it so often, I called up some friends and we decided to go to the park, bags on our backs. First, I can tell you that this park is located in most beautiful scenery and that outdoor sports enthusiasts will love the area. On the menu: hiking in the woods, mountain climbing, Tyrolean, via ferrata, and more. Now it’s your turn to discover this mountain adventure park.

Let's start
To all those who are looking for a relaxed or moderate activity, the 15 kilometres of wooden path are waiting for you. The set up of the paths will give you a panoramic view of the surrounding area, and the belvederes will give you the chance to admire the lake and river. If you are more daring, I suggest you try mountain climbing. You’ve never climbed before? You can, if you want, have a short training, but it’s not mandatory since the qualified and experienced guides will be with you all day long. A 4 ‑kilometre large and 400-metre high granite cliff offers you 150 different routes. You feel exhausted after such a climb? Hold on, because Adrenalin awaits you with its rope down!

Full throttle
It is now time for a little lunch to regain your strength and thus get ready for the other activities planned for the afternoon. Even if you don’t have to do all the activities in one day, we did it for the purpose of this article. Why do you think I brought all my friends with me…? So here we are again, bags on our backs, ready for the Falcon and the Lynx, two via ferrata routes. Via what, you might say? I admit, this sport is not yet very popular in Quebec, but it will be, once people start knowing about it. Europeans have been doing it for many years now. In fact, it comprises guided paths in the mountain with security cables. In Europe, via ferrata are installed vertically, like when climbing a mountain. In Quebec, they are installed horizontally, so you feel like you are walking above water bodies. Don’t worry, because everything is safe and adrenalin will pump your veins!

A fully deserved rest
After this somewhat acrobatics experience, we have decided to rest a little in the air! We have crossed the suspended bridge in the avowed aim of jump in the void with the Tyrolean. For 250 metres, and at a more or less high speed, we barely had time to admire the lake dating from the glaciations or the rivière Noire that were both under our route. However, the lightness feeling that we felt during our descent didn’t want to leave us… You can well imagine such a wonderful day we had. For those who would like to live this experience over several days, it’s possible with the tailor-made formula of two or five days. You can thus sleep in a chalet, a refuge or a bivouac and you will have access to a common kitchen and at a cafeteria. A spa and a sauna are also available on the banks of the lake. So, for an extraordinary experience in an internationally calibre park, Les Palissades awaits you.

Return home