A road trip in a trailer of whatever size that suits you
Imagine an early start one Saturday morning. Your youngest is sleeping in the back seat, and the oldest is checking the roadmap. When you see the countryside open up before you, you feel liberated. Starting to dream? Owning a trailer makes it easy to organize a family adventure over a weekend. Highly recommended as a good place to stop is Mont-Orford National Park, in the Eastern Townships. The park is home to white-tailed deer and great blue herons, which you can observe in their natural habitat (if you’re both patient and lucky), and it offers RV access to lakefront facilities from May 10. Can’t wait? There are numerous woodland campsites scattered across Quebec, including the Claire Fontaine campsite in the Montérégie, nestled on the shores of Lake St-François, or the Domaine Parc Estrie campsite in Magog, which is specifically designed to accommodate RVs. For a list of other sites open from April or year-round, click here. You just have to hit the road to get your nature fix and enjoy family time around a campfire, so don’t forget the marshmallows!
Fun on two wheels
After a long winter in the garage, your motorcycle is finally free to take safely to the road! Use it to tour the best roads in the province, such as the famous Chemin du Roy, a popular tourist route, the Route des Rivières, which runs through the St-Maurice River valley, or the Route des Navigateurs in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, which offers breathtaking views of the St Lawrence. While most of these tours can be completed in a single day, a motorcycle trailer lets you take enough baggage to stay away for a few days. If you’d prefer to spend the weekend with the family rather than alone, there’s nothing to prevent them from following you in the car. Agree on a few points of interest where you can picnic together in a natural setting, or enjoy a coffee in one of the pretty villages along the way. You might even visit a farm where alpacas – those strange-looking mammals that resemble llamas – are raised for their wool. Your address book should list the La Vie en Alpaga farm (website only in French) and the Domaine Poissant. Hint: before you set off on the roads of Quebec, remember to take out or renew your motorcycle insurance.
Enjoying nature with your ATV
If you already own an ATV, you’re well aware that it’s the perfect recreational vehicle because it offers a unique and entertaining way of enjoying nature and the open air. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys dirt roads as soon as the snow has melted, then trailer your quad or dirt bike along to the Chalets et Villégiature de la rivière Daaquam (website only in French), in the Parc régional des Appalaches, where you can enjoy your favourite spring activity on one of the many forest trails that wind through its vast expanse. You can even rent a three- or six-seat side-by-side quad and spend the day watching the fauna and flora as a family.
A few tips before you set off on your RV
- If you’re using a trailer of any size over the weekend, take a few snacks and games for the children to help pass the time on the road.
- Check the tire pressures on your ATV before you disappear into the woods, so that you can savour the joys of nature without any worries.
- Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with an RV insurance policy. Check with your broker to determine the best insurance options available.