Laurentians

This heritage trail leads to historic settlements and pioneer landmarks between the Ottawa River and the Laurentian highlands.

American settlers founded a colony where the North River joins the Ottawa in about 1785. British homesteaders later put ashore here and walked north to land grants where today we find the communities of Lachute, Harrington, Lakefied, Morin Heights and Arundel.

The Lanaudière Heritage Trail leads to heritage sites and historic settlements in Quebec’s Lanaudière region, between the foothills of the Laurentians and the lowlands of the St. Lawrence River.

By the beginning of the 20th century, there were hundreds of covered bridges all across Quebec. Today the province numbers just over ninety, some built as late as the 1950s. In the Laurentians, there are six covered bridges, all in the Upper Laurentians, and all except one are well north of Mont Tremblant. In the heyday of the covered bridge, most villages had at least one; some had several. They dotted the back roads as well, crossing brooks and rivers of all sizes. Very few, however, have survived the ravages of time.