Charlevoix (Winter)

Charlevoix’s rugged landscape and extensive flora and fauna earned its recognition as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. From the north shore of the St. Lawrence east of Québec City to the Saguenay River, Charlevoix offers ancient Laurentian mountains, picture-perfect villages, a thriving arts scene, and wonderful places to eat and sleep. Its terrain offers some of the best skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing, with the top ski resort, Le Massif, offering a vertical drop of more than 2,500 ft (770 m) from its summit, and 48 trails. Its ski school provides clinics in skiing, snowboarding, telemark and sit-ski. Other winter activities ...

Charlevoix’s rugged landscape and extensive flora and fauna earned its recognition as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. From the north shore of the St. Lawrence east of Québec City to the Saguenay River, Charlevoix offers ancient Laurentian mountains, picture-perfect villages, a thriving arts scene, and wonderful places to eat and sleep. Its terrain offers some of the best skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing, with the top ski resort, Le Massif, offering a vertical drop of more than 2,500 ft (770 m) from its summit, and 48 trails. Its ski school provides clinics in skiing, snowboarding, telemark and sit-ski. Other winter activities in Charlevoix include off-trail skiing, snow-shoeing, ice-climbing, winter camping, dog-sledding and snowmobiling. In any season, it is clear why the region has been attracting tourists since the start of the 20th century when steamships brought the elite of New York, Montréal and Toronto to explerience someplace out of the ordinary. To this day, Charlevoix continues to draw lovers of the outdoors and the arts.

About the Expert

Joanna Ebbutt is the author or editor of three Insight Guides to Toronto and Canada, and coauthor of Off the Beaten Track: Western Canada. She has been writing about travel for three decades, including chasing the aurora borealis in Northern Ontario.