Chutes Waber — Attraction in Shawinigan

We visited Chute Waber last weekend and planned to enjoy the trip by renting a boat, since part of the way requires going through water. Here’s my strongest advice for anyone going: DO NOT get out of the boat. And if you absolutely must, make sure you are wearing proper water shoes.

The reason is that in certain areas, the water is so shallow that rowing becomes almost impossible, and you’ll have to pull the boat by hand. That’s what happened to us — our family got out to drag the boat through a shallow stretch. When we got back in, I noticed something horrifying: several LEECHES were stuck on my daughter’s foot.

We quickly scraped most of them off with the paddle, but one sneaky leech had crawled between her toes and latched on tightly. After leaving the water, that leech eventually died but was still firmly attached inside her toe. We had no choice but to seek help — first from the campground staff, who were knowledgeable but had no equipment, then at a pharmacy in Shawinigan. Even the pharmacist wasn’t sure what to do and called the hospital for advice. The doctor suggested putting salt on it, and if that didn’t work, to go straight to the ER.

We tried the salt, but the leech stayed stuck. In the end, we had to take our daughter to the emergency room (you can imagine how stressful this was for us and for her).

My daughter said afterward that she never wants to come back to this park again — mainly because nobody warned us about the risk of leeches when pulling boats in shallow areas. This should really be made clear to visitors.

Please, if you’re planning a trip here: be careful, stay in the boat as much as possible, and protect yourself with proper footwear. This is not an experience you want to go through...

A great one-day adventure featuring approximately 10 km of canoeing and 8-9 km of hiking (depending on your chosen route) takes you to the beautiful Waber Falls, where you can rest and enjoy a meal.

Be prepared, as the round trip takes about 6-8 hours. While canoeing, you’ll need to cross three beaver dams. We found it easier to walk through the shallow water while pulling the canoe, so be ready to get wet—up to your thighs.

We visited in the fall and encountered some bugs during the hike, so I imagine there would be many more in the summertime.

We went on a sunny day with temperatures around 23°C, and the views were gorgeous in the fall.

You can rent a canoe, kayak, or SUP at the...

This is a very nice place in Quebec. The Parc National de la Mauricie is really amazing. The Waber Falls (Chutes Waber) are simply perfect for a full-day experience. It takes around 2,5 hours of kayak + 2 hours of hiking to reach the falls (round) but it is absolutely worth it. Excellent place to have a picnic and enjoy the cold water. I advise to rent the kayak or canoe in advance. I also recommend to wear water shoes, since it is necessary to get of the kayak to pass a couple of beaver dams and there might be leeches...