La Mauricie National Park — Attraction in Shawinigan

La Mauricie National Park (French: Parc national de la Mauricie) is located near Shawinigan in the Laurentian mountains, in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. It covers 536 km2 (207 sq mi) in the southern Canadian Shield region bordering the Saint Lawrence lowlands. The park contains 150 lakes and many ponds.

The park lies within the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion. The forests in this region were logged from the middle of the 19th century to the early 20th century. The park's forests have regrown and contain a mixture of conifers and mixed deciduous trees.

Wildlife in the park includes moose, black bears, beavers and otters. It supports a small number of wood turtles, rare in Canada. The park is a popular location for camping, canoeing and kayaking.

The park is named after the nearby Saint-Maurice River to the east of the park. The Matawin River flows along the west and north borders of the park.

The name "Mauricie" was first used in 1933 by Bishop Albert Tessier to designate an administrative region of Government of Québec, for which the Valley of Saint-Maurice is the main feature. The watershed of Saint-Maurice River is also administered in part by the administrative regions of Lanaudière (West), James Bay (North) and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (East). Moreover, the administrative region of Mauricie covers other watersheds including the Champlain River and half the territory of the Batiscanie, Quebec.

As in Saint-Maurice River, it was named in honour of the Lordship of Maurice Poulin La Fontaine. The land was a stronghold granted to his wife in 1676 near the mouth of the river. This "fief" (harvested area) was recognized in 1723 as the Saint-Maurice and the river, which previously denominated "River Three Rivers", was replaced by the current toponym for most of the 18th century. The river is also known Attikamekw under the name of Tapiskwan Sipi ("River of the threaded needle"). The Wyandot people know it under the name of Oquintondili and Abenaki under the name of Madôbalodenitekw.

The Mauricie National Park is located in the province of Quebec, Canada about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Shawinigan and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) north of the city of Trois-Rivières. It is bordered by the Saint-Maurice River to the east and the Matawin River to the north. It is accessible from the villages of Saint-Jean-des-Piles and Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc. Secondary access is also possible by Saint-Gérard-des-Laurentides. The park extends only three municipalities: Shawinigan, Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc and Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac.

It is bordered to the west by the Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve and north by the Zec du Chapeau-de-Paille and the Saint-Maurice Wildlife Reserve.

The park is located in Quebec, south of Canadian Shield. The park is part of the Grenville Province, the most recent of seven geological provinces that make up the entire Canadian Shield age Precambrian. The park is itself part of a plateau gently sloping east to west, from 150 metres (490 ft) near Saint-Maurice River to near 500 metres (1,600 ft) inland. This plateau of older metamorphic rocks (955 mya) is strewn with valleys and faults. The lower valleys are flooded by recent deposits dating from the retreating glaciers of the Wisconsin glaciation.

The Mauricie National Park is located in the green area Level I established by Commission for Environmental Cooperation of Northern Forests. It is also entirely within the ecoregion level II of the mixed forest shield and ecological level III region of Southern Laurentians.

At the national level, the National Park is located in the ecoregion southern Laurentians, itself located in Ecoprovince Southern Boreal Shield and the Boreal Boreal Shield.

The park offers a canoe camping circuit allowing access to a dozen lakes in the hinterland connected by many portages. This circuit allows accessing to some 200 camping sites that are accessible...

We were very disappointed with our Labour Day wknd experience at this renowned and beautiful park. Dog policy- used to be one of the very few dog welcoming parks- we camped there in 2015. Grateful they had that policy. Dogs were allowed on site and roads only, but compared to not at all- we worked around it. Since then Quebec parks provincial and federal have opened up and created amazing dog trails and spaces- we love camping in Quebec, so we were looking forward to spending the long weekend at such a beautiful park and exploring together what we couldn’t before. This park has not changed its policies. We spent a miserable weekend on our site. However people with dogs were taking them into the comfort stations and interior areas despite rules. Too many rules and it didn’t matter anyway- people broke them. What we loved about our first visit was the quiet and etiquette of campers- such respect. This past weekend, we experienced blaring music from cars, loud shrieks, slamming dumpsters, blow torches, early hour generators, and litter. Poor staffing. When we arrived on our site there were upturned beer bottle caps, used q tips plastic garbage etc. clearly staff do not check vacant sites the way they do in other sites. Furthermore the basis of all rules is camper consideration as well as environmental concern- clearly the litter in our campsite was not environmentally friendly. Unattended and locked visitor centre- on the busiest weekend of the year. Poor patrolling and enforcement of all those rules. Too many cars on sites, too many tents, radios etc were ignored by staff who circled around aimlessly- adding to the traffic and noise when they would have spent time better by attending to the visitor centre. Staff at gates were sullen, officious, and did not seem to know answers. All in all, this beautiful park needs to overhaul their infrastructure but we won’t be back despite we stimulate Quebec economy extensively through the...

We booked the Mistagance O tent tik for 1 night for 4 adults and 1 child, this Wednesday and was somewhat pessimistic on what to expect.

Our first experience was to get our keys and received Royal treatment from customer service, and got all the explanations, maps needed to make our 1-day camping the most enjoyable.

Our site on O-10 was in perfect location, next to the water fountain and proximity to the washroom. Just impressed with the cleanliness of both the unit and the washroom. The camping site was equipped with everything that one would have like to have. Inside was equipped with 4 single beds, dining table, 4 chairs, a wood stove ufor heating, pots & pans, cutlery, wine glasses. Outside was a gas supplied BBQ, picnic tables and chairs. Even a lamp is provided, as it is pitch black at night, walking to the washroom area.

Washroom area was very clean, toilet paper provided and equipped with electrical sockets. There is a separate annexed unit for 2 shower units, with hot water.

We did lots of hiking, walking over 10 km and taking nice shots of the most peaceful and picturesque sites.

The only thing that one would have to bring is food, bedsheets, pillows, blankets, shampoo, soap, towels, toothbrush and paste. Nothing else. Marshmallows if you want to have a camp fire.

Amazing campground to anyone who loves nature, or need to take a break from...