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Rode 23 Saturday. Its groomed all the way up but there are so many sleds around there the groomers can't keep up. Get's thin as you get further North. We pounded through 150 miles of whoops. Trails were powdery so they weren't locked up. Guys were riding down from Jonquiere area.

You could make it to Beaupre, QC (about 30 minutes Northeast of Quebec City) from Brunswick, ME in about 5 1/2 hours if you went up through St. Georges. (Not sure where you are starting from in Maine). Ride 369 to L'Etape or just take TQ3 North. Plenty of sled traffic in case that trip wrecker leaves you stranded. lol. Plenty of snow and trails are groomed. However, riding from any hotel around there was tricky last weekend without a GPS. Local trail wasn't marked at all. But there is a safe parking spot 5 minutes from town where the groomer runs out of. Guy charges $10 a day.

Not sure, we only went 50 miles north on 3 out of Beaupre until we hit that relais. It was perfect. Took 369 half way to L'Etape and that was perfect too. Got six inches of snow when we left today. Groomers are out.

We are about 30 minutes northeast of Quebec city right now and the trails are terrific. Past the groomer heading up 369 toward le tape, and it wasn't the first time that trail was groomed. Trail 3 was groomed perfect. Plenty of snow. Signage is still going up, but lots of sleds out riding. We decided to come up despite what the fcmq site said. Glad we did.

I've been using the NUVI 550 for a few years now. Everyone has given great advice here. I went with the Trakmaps SD card. I will say though that Trakmaps has great customer service. I had an issue with my GPS seeing all of the maps (there is normally a transparent and non-transparent map) so I mailed my GPS to Trakmaps and told them to send it back when it worked. A week later it showed up at my house and everything has been fine since. With a GPS, you will sometimes notice though that the trails are continually changing throughout the year with re-routes for loggging. It gets a little un-nerving at times when you find yourself off the GPS trail in the middle of nowhere, but eventually you loop back to the trail you see on the GPS. I also found that setting the GPS to 2D view rather than 3D view worked best for snowmobile trails.

Auberge de la Miscoutine - Anyone have any experience staying at this place? How's the trail acess? My link Thanks.

Yup, stayed at the Days Inn in Berthierville a couple of times. Seemed safe. They even put a boot on my truck which was nice since we never even stayed the night there. Truck was there 5 days later when we got back. Snow is somwetimes a little thin around that area but picks up nicely once you get into the woods.

Yup, that's the trail I'm talking about. We never went that far North on 73 so I didn't see anything but I would bet its pretty well marked. If you use a GPS you'll know exactly where you are. Worst case is you just continue up 73 to Relais 22. Good luck.

We stayed at Odanak this Saturday. That trail out of La Tuque toward Relais 22 is a twisty goat path. It was a crapy trail years ago and its worse now. It's absolutely passable (and there is a section of the road that is plowed and rocky) but I can drive trails like that here in NY if I wanted that crap. I was hoping the new trail would be inproved, not worse. I was told it was re-routed because of some farmers in the La Croche area. Anyway, if I had to go that way, I'd go through Windigo and connect up with 83. I hear there is a local trail that dumps you onto the lake (or reservoir) off of 73. It shows up on the local map for that area. I asked the guy at Odanak how 73 North of there was and he said not that good (meaning twisty most of the way). However, 73 was freshly groomed when we were there but painfully slow for Canada. If your heading that way just to hit 83 to Roberval, it might be worth the pain. That trail is great!

Yeah I saw that Bill. I was wondering from St. Raymond to Quebec City via 3. We won't have time to go up through L'Etape and back down to 3. I'm sure it will be fine in a week.

Does anyone know if you can go from St. Raymond to Quebec City via trail 3 yet? We are leaving St. Raymond and heading to Tadoussac (trail 3) in a week...getting nervous about snow coverage.

Bob, your talking about the Saint-Maurice river that runs North out of La Tuque. The same river that parallels route 155. The locals told us that you could run that river North towards Relais 22 and it would eventually connect back up with trail 73. It supposedly saves a bunch of time and avoids the twisty part of 73. We just need to figure out where to jump on the river coming South from Relais 22 on our way to La Tuque. Or we just come down 355 and be done with it. Just hate to miss 83 between Roberval and Relais 22.

I'll add to this...has anyone taken the re-routed trail 73 North out of La Tuque yet? It appears to be about 20 miles longer than the old trail. Is the new trail better in terms of being straighter, or is it painfully slow and twisty still like the old trail?

Today I took a blast up 33 towards Repo (just past 360) and it wasn't half bad in the woods. Spring like conditions for sure but flat. I'm pretty sure I was the only fool out there. Friends went all the way to Repo on Saturday and it was nice. Anything South towards St. Michelle was crap though. artcat900, looks like I was banging around the same trails you were, I'm sure we past each other over the last few days. It was sad to see the temps rise into the 40's and rain like hell. oh well...

When did this happen? I'm at Auberge Lac Taureau right now and saw a newer 800 doo being towed off the lake. Guy said he smoked it. I fueled up at the same gas station you mentioned next to the dealership and haven't had any problems...yet.

X2 on everything Schooter said about the Nuvi 500. I loaded the NYS trail maps and FMCQ maps on mine and it works well.

I came down the pipeline from La Tuque on Sunday and it was freshly groomed. Almost everything from La tuque to Shawinigan was freashly groomed. Most of 355 was great. Some parts of 355 south were very thin. I heard that the trail was great from Relias 22 to Roberval. I think anything North of La Tuque has decent snow. Most of the trails in Canada right now are better than anything we have in NY. (even after this snowstorm!)

We left from Richard's place last year and it was a nice place to start from. We headed up towards Roberval but went through Relias 22 (against my better judgment) and the trail from La Tuque to Relais 22 is just painful. It seems to go on forever. How was 355 from 73 to Lac Edourd? I took it years ago and I remember it being just ok. Trail 73 South out of La Tuque just never gets old. Probably one of the nicest trails in Canada.

Any idea how the trails are from Quebec City toward Grand Mere area. I'll be coming through that way in a few days.

I'm ready to go back. When do we leave again?