gaspe trip, what are good km days?

[chrisv]

hi looking for some info. im planning a 5 or 6 day trip around gaspe and was wondering what is a good riding km days? we would like to leave between 8am and 9am in the morning and be at our destination by dark. most of us are experienced riders but will have a person with only 2 years experience with us. i dont know what  the trail system is like. are 325 km days easily done in that time? Also how is the chic choc mountains? 

 

 

 

 

[PISTON LAKE CRUISER]

On 12/19/2022 at 1:49 PM, chrisv said:

hi looking for some info. im planning a 5 or 6 day trip around gaspe and was wondering what is a good riding km days? we would like to leave between 8am and 9am in the morning and be at our destination by dark. most of us are experienced riders but will have a person with only 2 years experience with us. i dont know what  the trail system is like. are 325 km days easily done in that time? Also how is the chic choc mountains? 

 

 

 

 

We ride the same type of day that you are planning but without the newish rider. Assuming you don't run into bad storms when you are on your ride, 5-6 days will work pretty well if you start around Riviere Du Loup. Depending on where you want to stay, you may have a longer or shorter day to accommodate that. The north shore east of Matane has 7-8 mountains to ride over and is where some of the best scenery is so the ride is a bit slower and plan some time for more scenic stops. It also has fewer places to stay and eat so plan accordingly. This past summer some normally open motels and restaurants said they would be closed this winter due to labour shortages or other issues so this season will be different from that prospective. On the north side especially, it can be a few kilometer ride off trail 5 to get to the shoreline villages for fuel so make sure to fuel when you have lunch or when fuel is close.  Personally, after riding Gaspe multiple times, I prefer to spend our time on the north/east and interior of Gaspe. Don't miss the ride up trail 597 to Murdockville or the local trail west from Murdockville to La Cache then 595 north to trail 5.  The Copper Hotel in Murdockville has a neat snowmobile museum in the basement and pretty good food. The area south of Amqui is nice and trail 587 is quite scenic. The Quebec online trail map works well for planning a trip although it takes a while to get used to it and find the features available. Hope you have a great time.

[grumpysanta]

ALL that PISTON LAKE said is true..if you want to sightsee u should be looking at 200 to 250 km a day with newby and have fun seeing the great sights. its not a race  ,i have been there maybe 10 times and there is always lots to see.

[Fuse6]

Men’s trip we do 300-330 km. Works perfect for five day trip.

Lot of the Gaspe isn’t fast riding due to the terrain and scenery which makes it such a great trip. 
Especially in Feb with shorter days if you try doing more you will end your day in the dark. First trip you will be doing more stopping for pictures etc.

Pick your starting point:

Riviere du loup

Mont Joli

Matane 

then people can make suggestions for hotels. Also how many days you have available to ride.

 

[chrisv]

Thanks. I have our rooms booked and looking very forward to this trip. 

Day 1 leave from riviere du Loup to Amqui

Day 2 Amqui to New Richmond

Day 3 New Richmond to Merdockville

Day 4 Merdockville to Matane

Day 5 Matane to riviere du Loup

In this route what are the must see's?

[800steve]

33 minutes ago, chrisv said:

Thanks. I have our rooms booked and looking very forward to this trip. 

Day 1 leave from riviere du Loup to Amqui

Day 2 Amqui to New Richmond

Day 3 New Richmond to Merdockville

Day 4 Merdockville to Matane

Day 5 Matane to riviere du Loup

In this route what are the must see's?

http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2023_01/Screenshot_20230106_151952_iMotoneige.thumb.jpg.796a800ec070515ca45b3336266cad35.jpg

Sorry to say, the MUST SEEs are the Rt5 trail you are not going on. Best views are on the St Lawrence.

[PMAC]

North shore is nice on 5 but trail from Murdocville to la cache is every bit as nice and not as much traffic ,just hope for blue bird day .If your going out to Perce rock allow lots of extra time that day as trail out and back is usually very slow going .Enjoy the trip .

[chrisv]

24 minutes ago, 800steve said:

Sorry to say, the MUST SEEs are the Rt5 trail you are not going on. Best views are on the St Lawrence.

Guess that's for the next trip lol

[mikerider]

Day 1 from RDL to Amqui;   I would recommend going via St. Cyprien and Squatec rather than Trail 5 to Rumouski.  Same distance either way, just more scenic and less traffic via Squatec.

[chrisv]

20 minutes ago, PMAC said:

North shore is nice on 5 but trail from Murdocville to la cache is every bit as nice and not as much traffic ,just hope for blue bird day .If your going out to Perce rock allow lots of extra time that day as trail out and back is usually very slow going .Enjoy the trip .

Going to perce is only if we have time. It will make for a very long day because it looks like you would have to ride to chandler again for fuel before heading back up to Merdockville.

[Snobeeler]

This was our path last year. Was 7 days but didn’t miss anything.

[Shore1066]

As for riding on the Gaspie peninsula I always remember in 2005 I was living in north Carolina and my oldest son called and had me fly home and we went Quebec for a ride. I remember we were in Clova and there was a gentleman there that I asked where his best experience was.  He told me the Gaspie peninsula.  He then told if I ever got to the peninsula please say a prayer for him because that's the closest that I will ever get to heaven.  Since then we have been there many times and I never forget what he told me.  Of course he was right.

[Fuse6]

2 hours ago, chrisv said:

Thanks. I have our rooms booked and looking very forward to this trip. 

Day 1 leave from riviere du Loup to Amqui

Day 2 Amqui to New Richmond

Day 3 New Richmond to Merdockville

Day 4 Merdockville to Matane

Day 5 Matane to riviere du Loup

In this route what are the must see's?

http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2023_01/Screenshot_20230106_151952_iMotoneige.thumb.jpg.796a800ec070515ca45b3336266cad35.jpg

This is the route we do after taking suggestions from Quebec Rider veterans for several years.

5 days from Mont Joli, 6 days if want to start in RDL.

Your missing out not doing the north shore from Cap Chat to Mont St Pierre. 
On the south shore between Chandler and New Richmond is the least desirable part of loop. Flat, not much to see.

The 587S (green trail) from south of the Albertville clubhouse down to Pointe a La Croix is real nice ride vs taking the trail 5.

Perce Rock is low on my priority list if your short of time.

 

[iceman]

2 minutes ago, Fuse6 said:

This is the route we do after taking suggestions from Quebec Rider veterans for several years.

5 days from Mont Joli, 6 days if want to start in RDL.

Your missing out not doing the north shore from Cap Chat to Mont St Pierre. 
On the south shore between Chandler and New Richmond is the least desirable part of loop. Flat, not much to see.

The 587S (green trail) from south of the Albertville clubhouse down to Pointe a La Croix is real nice ride vs taking the trail 5.

Perce Rock is low on my priority list if your short of time.

 

http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2023_01/E77D8585-2402-4302-8CFF-AC542533D129.thumb.jpeg.f2cb6060408a45fbed17a7165a18b178.jpeg

I second this motion. 

[800steve]

That is a great route. Skip the Rock, the trail out there is usually a goat path and the pictures look alot better than the rock itself.

[Signfan]

As stated by others beware the weather can throw all your plans in dissaray. We went last March for our first trip. Started in Matane and rode tq 5 to 595 first day finishing in new Richmond. Second day we came back up 595 and then over to Murdochville and out to a village on the north shore. Final day was back to Matane along tq 5 on the north shore. Driving in forecast was 5 to 10 cm. It turned out to be a foot. Then two days of high winds which made for some unreal conditions. Day one we were stuck 1/2 a dozen times, waited an hour for a moose to let us pass him on the trail and finished the day at 10 pm. Day two was better, but encountered massive (over 8' tall) snow drifts near la cache. Ended up running 50 kms of plowed twp road to get to Murdochville. Again finished the day near 10 pm much later than planned. Day 3 was finally our blue sky day. Trails started out exceptional (fresh groomed), but by days end we were fighting mogul city to get into Matane. The clubs were trying, but the snow was so plentiful the trails just wouldn't setup and traffic was heavy. It left me feeling I need to go back to see it at its best. Maybe in January when it's colder and traffic is lower. I can say after reviewing it all I am glad we didn't attempt the north shore in the storm. With the hills the drifts and white out conditions we experienced could make for exceptionally dangerous snowmobiling. It was an adventure and we will go back I'm sure. I now own a folding shovel that will accompany me on all future sled trips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ODog]

On 1/6/2023 at 4:17 PM, 800steve said:

Sorry to say, the MUST SEEs are the Rt5 trail you are not going on. Best views are on the St Lawrence.

I was going to say the same thing. That section of 5 from Petite Vallee to St Anne Des Monts is quite possibly the nicest trail in all of Quebec. Lots of snow, incredible views of the St Lawrence river and fun elevation changes with switchbacks.

 

[PISTON LAKE CRUISER]

1 hour ago, ODog said:

I was going to say the same thing. That section of 5 from Petite Vallee to St Anne Des Monts is quite possibly the nicest trail in all of Quebec. Lots of snow, incredible views of the St Lawrence river and fun elevation changes with switchbacks.

 

Agreed. The majority of scenic view sledding pics you see from Gaspe are taken along that stretch.

[Fozzy]

On 1/6/2023 at 5:02 PM, Snobeeler said:

This was our path last year. Was 7 days but didn’t miss anything.

http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2023_01/175B3FE8-EF1C-4376-B5D7-17D196FC8668.thumb.jpeg.83969d39e0b2c1a0ad79a40969caf0a0.jpeg

I might need two weeks for this route with all the stops for those Martini stops 😜

[EastMark]

On 1/6/2023 at 4:43 PM, mikerider said:

Day 1 from RDL to Amqui;   I would recommend going via St. Cyprien and Squatec rather than Trail 5 to Rumouski.  Same distance either way, just more scenic and less traffic via Squatec.

I’ve done this and agree. 
 

Im sure someone here knows but I think it’s 587…a option that loops around over a mountain area with windmills…and down into Amqui…is stunning and a great way to end day 1 into Amqui. The day we did it was clear and the sunset views from the mountains there was amazing.

[EastMark]

 

 

on the left in the distance you can see the trail that winds thru the mountaintop windmills….

Edited January 11, 2023 by EastMark
Note

[NSHM]

2 hours ago, EastMark said:

 

 

on the left in the distance you can see the trail that winds thru the mountaintop windmills….

http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2023_01/494536748_IMG_20200209_1642522.thumb.jpg.8536b5a985e668ff1d42d0f8cc2f5aee.jpg

Nice Pic!   Groomer worthy.....

[PMAC]

Yes in through the 587 you want to go to the look off tower and mummies 

[William Gaf Gaffney]

On 1/6/2023 at 5:02 PM, Shore1066 said:

As for riding on the Gaspie peninsula I always remember in 2005 I was living in north Carolina and my oldest son called and had me fly home and we went Quebec for a ride. I remember we were in Clova and there was a gentleman there that I asked where his best experience was.  He told me the Gaspie peninsula.  He then told if I ever got to the peninsula please say a prayer for him because that's the closest that I will ever get to heaven.  Since then we have been there many times and I never forget what he told me.  Of course he was right.

Gaspie trip all booked for end of Feb.Mont Laurier Monday.Many more trails to be opened up by Sat.

[chrisv]

23 hours ago, EastMark said:

I’ve done this and agree. 
 

Im sure someone here knows but I think it’s 587…a option that loops around over a mountain area with windmills…and down into Amqui…is stunning and a great way to end day 1 into Amqui. The day we did it was clear and the sunset views from the mountains there was amazing.

Yes we are taking the 587. Thanks