The Gaspe Peninsula -an Amazing Road Trip

Our RVing road trip on the coast of the Gaspe Peninsula (or "Gaspesie" as it's called here in Quebec) offers so much! Surprisingly, even a few boondocking opportunities.

From the moment we crossed the bridge to go to the south side of the St Lawrence River at Trois Rivieres and started following Quebec Route 132 east, this trip has been simply amazing!

Each Village seems more Picturesque than the Last.

The homes were small and unpretentious but all were pristine and kept with pride. We don't know the reason or real name for the roof shape on many of the homes so we decided to call it a "ski slope roof". The unique architecture, plus the French language, gave us the sense that we had left Canada and entered a different country.

The Scenic Drive does not have to be Slow

Although we passed one village after another, the posted speed limit was 90 km/h between villages and rarely dropped below 70 km/h with very few stops so it was feasible to drive this road for hundreds of miles, which we did. The route hugs the coast all the way and, if we had not been tempted to stop so often, it would not have taken us much longer than following Hwy 20, the four-lane expressway. But, after all, these stops are what we're here for.

Typical village

A Catholic church dominates every village

So many beaches. We happened upon a recent sand castle contest.

Many great "foodie" stops.

This diner in Trois Pistoles was written up as having the best poutine in Quebec.

No argument from us about that! But I guess now we'll have to try some of the others to be sure...

Pointe au Pere's lighthouse is more than a historic site. The location commemorates the largest loss of life in Canadian waters; 1,012 died in the 1914 Empress of Ireland disaster.

Thanks to the Days End Directory, we knew boondocking on the warf was legal at the lighthouse. We joined 12 other RVs parked here for the night.

Sunset at our scenic, free campsite

We stopped at several art galleries. One of our favorites was Centre d'Art Marcel Gagnon in Sainte-Flavie where sculptures emerge with low tide.

This sign near a fishing pier in Matane translates to, "RVers may park overnight between these signs".

So, on a whim our plans changed. We settled in and didn't put on many miles that day.

From that campsite, we walked miles and miles of beach. Gotta love this life!

If we stop at every light house, we'll never get to Nova Scotia!

The road, now steep and winding, separates the sea from the Chic-Choc Mountains

The villages are now replaced by rugged coastline as we approach our first major destination.

Our First Major Destination: Forrilon National Park

We knew we wouldn't have time to visit all the National Parks (there are three major ones) on the Gaspe Peninsula. Forillon is the most renowned so we made that our choice. But the weekend was approaching and we had no idea this was a special holiday in Quebec until we stopped at a visitor center about 1/2 hour from the park. We were told the park's campgrounds were all full for the weekend. In fact, we'd be lucky to get a campsite at any campground in the entire area.

First Paid Camping on the Trip

We broke down, drove into the first campground we came to, and paid for our first camping of the trip. The campground was quite run-down and dirty and we could hardly believe that, although our site included one service (water), all the taps in the campground were marked "non-potable".Hmmmh...is it any wonder we prefer boondocking?

When Disapointment Turns into Adventure

Somehow, what could have been a real disappointment, turned into a good luck story. But, you'll have to wait for the next installment for that...

Days on the road on this trip: 7

Total camping costs to date: $27

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