Portneuf Regional Natural Park

Portneuf Regional Natural Park Parc naturel régional de Portneuf (French), is located on the territory of Portneuf City and the municipalities of Saint-Ubalde, Saint-Alban, Saint-Casimir and Rivière-à-Pierre, Portneuf RCM, Capitale-Nationale, Quebec, Canada.^[1][2]

Portneuf Regional Natural Pack Parc naturel régional de Portneuf
Sainte-Anne River gorge sector, Saint-Alban
Nearest city	Saint-Alban Portneuf RCM0  Quebec  Canada
Coordinates	46°49′21″N 72°09′12″W
Area	70 kilometres (43 mi)
Established	2014
Website	parcportneuf.com

Geography

Between territory affected by human activity and the great outdoors, between rocky escarpments, mountains, exceptional trees, peat bogs and flowering undergrowth, lakes, rivers and streams, the Portneuf Regional Natural Park, in all seasons in certain sectors, offers more than 70 km of walking trails, winding, sometimes very rugged, of easy, intermediate and difficult, lasting from 5 minutes to almost 4 hours.^[3][4]

Hiking and Nature Observation

The territory of the Portneuf Regional Natural Park includes sectors distributed in disjointed areas.^[4]

• Trails in Sainte-Anne River Gorges sector:^[5] Cascatelles, Gorges, Poetic Cédrière, Island, Forced pipeline
• Trails in Long and Montauban lakes sector:^[6] Marcotte Falls, Marmites, Summits, Tour Mountain Waterfalls, Black River, La Glacière
• Trails in Lakes sector: De la Traverse, Sept Merveilleux
• Trails in Carillon Lake sector:^[7] Montauban/Mékinac limit, De l’Ours, Du Geai, Du Lièvre, Du Vison and Carillon/Lac Blanc bike/walking trail
• Discovery and educational visit: Trou du Diable section^[8] give acces to the second largest cave in Quebec, with a little over a kilometer of underground galleries, is located northeast of the village of Saint-Casimir.^[9][10][11]

The Portneuf Regional Natural Park manages the Spéléo Québec property and caving activities at Trou du Diable. From mid-May to the beginning of December, the Quebec Speleology Society (Speleo Quebec)^[12] offers two routes: discovery and educational visits, for a fee (Reservation required).

• The tourist route, lasting 1h30, is intended to be an introduction to caving accessible to all.
• The adventure course, lasting 3 hours, is more difficult to access and physically demanding. The Jean Lamarre section is done by crawling in a wet and muddy space, under a very low ceiling, to end on all fours parts with water up to your neck. The adventure provides a wave of emotions and a good swim. Humidity 100%.^[13]

The most popular outdoor activities in the different sectors of the park are cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, climbing and fishing.^[1]

Flora

Mid-October colors, Yellow birch, Larch, Tamarack, Hemlock and others, Noire River, Saint-Alban

A large part of the territory has been the subject of logging for more than 200 years. So, the harvest of Tamarack (Red spruce) and Allegheny birch (Yellow birch) was done without concern for regeneration, between 1870 and 1890 the harvest of the bark of Canadian tsuga (Tsuga) for its tannery properties led to the modification of the composition of all the ecosystem.^[3]

Fauna

According to the Act respecting threatened and vulnerable species of Quebec,^[14][15] 5 species with precarious status have been identified in the park territory. A brood of Peregrine Falcon is regularly observed on the cliff and Lake trout (lake trout) in Long Lake. The Northern dusky salamander has been identified in the park, the Arctic char is present in the Cœur and Anguille lakes.^[3]

• Falco peregrinus (Tunstall, 1771). — Faucon pèlerin anatum, — Faucon pèlerin tundrius. — (Peregrine falcon anatum, Peregrine falcon tundrius).^[16]
• Desmognathus ochrophaeus (Cope 1859). — Salamandre sombre du nord, — (Allegheny mountain, Dusky salamander).^[17]
• Salvelinus alpinus L. — Omble chevalier. — (Arctic char).^[18]
• Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum, 1792). —Touladi, Truite grise, Truite de lac. — (Lake trout, Lake charr).^[19]

Also, due to its legal status, a reserved containment area ensures the protection of White-tailed deer in the park.

• Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann, 1780). — Cerf de Virginie, Chevreuil. — (White tail deer).

Accommodation

Portneuf Regional Natural Park^[2] provides visitors with:

• Rental chalets
• Ready-to-camp tents in the sectors: Long Lake, Carillon Lake and Gorges of the Sainte-Anne river
• Rustic camping sites

References

1. "Portneuf Regional Natural Park, toponymy". Gouvernement of Quebec (in French). Commission de Toponymy Quebec. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2024. ... main ones are Lake Long and Lake Montauban. This regional park offers the practice of various outdoor activities, including cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, climbing and fishing.
2. "Portneuf Regional Natural Park" (in French). 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2024. …an area of 73 km2 made up of lakes, rivers, mountains and cliffs. The exceptional geomorphological attractions make this territory a unique place for observation, outdoors and learning.
3. Jessie Breton (September 2018). "Characterization and assessment of landscapes Portneuf Regional Natural Park" (PDF) (in French). pp. 6, 13, 19, 20, 22 of 90. Retrieved 17 November 2024. Today we find only remains of the mill, such as a concrete block left on the side of the waterfalls, west of the footbridge.
4. "Parc naturel régional de Portneuf, map" (PDF) (in French). PNRP. p. 4. Retrieved 28 November 2024. more than 70 km of hiking trails, winding, sometimes spectacular, of easy, intermediate and difficult levels, lasting from 5 minutes to almost 4 hours.
5. "Sainte-Anne River gorges sector" (in French). Portneuf Regional Natural Park. 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024. The Sainte-Anne River Gorges Sector is the gateway to the Portneuf Regional Natural Park.
6. "Lac Long sector" (in French). Portneuf Regional Natural Park. 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024. The Black River, its waterfalls, the majestic Chutes à Marcotte, the cliff of Lac Long, the beach of Anse à Beaulieu and the Montagne de la Tour are among the places to discover
7. "Lac Carillon sector" (in French). Portneuf Regional Natural Park. Retrieved 29 November 2024. This lake is very peaceful, no motorboats are allowed there.
8. "Devil's Hole, Toponymy". Gouvernement of Quebec (in French). Commission de Toponymy Quebec. 7 May 1981. Retrieved 21 November 2024. .. it is one of the creatures most present in the imagination throughout the world, in all or almost all cultures and has been since time immemorial.
9. "Portneuf regional natural park, a territory of more than 70 km2" (in French). Parc naturel régional de Portneuf. 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2024. Our activities take place mainly in Saint-Alban, Saint-Ubalde and Saint-Casimir and a portion of Lake Montauban is located in the Municipalities of Portneuf and Rivière-à-Pierre.
10. "Saint-Casimir, odynymy and maps" (PDF) (in French). 5 June 2006. pp. 1 of 5. Retrieved 23 November 2024. To the east of the village, a cave more than 8000 years old called "Trou du Diable" is the second in importance in Quebec with a little more than a kilometer of underground galleries.
11. "The karsts of Eastern Canada" (PDF). Department of Geography, Laval University (in English and French). Quebec geography notebooks. 1958. pp. 11, 12 of 25. Retrieved 21 November 2024. It bas been deducted that some oj the most typical caves, such as the Saint-Casimir cave in Portneuj county, was jormed 3,500-4,000 years ago.
12. "Caving Quebec - Quebec Speleology Society" (in French). My community, Directory of organizations. 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024. ...bring together people to promote and supervise a sustainable and safe practice of caving and canyoning through conservation, research, education and awareness of the underground environment among the general public.
13. "Devil's Hole Cave - Adventure course" (in French). Portneuf Regional Natural Park. 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024. There is mud and sometimes very cold water. The temperature of the air and water underground is around 10°C and varies with the seasons. The relative humidity level is around 100%.
14. Bernard Tardif; Gildo Lavoie; Yves Lachance (September 2005). "Atlas of Quebec biodiversity. Threatened or vulnerable species" (PDF). Gouvernement of Canada (in English and French). Ministry of Development Sustainable, Environment and Parks. p. 62. Retrieved 29 November 2024. The atlas clearly highlights the importance of systematically collecting and recording information on elements of biodiversity.
15. "Threatened or vulnerable species" (PDF). Gouvernement of Quebec (in French). Official publisher of Quebec. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024. This Act applies to threatened or vulnerable wildlife and plant species designated under this Act that live in Quebec or are imported into Quebec.
16. David M. Bird (15 April 1997). "Report on the situation of the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) in Quebec" (PDF). Ministry of Environment and Wildlife Quebec. National Library of Quebec. p. 95. Retrieved 29 November 2024. There are two subspecies of the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) in Quebec, F. p. anatum and F. p. tundrius. The subspecies F. p. anatum disappeared from southern Quebec during the 1970s but was subsequently reestablished there. The population of the tundrius subspecies has also become rarer.
17. "Recovery Strategy for the Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) – Carolinian population in Canada" (PDF). Environment and Climate Change Canada. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. 2019. p. 75. Retrieved 29 November 2024. The federal, provincial, and territorial government signatories under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1996)3 agreed to establish complementary legislation and programs that provide for effective protection of species at risk throughout Canada.
18. "Salvelinus alpinus L. - Arctic char". Gouvernement of Canada. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2024. Arctic char are similar in shape to salmon or trout, but vary tremendously in colour depending on time of year, location and stage of development. Usually, they will have a dark-coloured back (a dark blue, brown, or green) with silverish sides and a white belly.
19. Adam Kowalski (2016). "Salvelinus namaycush - Lake Trout". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Fish and Aquatic Conservation. Retrieved 29 November 2024. Lake trout are the largest of the freshwater char. They have been reported to live up to 70 years in some Canadian lakes. They are native to northern North America, from Alaska to Nova Scotia and throughout the Great Lakes.

External links

• MRC de Portneuf 2015, Master plan for development and management of Portneuf Regional Natural Park, pp 129 (French)
• Parc naturel régional de Portneuf 2012-2021 (Regional Natural Park of Portneuf) Official website (French)