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Fall Foliage colours depend on 3 aspects... Latitude, Elevation and Weather. Places at a higher Latitude (say Quebec City) or Elevation (say the Mountains of Vermont or New Hampshire) and cooler weather (ideal set-up is similar to what makes the sap run in the Spring for our Maple Sugar Season... for the maximum Leaf Show we need warmer days and cooler nights... once things consistently get around or below zero then the whole thing is over).

2

You have a problem if your main goal in this trip is to experience fall foliage. Between Québec City and Tadoussac the scenery is at times breathtaking but there is very little color on this stretch: it's mainly evergreens, with a few maple trees here and there but not a lot of it. Gaspésie and Mauricie, where you are planning to go, are not rich in maple trees either. For colors you would be better served on the south shore of the river, where there is a much higher concentration of maple trees {1} . Usually, the 2 best weeks are the last of September and the 1st week of October. But who knows, it could be a little late this year. If I had to select a park for leaf peeping, I would choose Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier, north of Québec City. And since you will have a car, you should head to Mont-Ste-Anne ski resort, east of Québec City: awesome colorful 360º views from the top of the mountain, you can take the lift upwards and go back on foot if you like.

{1} the highest concentration of maple trees in the province is found, in decreasing order, in: Chaudière-Appalaches (immediately south of Québec City), followed by Eastern Townships and Centre-du-Québec. All of which are on the south shore of the river, and not east of Québec City. See this map to locate these regions. If you click on any of these regions, you will be directed to a page where there are infos and a mini-roadmap.

3

Dear Saskja,

thanks a lot for your valuable and detailed suggestions and recommendations. I wrote them all down. If Quebec is not the best place in order to explore the fall foliage, which places in Eastern Canada or in the US would you recommend? Is Ontario better or Maine or other places. As we have a car we are pretty flexible. Would appreciate any answer. Thanks in advance. Have a great evening.
Kerstin

4

Kerstin

Québec is a great place to see fall foliage ~ as I wrote, it just is in a different location than the areas you are planning to go to, like Tadoussac and Gaspésie. I already indicated in my answer the best areas to see it in Québec.

And you will likely see a few thousands white snow geese on their migration route while you are here ~ just east of Québec City Cap Tourmente is a very nice place to see a tons of them. I heard the very 1st ones arrive earlier today.

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Dear Saskja,

thanks for your information. All the best to you.
Kerstin

6

Here's a route you could follow: http://tinyurl.com/93969lc

A few points...

• Unless you want to see whales, I'd skip Tadoussac. It might be a late for whales anyway.
• The south part (Beauce and Eastern Townships) have more maple trees but if you're there and the leaves are gone, it's not as pretty. The northern part has fewer maples but there are more interesting landscapes with or without colors. So you might want to do this route counter-clockwise. It only takes a couple of windy days to bring the leaves down. This one is a bit tricky because you'll be there towards the end of colors.
• Check dates as many places close down after thanksgiving, that's oct 8th in Canada.
• A nice place to stay is at the top of Mont St-Joseph at Mont Megantic park. There's a hut with wood stove and bunk beds (matress included). You need to bring bed sheets or sleeping bags, food and water, cooking gear if need to (stove if don't want to fiddle with a wood stove). You can bring your stuff by car but someone has to bring it back down and walk up. You'd be alone on the mountain with colors as far as the eye can see. There's a bigger hut on Mont Mégantic itself but you'd have company and even though it's a higher peak, the view isn't as good.
• I'm not familiar with the inland routes on the south shore between Quebec and Rivière-du-Loup, That's why I just chose the highway. I'm sure you'd get more colors a bit inland. Coming back on the north shore is another good option.

Some detours...

• Parc de la Rivière Jacques-Cartier, very colorful.
• Cap Tourmente is must IMO. Snow Geese peak around oct 10th.
• Parc des Grands-Jardins, not much maple there but lots of aspen, which turn yellow. Aspen leaves seem to stay on longer too. If you're into hiking, Mont du lac des Cygnes trail is a classic. The park is less interesting if you're not into hiking.
• Parc des Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie. Like the Grands-Jardins, not much maple (a handleful more) but very spectacular wether you're hiking or not , or wether there are colors or not.
• Many places that I never visited in the Eastern Township and Megantic region. There are many small roads there. The Coaticook Gorge seems interresting.

Some road detours...

• Highway 360 east of Quebec City (as on map)
• St-Cassien-des-Caps. Don't the actual name of the road. the turn off is at the bottom of a 7% descent on the way to Baie-St-Paul. there's a sign indicating a covered bridge. It begins on gravel but quickly turns to asphalt. If you keep going, you'll pop out in Baie-St-Paul
• Highway 362 between Baie-St-Paul and La Malbaie.
• The "Route des Montagnes" between La Malbaie and Baie-St-Paul. It's a series of back roads. Follow the blue signs. it's on the Google map I linked to.

St-Alexis-des-Monts should be just as colorful as Mauricie park. The park is kept natural. The viewpoint on Lake Wapizagonke is nice. If you hike, "les Deux-Criques" trail is one of my favorite forest trail. You could also take the shorter Mekinac trail to a nice viewpoint on the St-Maurice river.

Some autumn pictures: http://www.borealphoto.com/keyword/automne
Most are captionned and if you can see the date taken by clicking on the "i" on the mouse-over pop-up.

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I am writing this from the Eastern Townships. The leaves have been really late to turn color this year so you are still good to visit. Note that October 6,7,8 October is REALLY BUSY so you need to book asap for lodging anywhere. Lots of places have Fall festivals at the weekend including Sutton. The drive from Magog to Sutton (following the Townships Trail) is really nice and is a very scenic way to get back to Montreal. Dont miss the vineyards along the Wine Route or the ice cider eg Domaine Pinnacle.

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Two days ago on Mount Megantic: http://borealphoto.zenfolio.com/img/s4/v63/p1159691746-6.jpg