Riding The Trans Quebec Trail

[advrider]

What’s the most out-of-your-comfort-zone motorcycle experience you can have in North America? For a lot of us, the answer is Mexico, where you have deserts and a language that’s unfamiliar to many of us. But the other option is the Canadian province of Quebec, where you’ll find yourself struggling in French, instead of Spanish—and you’ll also find the Trans Quebec Trail.

The terrain couldn’t be more different from Mexico. While the stereotypical view of Mexico is rocks, sand and scorching sun (I know that’s not universally the case, but bear with me), Quebec is green, and you can get pretty wet and cold, too. The Trans Quebec Trail will take you along forestry roads, not goatherder’s desert paths. Instead of ranches, you’ll see sprawling farms.

But, Quebec, like Mexico, also has some of the oldest European settlements of North America. You won’t encounter much of that history when you’re out in the woods, but along with your off-roading, you can also hit the Old City in Quebec for a look at the continent’s long-gone days of early colonialism.

And Quebec has one other thing going for it: It’s very close to much of the US. Major cities such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia are only a day’s ride away from La Belle Province. If your vacation time is limited, that’s an important consideration.

These videos above and below are a sampler of what to expect in the eastern sections of the Trans Quebec Trail, through the Gaspesie area. You can find more details on that mapping project here; it’s sort of similar to the Backcountry Discovery Routes project, which hasn’t added any Canadian mileage yet.

For some reason, you have to watch Part Four of this trip on YouTube, with no embed possible here. Parts Five and Six continue below:

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