Dinner is a fine thin-crusted goat cheese pizza baked in a wood-burning oven. The town is bustling in the evening and we're lucky to get a table at Le Grand Pa. Many of the eateries were once summer cottages with covered verandas that now make inviting outdoor patios. The mountains surrounding this laid-back riverside town are a dramatic contrast to the casual urban chic of Rue de L'Église, the main street.īoldly painted vintage buildings lining the boulevard house boutiques, galleries, bistros and cafés. We're staying at Auberge des Trois Fontaines, a pretty inn on the North River shore, about 400 metres off the trail. Val-David, a town known for its vibrant culture and fine cuisine, turns out to be a great place to spend the day. Agathe for the final seven kilometres of our four-hour ride. ![]() The trail veers back into the bush near St. It's not just the Lycra-clad 20- and 30-year-olds, but seniors and children and young couples hauling baby trailers who leave us behind. We move at a very moderate pace, as we roll past cottages and cross small rail bridges straddling streams and creeks. The path descends into a lush green meadow and continues through this grassy expanse for about 10 kilometres. We reach a tranquil hilltop overlooking a pristine evergreen forest and pedal with ease along a gloriously flat ridge for a relaxing six kilometres. I edge up the heavily wooded path feeling like the Little Engine That Could. The ride begins with a gradual three-kilometre incline that turns out to be the only challenging terrain of the trip. The pace of this novice cyclist is considerably slower. The moment he unloads his bike, he whizzes off. Faustin, but he's covering the entire 70 kilometres in one day. Denis Chalifout, a Montreal water-bottling executive, also starts his ride at St. Our plan for the first day is a 28-kilometre ride to Val-David, an art colony intersected by the trail. Most are glorified rest-stops, but you can find cafés at the larger stations. Every kilometre has a marker with a number indicating the distance to St.-Jérôme station (circa 1897), the southern terminus of the railway. The shuttle bus drops us off at St.-Faustin-Lac-Carrée, kilometre 70. For the rugged at heart, there are campgrounds and plenty of places to rent canoes. ![]() Inns and bed and breakfasts dot the route, and you can find restaurants and cafés in the many villages along the way. The trail's proximity to urban amenities is a big draw for outdoor enthusiasts who like their creature comforts. There are no steep inclines and just a few gradual uphill slopes if you travel southward, which is why we're taking the northbound shuttle bus to our starting point. The trail's gentle grade makes it accessible to cyclists of varying abilities. Today, it's a popular cycling destination that attracts half a million visitors annually. The name stuck when the abandoned rail corridor was transformed into a linear park in 1996. The Canadian Pacific line linked about 20 towns and villages between Mont-Laurier and St.-Jérôme, a city 45 kilometres north of Montreal, and was affectionately known as Le P'tit Train du Nord (the Little Train of the North). ![]() This 200-kilometre recreational trail, known for its beauty and gentle slopes, rose from the proverbial ashes of a railway that ran through the Laurentians from the early 1890s until 1989. St.-Jérôme, Que.–The rolling foothills of the Laurentian Mountains stretch before us as we head north for two days of cycling along Le P'tit Train du Nord, Quebec's longest linear bike path.
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