La Tuque Region

La Tuque Region (Agglomération de La Tuque) is a huge municipality in the Mauricie region of Quebec, covering 28,000 km². It is a bit smaller than Albania, but larger than 34 United Nations member countries. Most of the municipality population lives in the town of La Tuque.

As the gateway to the upper Mauricie, La Tuque's economy also offers outdoor tourism opportunities and caters to hunting and fishing trips in its large hinterland, which is partially regulated by controlled harvesting zones (ZECs).

• 🌍 La Tuque — a pulp and paper town named after a rock formation just outside the city that resembles a hat
• 🌍 La Bostonnais — a forestry town distinguished by its two covered bridges
• 🌍 Lac-Édouard — a small super touristic locality for vacationing, camping, protected parks, ZECs and other recreational tourism activities
• 🌍 Obedjiwan — First Nations (Indigenous) reserve of the Atikamekw north of the Gouin reservoir and landlocked in the agglomeration of La Tuque.
• 🌍 Wemotaci — First Nations reserve of the Atikamekw along the Saint-Maurice river and enclaved in the agglomeration of La Tuque.

Controlled harvesting zones (ZEC) and ecological reserves in the region:

• 🌍 Laurentides Wildlife Reserve — the Réserve faunique des Laurentides straddles the regions of Capitale-Nationale, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and Mauricie
• 🌍 ZEC Frémont — southwest of the city of La Tuque. More than 250 lakes have been counted in the territory of this ZEC, the main one being Lake Sincennes.
• 🌍 ZEC Wessonneau — The reception station is west of the Saint-Maurice River, near the rivière aux Rats.
• 🌍 Judith-De Brésoles Ecological Reserve — Ecological reserve covering 10.9 km (4.2 sq mi) south of the village of Lac-Édouard in Haute-Batiscanie.
• 🌍 Réserve écologique du Bog-à-Lanières — Ecological reserve covering 4.3 hectares (11 acres), south-east of the village of Lac-Édouard, in Haute-Batiscanie.
• 🌍 ZEC Borgia — northeast of the city of La Tuque. More than 194 lakes have been counted in the territory of this ZEC, including 59 exploited for fishing. It covers an area of ​​556 km (215 sq mi).
• 🌍 ZEC de la Bessonne — covering 524.5 km (202.5 sq mi), straddling the territories of La Tuque, La Bostonnais and Lac-Édouard. It is 10 km east of downtown La Tuque. Six rivers cross its territory.
• 🌍 ZEC de la Croche — 18 km north of La Tuque. It has 97 lakes in an area of ​​351.8 km (135.8 sq mi).
• 🌍 ZEC Jeannotte — in the municipality of Lac Édouard, about 30 km east of the town of La Tuque. Its territory, which is an island, is more or less framed by Lake Édouard, the Jeannotte River and the Batiscan River.
• 🌍 ZEC Kiskissink — northeast of the city of La Tuque. It covers an area of 829.5 km (320.3 sq mi).
• 🌍 ZEC Ménokéosawin — in the municipality of Lac-Édouard and La Tuque. It has 162 lakes in an area of 298.5 km (115.3 sq mi).

This vast territory, especially forest, has 65 outfitters including 21 with exclusive rights and nine "zones d'exploitation contrôlées" (controlled exploitation zones) (ZEC). In addition, La Tuque has 4,100 chalets linked to holiday leases on public land, spread over a hundred places inhabited year round. This vast territory is served by approximately 30,000 km of forest roads which have mainly been developed by logging companies.

The local economy centres on pulp and paper; the city has a pulp-milling centre and a major hydroelectric station.

The main highway is Quebec Route 155 that connects La Tuque with Shawinigan to the south and the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region to the north.

Train service is provided once a week on Friday by Via Rail from Montreal to the La Tuque railway station (5 hr, $50 one-way, as of 2021) and Parent railway station, with request stops at Fitzpatrick, Oskélanéo, and Clova.

The La Tuque Airport (YLQ ) is directly south of the town's centre on Route 155.

See the La Tuque article for more information.

Many forest roads provide access to remote hunting and fishing camps, and the village of Parent is accessible by a 175 km (109 mi) long gravel road from Mont-Saint-Michel in the Laurentides region. These roads may not be suitable for smaller vehicles.

La Bostonnais has two covered bridges.

Scenic road 155 from Grand-Mère to La Tuque is a 119-km panoramic route in the Saint-Maurice valley with bucolic scenery, especially in the autumn when the leaves change colour.

The scenic road from Lac-Édouard to Rivière-à-Pierre is a 112-km route through the forest.

The Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie, in early September, is a canoe, kayak and rabaska competition that follows a 200-km route from La Tuque to Trois-Rivières.

There are lots of opportunities for outdoor sports on trails around La Tuque: cycling, mountain biking, Fatbiking, hiking, snowmobiling, and off-road vehicle sports.

The First Nations reserve of Wemotaci hosts an annual pow-wow in early September with shows of Indigenous dances and ceremonies.