Mountain Biking in Quebec: a Photo Journal

August 20, 2020

You prob­a­bly know about Que­bec’s maple syrup and french fries cov­ered in cheese curds and gravy, but did you know it has an equal­ly delec­table net­work of pur­pose-built sin­gle­track? And that net­work is with­in just a short dri­ve of the UNESCO World Her­itage Site of Old Québec City. Sim­ply put, Que­bec is moun­tain bik­ing wonderland.

New for 2020, we’ve linked togeth­er all four major trail net­works near Quebec’s cap­i­tal for two mul­ti-day, ful­ly-guid­ed expe­ri­ences: our six-day, coed Great Que­bec Escape and our five-day wom­en’s-only Wilder­ness and Water­falls Retreat. In addi­tion to the region’s amaz­ing rid­ing and stun­ning scenery, we’ll explore the cap­ti­vat­ing cul­ture, cui­sine, hos­pi­tal­i­ty and joie-de-vivre Que­bec is famous for.

If you live in North Amer­i­ca, chances are you’ve heard whis­pers of the bound­ary-push­ing trail build­ing that’s been hap­pen­ing in such impos­si­ble-to-pro­nounce places as Val­lée Bras-du-Nord and Sen­tiers du Moulin. (Or at the very least, you’ve heard of the leg­end of Mont St-Anne through decades of World Cup rac­ing). Here’s your chance to sam­ple all the goods—not in a race for­mat but in a fun and immer­sive experience—with all the care, atten­tion, and thought you’ve come to expect from a Sacred Ride, brought to you by a phe­nom­e­nal team of local guides who cre­ate the ulti­mate escape to la belle province.

Check out this pho­to jour­nal for a taste of what’s to come. Then get ready to check this incred­i­ble des­ti­na­tion off your buck­et list!

Old Québec City 

With its wind­ing cob­ble­stone streets, the unmis­tak­able Château Fron­tenac and the abun­dance of muse­ums, art gal­leries, and cof­fee shops, Old Que­bec exudes Euro­pean charm at every turn. Let your­self be tak­en in by love­ly auberges, exquis­ite cui­sine, and fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry as the only for­ti­fied city north of Mex­i­co and the birth­place of French North Amer­i­ca. Whether your taste buds lead you to pou­tine, foie gras, or maple tof­fee, you’ll fall in love with Old Québec.

Quebec City is lovely… but you said something about mountain biking?

Ok, let’s get to what you came here for: once you’ve had your fill of pou­tine, which of these places will you check out first?

Empire 47: The World’s Premier Fatbiking Center

Only 30 min­utes from down­town, Empire 47 (or E47 for short) sits at the 47th par­al­lel and is well-known as the world’s pre­mier fat­bik­ing cen­tre, with over 45km of per­fect­ly groomed fat­bike trails. That said, rest assured the sum­mer­time sin­gle­track is just as wor­thy of fame and admi­ra­tion. With machine-built and hand sculpt­ed trails like Huron, Kama­su­trail, and Belze­brute, you’ll find that berms, bridges, flow lines, and mas­sive rock slabs dat­ing back to the last ice age blend into a cap­ti­vat­ing melt­ing pot. With a pump track and a flow trail near the entrance, Empire 47 is the per­fect start­ing point to ease into Que­bec riding.

Images: Éti­enne Dionne

Sentiers du Moulin: If You’re Still Not Convinced That They Take Mountain Biking Seriously in Quebec…

Maybe this will change your mind: Only 25 min­utes from down­town, an incred­i­bly ded­i­cat­ed crew spent well over 10,000 vol­un­teer hours build­ing the trails at Sen­tiers du Moulin. You can’t help but feel the pas­sion, devo­tion and deter­mi­na­tion etched into every berm, bridge, and rock gar­den on trails like Super G, QMG and the all-new Slab City, a mas­ter­piece-of-a-trail that feels like one end­less slab of Cana­di­an Shield. With two sides of a moun­tain and over 40km of per­fect­ly sculpt­ed trails to explore, Sen­tiers du Moulin will leave you grin­ning from ear to ear.

Images: Éti­enne Dionne

Mont St. Anne: Old School DH Lines and Technical XC Sections

Mont Saint Anne has deep roots in the moun­tain bike rac­ing world dat­ing back 30 years, host­ing its first UCI Moun­tain Bike World Cham­pi­onship in 1991. It’s home to some of the row­di­est, gnarli­est, and steep­est ter­rain on the East Coast, where old school DH lines and tech­ni­cal XC sec­tions meld into a mod­ern day Enduro melt­ing pot. With the more recent addi­tion of fun, flowy, blue-lev­el trails like La Bout­taboutte, La Grisante, l’Adorila and La Cairn, MSA should be at the top of any pas­sion­ate moun­tain bik­er’s buck­et list.

Images: Andy Vathis

Vallée Bras-du-Nord: Ribbons of Perfectly Carved, Purpose-Built Singletrack

No trip to Que­bec City is com­plete with­out a vis­it to Val­lée Bras-du-Nord, only 1‑hr away from down­town. With two sep­a­rate sec­tors (Saint Ray­mond and Shan­na­han), VBN is home not only to incred­i­ble pur­pose-built sin­gle­track, but to pris­tine and tru­ly mes­mer­iz­ing scenery. So wild and rugged is the land­scape in Shan­na­han, you’ll have a hard time believ­ing you’re just an hour away from an inter­na­tion­al air­port and a bustling metrop­o­lis. An undu­lat­ing rib­bon of per­fect­ly carved sin­gle­track gives you rag­ing rivers, strik­ing water­falls, and gran­ite cliffs jut­ting from the for­est floor. Trails like the Neil­son and the all-new Légende —which fea­tures a mas­sive slab ride next to a plum­met­ing waterfall—can only be described as works of art that show­case the area’s var­ied land­scapes in all their glo­ry. Pre­pare to be amazed!

Images: Fran­cis Fontaine