Canada Fall Foliage

Hey there,

Oct 6th-11th I would say is perfect to see the foliage for this neck of Canada. Flying in on the 6th and leaving on the 11th... my choice would be to fly in and out of Montreal. Leaf-peep in the Laurentians and/or Eastern Townships. Possibly take the train to Ottawa (much closer to Montreal than Toronto) and spend a night or two based there, if you want to take a train. I've never been, but I would think the Meech Lake area would have good leaf-watching.

Toronto I think just complicates things as it's out of the way and its extensive suburbs (and associated traffic) makes getting to the leaves more challenging than out of Montreal or out of Ottawa. (Plus Montreal has "the mountain" which I can tell you from biking up it every day in the fall, "la montagne" has a lovely leaf display.) The train from Toronto to Montreal has some pleasant views of Lake Ontario and the Saint-Lawrence River valley, but when not in the suburbs, there's a fair amount of pastureland, so might not give the desired foliage-watching you might be thinking it would be.

There is a train station nearby Dorval Airport in Montreal.

Have fun deciding! Daniel

Thanks!

Is there train travel out of Montreal to the mountains you mentioned? We are senior adults and had much rather travel by train than drive in a strange to us area, if possible.

Or or there tours out of Montreal into the mountains to see the foliage?

Thanks again

Gatineau park across the river from Ottawa would be an excellent choice.

The Eastern Township would be great too. I'm not aware of a train there. Driving is straightforward: highway 10 up to Mont Orford park or Magog. Mont Orford park: http://www.borealphoto.com/photos/389682791_8Z5aD-L.jpg

One of my favorite is La Mauricie park northeast of Montreal. Perhaps not as spectacular for some. It's a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, which I like. There's a train to Grand-Mère/Shawinigan and you can rent a car there to drive in the park and/or along the St-Maurice river on highway 155.

This is from a trail in La Mauricie park, looking southeast at the St-Maurice river: http://www.borealphoto.com/photos/210967431_zDTR9-L-1.jpg

Colors get more intense as time advance... until they fall. This usually happen around the 2nd week of october. Oct 11th is excellent but a few windy days can bring all the leafs down pretty quickly. Good luck!

We drove around Quebec (and Vermont) to see foliage last year during the last week of September. We spent most of our time in the Eastern Townships, including Dunham and Magog, as well as Ile d'Orleans outside Quebec City. The leaves were absolutely gorgeous!

I know you are looking for train travel and I'm not sure how accessible these areas are from Montreal. We did find driving in Quebec to be extremely easy, even though we don't speak French.

More about the trip and photos are on my website, if you want to take a look. http://caroundtheworld.com/fall-foliage-quebec-vermont/

Chris

Passenger train routes in Canada are very limited. You can view VIA Rail's routes and schedule at www.viarail.ca .

I'm planning a trip to Montreal & Quebec City, from Oct 14 thru Oct 17. Is this too late to see fall foliage? Thanks!

I don't about too late, but you're stretching your luck. It mostly depends on the wind at that point. From my experience, the first two weeks of october are best but I've been unlucky myself just after october 10th. Colors were fabulous and by the time I had time off, two very windy days brought them all down.

Fall colors or not, I'd recommend a trip to Cap Tourmente (http://www.captourmente.com/), just east of Quebec City. The number of Snow Geese peeks between october 10th and 15th. They are very close when in the fields. There's hiking for all types and the drive there passes in front of Montmorency falls and Ste-Anne basilica.