2 Best Sights in Baie-Comeau, Quebec

Fourteen massive buttresses and 13 gigantic arches line the 702-foot-tall, 4,311-foot-long dam on Manicouagan River. Built between 1959 and 1970, this multiple arch-and-buttress dam is the largest in the world has been a tourist attraction since shortly after construction began. Previously named Manic-5, it contains enough concrete to build a sidewalk from the North Pole to the South Pole. Stand at the foot of the dam or walk the crest. A two-hour guided tour, for ages 18 and older (photo ID required), journeys deep into the belly of operations; email for a reservation.

Natural beauty and artistic sensibilities mark 432 acres of groomed and wild acres in the middle of the city. Listen for harbor seals and see blue herons along hiking trails to the shore. Birds abound here, and this is an important wintering area for the threatened Icelandic Barrow's Goldeneye duck. Balsam fir, white birch, and many other trees fill the forest as do a wide variety of flowers, fungi, shrubs, and whimsical wooden sculptures like giant mushrooms by local artists. Overlooks provide vast wilderness, mountain, and river views.