A tradition for 60 years

For many outdoor lovers, sleeping under the stars is a tradition handed down from generation to generation. For more than 60 years, the park has hosted 22,630 evenings of sitting around the campfire, and countless memories have been recounted over that period.

We owe this priceless privilege to Albert Courtemanche, former director of the Station biologique du Mont-Tremblant (1952-1962). Supported by scientists, organizations and affluent citizens, he recommended to provincial authorities that they open the park to outdoor enthusiasts.

After several years of effort, the park became accessible to the general public in 1958 and accommodated 10,000 visitors. That same year saw the official opening of the first campground at “Lac Shaw”, named in honour of a worker from the forest industry era. This name was given a French accent when it became “Lac-Chat” a few years later.

Starting in the 1960s, several services and facilities in the Diable sector were developed, such as the Crémaillère, Bacagnole and Étroit campgrounds.

Many campers have extraordinary memories of the park. Mine? Of my carefully pitched tent at Lac-Escalier, before I even worked at the park. In the daytime, I paddled the lake over which floated small nimbus clouds…just enough to refresh me during a July heat wave.  In the evening, I ate the best bow-tie pasta ever while contemplating the rosy sky.

Bare feet in the sand, I let myself be cradled by the coolness of the wind and the cry of the loons. I was enchanted to experience so much happiness in just one moment.

Today the parc national du Mont-Tremblant has more than 1,000 camp sites and one hundred ready-to-camp installations. It’s quite impressive to see how much camping has evolved. However, the happiness of being outdoors in natural surroundings has not changed.

Information: 819 688-2281

sepaq.com/tremblant

Photo: OFQ, Albert Courtemanche, Sépaq archives.
Camping Lac-Chat, June 1959.

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