As you cycle through Charlevoix's Golden Triangle, climbing and descending its bewitching and dizzying roads, you quickly realize that it is also a giant pyramid, prominent and full of treasures!
Does the route’s name surprise you? Don’t worry, there are still no reports of obscure mountain tribes in Quebec secretly cultivating Papaver somniferum, the poppy from which opium is extracted…and it’s a plant that would have a hard time acclimatizing to the harshness of our winters! Even though we are a long way from the Mekong River and the monsoons of Southeast Asia, and even though it is not a geographical feature formed by three economic powerhouses or three affluent metropolitan districts, as in Switzerland and Paris, it is fitting to name a local cycling route mountainous and panoramic to perfection, if only to highlight the great richness of its landscapes, the quality of its course and… its intoxicating properties: the Golden Triangle of Charlevoix.
With its upper tip extending into Saguenay, the paved sides of the polygon stretch between the municipalities of Baie-Saint-Paul, La Baie, and Saint-Siméon, covering a total distance of nearly 330 kilometers. The Triangle thus encompasses Provincial Routes 381, 170, 138, and 362, sometimes taking segments of the Route des Montagnes and the Route du Fjord, sometimes the entire Route du Fleuve, Quebec’s iconic tourist routes in Charlevoix and Saguenay. Rising and falling between sea and mountains, the Sté Lawrence river and an 896-meter pass, the highest point on this route, which requires a total climb of more than 4,000 meters, it’s a thrilling roller coaster ride full of excitement and thrills! Heeeehaaaaaaa!
Start/finish: you can explore the triangle from whichever location suits you best!
