Chemin du Castor — Réserve faunique des Laurentides Interior Forestry Circuit

Réserve faunique des Laurentides sits between Quebec City and Saguenay, and the Chemin du Castor network is how you actually get into its guts rather than just driving Highway 175 through it. The circuit departs from the Des Martres sector and winds northwest past Lac des Martres, Lac à la Croix, and a series of unnamed beaver ponds that have reclaimed old logging grades into gloriously muddy two-tracks. Expect soft shoulders after rain, submerged corduroys in the spring thaw, and at least one stream ford at Ruisseau du Castor that will test your approach angle. The reward is boreal solitude — moose on every second bend and no one for kilometres in any direction.

A truck with a solid locker, all-terrain tires, and a recovery kit is the minimum here; a rooftop tent or trailer works well given the number of designated SEPAQ campsites along the route. The reserve charges a daily access fee through SEPAQ — check their portal before arrival. Best run from late June through September; spring breakup turns the low sections into muck traps. Fuel up in Stoneham or Saint-Raymond — there is nothing inside. Cell service dies at the gate and stays dead. Bring a sat communicator.