Chemin du Lac Saint-Jean Nord — Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Peripheral Forestry Road

Most people drive around Lac-Saint-Jean on paved provincial roads and call it scenic. The forestry network north of the lake is a different world entirely — a web of gravel and dirt roads cutting through active blueberry barrens, second-growth boreal, and the occasional clear-cut that opens a jaw-dropping view across the lake to the Laurentians beyond. The Chemin du Lac Saint-Jean Nord traces the northern shoreline hinterland from Normandin toward Mistassini, connecting logging camp roads and Zec Rivière-aux-Rats access spurs. The defining challenge is the seasonal condition of the roadbed: graded gravel transitions to ungraded dirt that washes out badly in the spring melt and again during August thunderstorm season, leaving corrugations and soft shoulders that bounce a leaf-sprung truck into the ditch.

This is a moderate run best suited to a high-clearance 4WD with decent tires — not a hardcore technical trail, but enough of a beating that stock crossovers get left behind. The route is mostly open access with some Zec permit requirements on lateral spurs. Fuel in Dolbeau-Mistassini before heading north; the forestry roads are long and gas is non-existent once you’re in. Best seasons are July and August. The draw is the sheer scale of the boreal, river crossings via forestry bridges, and lakeside crown land camping that costs nothing but requires a map and some self-sufficiency.