1. Chutes Jean-Larose
My friend and I took a road trip to Quebec with our dogs (three total) during the summer. It was important to us that the dogs were able to cool off in water, so we chose three hikes to waterfalls. The first hike we embarked on was Chutes Jean-Larose. This is a 4 km loop, including a steep staircase made of about 350 steps. I was nervous that Max wouldn’t be able to handle the stairs, but he did great! The dogs loved playing in the waterfall and it kept them cool for the remainder of the hike.
2. Parc de la Chute- Montmorency
The second waterfall we took the dogs to was Parc de la Chute- Montmorency. Unfortunately, this waterfall is much too big for swimming in, but it does require a trip on a cable car to get to the top! The waterfall is 83 meters (275 ft) tall- surpassing even Niagara Falls! We parked at the bottom of the waterfall and took the cable car to the top, where there is plenty of flowers and grassy areas to walk them and a great view of the falls. The dogs seemed to really enjoy the ride on the cable car. There is a lot to do here, including a walk over a suspension bridge and ziplining.
3. Chute Delaney
The last waterfall we took the dogs to was Chute Delaney. We took the Bras-du-Nord Trail, a 5.1 mile out and back trail that follows a river to the waterfall. There were plenty of places to stop along the trail so the dogs could cool off in the river. At the waterfall, there were several picnic tables where you can stop and eat lunch before heading back.
4. Stay: The Noge
Central to all of our waterfall hikes was our incredible cottage at Noge in Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval. Noge offers several dog-friendly cottages surrounding a pond where you can swim or kayak. There is also a series of trails throughout the property. With the hot summer, it was a relief to have the option of walking the dogs down to the pond to cool off in the water. As for the humans, the hot tub on the deck of the cottage was perfect for relieving our sore bodies from all the hiking! The cottage also has a sauna off the deck, but it was much too hot for us to make use of it. Of note, the deck on the cottage is not completely closed off, so we did bring some mesh netting that we used as a gate to close the deck off completely so our dogs could lay out. I would highly recommend this dog friendly stay and would love to experience it in the winter, too!
