The Unofficial Guide to Mont Tremblant: River Kayaking Part 4: Rouge Redux

Sand beaches and Laurentian views along the Rouge

Further to my 2015 post on kayaking on the Riviere Rouge, we picked a hot, sunny summer day for our return to this glorious river a few days ago. We catch glimpses of expansive white beaches as we head along the highway towards the airport and we had to give it a try. Rather than trying to sort out our own transportation, we paid the transport fee to the nice folks at Pause Plein Air. They have their office at La Conception, just at exit 126 of Highway 117. You park your car at their office, and they drive you and your vessels either 12 or 24km up-river. We chose the 24k route which took us about 5 hours.

Karen sets up lunch at the halfway mark

The longer route starts at Labelle, which is where Kayak Cafe is located and marks the spot of our first river kayak trip. So some of this was a repeat for us, but we were happy to revisit the beautiful sites along the way. This is a very gentle part of the river, no rapids to deal with, and despite some rain the night before we hit a couple spots where the river was quite shallow. If you read the river properly then there is always a pathway deep enough for kayaks and canoes. I admit I got beached once and had to get out and walk my kayak to deeper waters, but the water is cool so it's always a pleasant mistake to make.

Lazy afternoon with doggy on board!

After a quick lunch and swim at about the half-way mark, we were now into new territory that we hadn't kayaked before. The current seemed stronger here and we appeared to make faster progress along the way. This is where a fresh set of river adventurers are dropped off for the 12k trip down the Rouge. Because we are in longer ocean-style kayaks, we sped right past these folks although nobody was in a hurry. This segment of the river has many more beaches and they are very expansive - note to self for next time, save your beach time for this part. Before long we found ourselves approaching the double bridge of the 117 and back at the Pause Plein Air headquarters. In all, the 24km trip took just under 5 hours although the folks on the standup paddle boards may have found it longer. If you find yourself in Tremblant with a hot sunny day on your hands, this trip is highly recommended!