Redevelopment of the Wapizagonke, Waber and Anticagamac trails, La Mauricie National Park

The high popularity and use of the Wapizagonke, Waber and Anticagamac trails in La Mauricie National Park over the years has led to an accelerated degradation of the walking surface, necessitating a review of the entire trail network in the sector and the need for major rehabilitation work. The majority of the work to be done is routine trail maintenance. There is a need to raise the trail bed to backfill roots or fill in gullies created by trampling, to build berms to promote water management and to remove rocks from the walking surface that are detrimental to visitors. Since these trails are not accessible by road, it is anticipated that several borrow pits will be used to complete this project and source materials. Tree cutting will be primarily within the right-of-way of the new bypass areas. In the Wapizagonke-Waber section, approximately 500 metres of end-of-life treated wood walkways will be removed. A trail bypass of approximately 1.2 kilometers will be constructed, including the rehabilitation of the old disused walkway. It will be possible to add two small lookouts on the trail. This bypass will eliminate a recurring problem of beaver flooding on the trail. For the Waber-Anticaqamac section, it is planned to reduce the trail bed to two meters in width and to redo the slopes for optimal drainage and to replace certain culverts. For the Anticaqamac-Wapizagonke portion, the work consists of raising the trail to fill in roots and to build slopes. In order to avoid two descents that are very steep, undermined and dangerous for visitors and employees who use them for maintenance, there will be a trail bypass of approximately 280 meters. The decommissioned portion of the trail will be rehabilitated. The Anticagamac lookout trail will be redesigned (raising the base by adding material), creating slopes to improve drainage and installing rock stairs made with material present near the base. Finally, the section north of Lake Wapizagonke linking the Wapi-Waber and Waber-Anticagamac trails will be redeveloped to allow the removal of two treated wooden footbridges in a watercourse that have altered the normal flow of water. The new footbridges will be constructed on targeted piles a few dozen meters further north to reduce the footprint in critical wood turtle habitat. A few sections of the project are within critical habitat for the COSEWIC-designated threatened wood turtle and adjacent to aquatic habitat for brook trout. It is desired to begin replacement work early in the spring to mitigate the impact on visitation and the quality of the visitor experience. The goal is to complete the work during the 2023 summer season.

Latest update

September 06, 2023 - The assessment decision statement has been issued to the proponent.

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Contacts

La Mauricie National Park
702, 5e rue de la Pointe
Shawinigan, Quebec G9N 1E9
Telephone: 819-538-3232 or 1-888-773-8888
Fax: 819-536-3661
Email: lamauricie@pc.gc.ca


  • Location

    • La Mauricie National Park of Canada (Quebec)

  • Nature of Activity

    • Recreation and Tourism

  • Assessment Status

    Completed

  • Start Date

    2022-12-22

  • Proponent

    Parks Canada

  • Authorities

    • Parks Canada Agency

  • Assessment Type

    Project on federal lands

  • Reference Number

    84199
Disclaimer

This map is for illustrative purposes. The markers represent the approximate locations based on available data. More than one marker may be identified for a given assessment.

 

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...within 200 kilometres
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