Recently we joined a bus tour group taking us to Quebec City, Canada. There were a number of activities and attractions arranged for us. One of which we enjoyed was Sentier des Cimes Laurentides - often referred to in English as the Laurentides Treetop Walk or Skywalk located in Mont-Blanc, Quebec.
The Skywalk was built on a historic 1930’s fish hatchery which was a thriving business employing many local workers. However, the fish hatchery went out of business after many years. Instead of abandoning this historic building to be ruined by the elements, a businessman bought it, renovated the buildings and re purposed the site into a tourist attraction.
The stone buildings at the base of the tower were restored to house the main reception, the artisan boutique, and the Chez Émile restaurant, preserving local architectural heritage alongside the modern eco-attraction. The wooden treetop walk opened in July 2022 welcoming visitors and tourists to its site.
As we entered they Skywalk premises, we were greeted by a wooden entryway arch displaying the word "Là-Haut" - meaning Up There, marking the start of the walk on a wooded boardwalk built high above the forest ground and among the thick, tall mature trees. The walk was a scenic stroll as we took time to enjoy the scenery around and below us as well as taking our time to read the descriptions at the various stations set up to explain the wild life living in the area, their habitats and some interesting information about the area.
After about a 30 minutes walk, we reached a ramp leading to the spiral observation tower. Walking up the ramp wound around the outside of the circular structure with open wooden slats, we had a 360-degree unobstructed views of the surrounding Laurentian mountains, including nearby Mont-Tremblant and Mont-Blanc, as well as the surrounding forest canopy and lakes. It was quite a sight!
At the very top of the 40-meter-tall (12-story) panoramic wooden tower, we saw the center opening up to a massive, heavy-duty webbed net. Visitors could step onto or lie across the net suspended mid-air to look straight down through the center of the wooden structure to the forest floor below.
That was exactly what I did! I didn’t just walk across this gigantic suspended net, I danced on it to experience the motion of this suspended net high above ground.
For some of our more adventurous souls who wanted to experience a faster decend down from the treetop level, they slid down the Giant Spiral Exit Slide - a 60-meter-long enclosed tunnel slide weaving down through the wooden structure! They said it was well worth it. If I had known about this slide exit before we walked down the tower, I would certainly have done it too!
RT, Laurentides Skywalk ( Treetop Walk) Mont-Blanc, Quebec, Canada, 082026
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