Sure, you’ve been to Montreal and possibly Quebec City, but here’s a spot that’s likely escaped your attention: Anticosti Island.
Part of the pristine and aquatic Côte-Nord region, Anticosti is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, spanning nearly 3,000 square miles and having only 180 residents.
Now, this unassuming coastal site has the distinction of being one of 42 geological sites to be added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2023.
Selected for having the most complete and best-preserved fossil record documenting the first mass extinction of animal life between 447 and 437 million years ago, there is still much to see in modern times.
For example, there’s everything from scuba diving to famous shipwrecks (this is the “Graveyard of the Bay,” where nearly 400 shipwrecks have been found over the past 400 years), spotting wildlife like whales and seals, and visiting cute inns taken straight from the pages of Shari Lapena’s novel.
First, you'll want to get there. Visitors can either fly to Anticosti from Montreal (and other Canadian destinations) or take the Relais Nordique ferry from Rimouski or Havre-Saint-Pierre. Note: In the fall, Anticosti is a popular deer-hunting destination, so expect higher prices.
The centre of the island is the sparsely populated fishing village of Port-Menier, founded in the late 19th century by French chocolate maker Henri Menier.
If you’re not a fan of pitching a tent in one of the island’s campgrounds (only available during the summer), the campground at Monsieur Menier is probably your best option.
Choose any of these gite du copacoa bed and breakfast that runs guided tours with transportation around the island for guests (from $120 per night) or Auberge Port-Menier, a 16-room inn that includes meals, island transportation and round-trip airfare to and from Mont-Joli (from $1,637 per person for five nights). Another option is Auberge Macdonald Inn, about 30 miles from Anticosti National Park, which includes meals and transportation (from $1,482 per person for five nights).
As for how to spend your time on this mythical island, trust the Francophone locals (some speak English, too). On any given day, they can take you on an itinerary that includes picnics by the sea, viewing shipwrecks and seal pilings along the shoreline, and getting a clear look at some of the world's most amazing fossils.
No trip to Anticosti would be complete without a visit to the chute (waterfall) and canyon Vauriel. One of the island's main attractions, the two-hour drive from Port-Menier is well worth the trek to the 250-foot-high Vauriel Falls.
The trip is as breathtaking as the destination: You'll walk along the river to the waterfall through a 2-mile-long limestone canyon, with each side dropping about 300 feet in height. Move slowly because there are more than 600 fossil species discovered in the canyon and each meter—about 3.3 feet—represents about 15,000 years of marine deposition. (The Brick River and Observation River canyons are also great places to check out beautifully preserved fossils.)
Other places of interest: The Trois-Plains cave, one of the longest caves in the province, about 30 minutes from Port Menier, and the Chute Kalimazou, about an hour from the fishing village. Or, explore more of Port-Menier with a trip to Baie Saint-Clair to see the foundations of the first village houses built by Mr. Menier in 1895 and the Chute à Boule, which is reminiscent of a staircase. About 25 minutes away, you can see the Bateaux Caillou on the beach, which was sunk at Pointe-Ouest.
You should also thank the chocolate merchant for all those white-tailed deer you're keeping an eye on.
The island's owner introduced about 220 deer here in the late 1890s, and today their numbers have grown to about 115,000. Locals aren't kidding when they say hunters can get more up close and personal with deer in one trip to Anticosti than they could in a decade of traveling to better-known parts.
After a few days spent tossing pebbles on the beaches, mingling with rare seabirds and little penguins, and enjoying La Belle Vie, you'll officially become part of the Anticosti Club.
