Estrie

A weekend in the Eastern Townships is really two faces of the same region. On one side, the MRC du Granit and its Route des Sommets: a themed 193 km circuit linking La Patrie to Saint-Adrien with the mountains as the headline act, with tiny villages, scenic pull-offs and the highest summit in Quebec you can reach by car. On the other, Magog and Lake Memphremagog, more worldly, more indulgent, where you trade hiking boots for a glass of local wine by the water. Between the two lies what makes this corner truly singular: the sky. The Mont-Mégantic area was the first in the world to be granted International Dark Sky Reserve status, and that changes everything. Village lighting has been rethought, the observatory welcomes the public in the evening, and even municipal rest areas double as improvised observation posts. You come for the summits, you leave talking about the stars. Our itinerary: an astronomy evening at the ASTROLab, a day criss-crossing Notre-Dame-des-Bois, Piopolis and Lac-Mégantic before driving up to the summits, then a day in Magog for the Fête des Vendanges and a cruise on the Memphremagog. Three days, two moods, and a region you leave promising yourself you'll come back off-season.

At 4149, chemin de la Montagne in Val-Racine, at the foot of the mont Saint-Joseph, the Camping et Chalets dans les Arbres Mont-Mégantic sits in the middle of a hundred-year-old forest, only 6 km from the ASTROLab and Mont-Mégantic National Park. Which is to say, the perfect base for a stay built around summits and the sky.

The campground has more than 50 sites, about ten of them with 2 services. You can set up a tent, a camper or a small trailer, and a washroom building is available to campers. It's a resolutely rustic campground — you don't come here for the pool and the splash pad, but for the forest, the silence and the mature trees that close in around the sites.

The place also has a fine story. It used to be called the Camping Cédrière de la Montagne, and in 2009 the owner, Roger Pépin, had the slightly crazy idea one January evening of building cabins perched up in the trees. A few months later three of them had appeared along the chemin de la Montagne — the property has four today, one of them rustic. The campground eventually took its name from that good idea.

What makes the site really special is, of course, the sky. You're right in the middle of the Mont-Mégantic International Dark Sky Reserve, the first in the world to earn that status. Lighting across the whole region was rethought accordingly, and the Milky Way unfurls above the sites the way you rarely get to see it. That's the whole meaning of the house motto: "Set your course for the stars… and come breathe the earth!"

One practical advantage worth knowing: the campground offers a partner discount with the ASTROLab, which is far from negligible if you're planning an evening of astronomy. And 6 km from the park's welcome centre, you're front row for heading up to the summits early in the morning, before the crowds.

Tucked into the charming village of Eastman, right in the heart of the Eastern Townships, Le Bunker is one of those addresses you discover almost by accident and never forget. The little brother of the restaurant Le Côte, the Bunker opened its doors in July 2016, taking over the basement space of the establishment to offer locals a true rural cantine. 

Le Bunker is the kind of place where it feels good to meet up with friends for the 4 à 7, or to watch the hockey game over comforting, efficient and original dishes. The menu offers reworked poutines and hamburgers, chicken wings, nachos and good beer. The poutine, which we savoured happily, really deserves your attention — a great Quebec classic executed with care, in the grand tradition of rural cantines. 

And the terrace? With its view over the bucolic landscapes of the Estrie, it's the ideal spot to enjoy a fine summer day, a cold beer in hand — exactly what you're after following a day outdoors. A favourite we warmly recommend to anyone passing through this magnificent corner of the Eastern Townships!