GNBR East Day 7 - Lake Monroe to Saint Michel des Saints

 57.5 miles, 3677’ climbing

August 29, 2026

Hotel St. Michel

Moose sightings: 0

It was a slightly noisy night with people arriving to the campground for the weekend, but good noise, a lot of laughter. It’s the coldest night of our trip so far. We woke up early and headed out into some fog with temperature in the forties. Our fingers were cold. We saw deer as we wound around national park trails past amenities we didn’t partake of: beaches, playgrounds, kayak and paddle board rentals, an ice creamery. There must be nearly 30 campsites around Lake Monroe. 

After leaving the series of campgrounds on the north east side of the lake, we turned off onto a gravel road. We had a bit of climbing past forests and lakes. We finally came to a point where there was a barricade and a “Road Closed” sign. The exit part of the road was open. There was no indication of for how long or why. Since we were out of cell phone service all day, we opened our map apps to find an alternative route to our destination, but there was none. Finally we pedaled past the sign.

It was a wide gravel road. There were signs of a little recent road work, a lot of gravel in places, but nothing obvious for why it would be closed. With a lot of uphill pedaling, we proceeded for 18 miles. We were passed by two motorcyclists, but saw nobody else. Unlike many areas, there were no homes or cottages in this area, possible due to being in Mont Tremblant National Park part of the time. 

Finally we came to an exit gate where we would make a turn near the Reseve Faunique Rouge Mayawin. A couple from Montreal were on bikes there. They greeted us and asked about road conditions. Part of their conversation was hard to follow, but it seemed to be a seasonal road closure (in August??) which was inconvenient for local travel. The couple said their good byes, and we crossed the street to a Reserve headquarters where we had cokes and ice creams. The ranger told us that moose are everywhere and that hunting season starts in 2 weeks. We planned our trip to finish by mid September for that reason.

It looked like it would rain. Luckily we had an easy ride on smooth pavement to Saint Michel des Saints. We checked into our hotel, grabbed dinner, and picked up groceries for the next two days. It looks like we may be off the grid.