One of the most popular attractions at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, and rightly so, is the larger-than-life historic panorama known as the Canada Hall.
The Gatineau River was a wilderness thoroughfare through unbroken Laurentian forest.
Before loggers and farmers cleared its banks, the 275-kilometre long waterway served Algonquin Indian hunters as their main route to the game-rich hinterlands. The river was a link in a vast First Nations trade system joining Huron and Nipissing people in the Great Lakes with Montagnais Innu near Lac Saint-Jean.
The Outaouais-Pontiac Heritage Trail leads to pioneer settlements and historic sites on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, from Aylmer to Fort Coulonge.
For those interested in a heritage of a different kind, Hydro-Quebec’s Rapides-Farmer power generating station on the Gatineau River makes for a truly fascinating and eye-opening visit.
Constructed in 1927 when hydro-electric sites were being developed all across the province of Quebec, the facility has a current production capacity of 98 megawatts of electricity, with a waterfall of over 20 metres.
Covering an area of nearly 14,000 square kilometres, and stretching northwest into the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, the La Vérendrye Wildlife Preserve is one of Quebec’s largest parks.
Stamp collectors from novice to expert -- or indeed anyone interested in the history of the postal system -- will enjoy a visit to the Canadian Postal Museum.
A museum run by the Buckingham Historical Society is located at 379 Buckingham Avenue, in the Old Market Place in downtown Buckingham. This small exhibition centre is filled with artifacts and documentation from the early history of this town that grew up at the falls of the Lièvre River. There are photographs, tools, furnishings, and all kinds of memorabilia.
Not far from Plaisance, along Route 148, is Parc national de Plaisance (Plaisance Provincial Park). With its 28 square kilometres of islands, peninsulas, and marshes along the Ottawa River, the park is home to a stunning variety of flora and fauna.
A must-see for anyone visiting the Capital region, the Canadian Museum of Civilization is the largest and most popular cultural attraction in Canada. Located just across the Ottawa River in Gatineau, Quebec, the museum’s multi-level exhibition complex receives an astounding 1.3 million visitors annually.
