Sainte-Anne du Nord

The 7 Chutes of the St. Anne du Nord is one of the biggest runs you'll find around Quebec City - big waterfalls coupled with a deep gorge and tenuous access combine to make it a hucking classic that can be hard to get on. While much of the whitewater is relatively straightforward, for all intensive purposes it's a class V run - some of the waterfalls are quite big and getting out if you're over your head or hurt isn't easy, nor will it help the access situation.

It is critical to realize this section of river is in a park where all of the property is privately owned. Poaching access could lead to its permanent closure. Perhaps more importantly this is also the put in access point for a much more popular intermediate section so irresponsible behavior could ruin things for many more people than the few who will come to run the waterfalls. Post on the local Quebec City forum - QuebecKayak - to get information about the current access situation. Posting in english is ok, you'll get an answer.

The gauge linked above might not be very accurate for determining how much flow is in the river. There is a dam at the start which may or may not be diverting water to a power plant, and the gauge is actually on the Montmorency River found west of the St. Anne du Nord. This report is based on when the Montmorency was reading 17 cms and the Malbaie was reading 23 cms - it was low.

Getting there is easy - find the Mont St. Anne ski area and head east along the main road (route 360). This goes to and through the town of St. Ferreol Les Neiges - you can't miss all of the signs for the 7 Chutes park. There is another park further downstream built around a completely unrunnable waterfall - don't mix them up by accident. There is an entrance fee for the park - i

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