The St Lawrence is so wide at Les Escoumins that it feels like an ocean, and the whales that live in it seem to agree. The village sits on the north shore, on a road that runs for hundreds of kilometres along the river through spruce forest and granite, and its offshore waters form part of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, where cold, nutrient-rich water rises from the deep trench and feeds krill, fish and, in turn, whales. Minke, fin and sometimes blue whales appear in the summer, and belugas live further upstream. Divers also come here for the underwater walls, which are famous for their cold-water life.
Les Escoumins is a small place of about thirteen hundred people, and a good part of its identity belongs to the Innu community of Essipit, who have lived and fished on this coast for a very long time. Tourism came later, brought by the whales and by the ferry that crosses to Trois-Pistoles on the opposite shore, an hour or so of water that shows how big the river is. The old lighthouse and small wharves complete the picture.
For a rider the road is Route 138, the Whale Route, and it is worth the miles. It runs in long gentle curves between the forest and the river, with steep little hills where a creek cuts through, and then a sudden view of the water at a bend. The surface is generally good but frost-heaved in places, and traffic is light outside summer weekends. Fog and cold wind are common on the shoreline, even in July, so a windproof layer matters. The best time is late summer, when the days are warm, the forest is dense green and the whale-watching boats are busy.
Services here are modest, so treat Les Escoumins as a coffee and rest stop and keep an eye on your tank. Sacré-Coeur, about thirty kilometres to the east near the Saguenay, is the next village of any size, and Tadoussac beyond it has more facilities and the ferry across the Saguenay. Walk down to the water if you have a spare half hour. You may hear a whale blow before you see it.