The trembling mountain, as the Algonquin are said to have called it, rises to about 875 metres, the highest point in the Laurentians north of Montreal. A spirit lived in it, the story goes, and the earth shook when people disturbed it. These days what disturbs it are skiers, mountain bikers and a resort village of brightly painted, steep-roofed buildings at its foot, laid out like a Quebec version of an alpine town. Mont-Tremblant, the municipality of nearly nine thousand that includes the old village, the resort and the town centre on Route 117, has grown into one of the busiest holiday areas in Canada.
The pedestrian village is fun for an hour of coffee and people-watching, with a free gondola linking the lower and upper sections, but the real pleasure lies beyond it. To the north, Mont-Tremblant National Park, created in 1895 as the first park of its kind in Quebec, covers a huge area of lakes, rivers and forest, home to moose, black bears, beavers and loons. The road into the park follows rivers and lakeshores through mixed forest, and the call of loons across still water at dusk is one of the great sounds of the north.
The Laurentian Curves Loop earns its name around here. The roads between Mont-Tremblant, Saint-Donat, Lac-Supérieur and Labelle twist through the hills along lakes and rivers, with tight bends, short climbs and plenty of variety. Route 117, the main highway, is fast and busy, but the secondary routes like the 327 and the 323 are much more interesting. The surface is usually good, but frost heaves and patched sections are common, and gravel can wash onto bends after rain.
Practicalities are straightforward. Mont-Tremblant has every service, from gas stations to bike shops, restaurants of all kinds and lodging at every price. The old rail line, now the P'tit Train du Nord cycle trail, runs through town, so watch for cyclists at crossings. Summers are warm with afternoon storms, autumn colour peaks in late September and early October and draws huge crowds, and black flies and mosquitoes in early summer can be fierce if you stop near water. A swim in Lac Tremblant on a hot day is refreshingly cold.