Sainte-Anne-des-Monts is the gateway to the Gaspésie National Park, on the north coast of the Gaspé Peninsula, where the St Lawrence River widens into the Gulf and the Chic-Chocs mountains rise abruptly behind the shore. The town is a pleasant, working place of about five and a half thousand people, with a church, a fishing wharf and a main street running along the coast. Behind it, the road to the park climbs into the mountains, where a herd of woodland caribou, the last south of the St Lawrence, survives on the high plateaus.
The park contains the highest peaks in southern Quebec, including Mont Jacques-Cartier and Mont Albert, with arctic-alpine vegetation, deep valleys and cold, clear rivers. Moose are common, and a road through the park offers a good chance to see them at dawn and dusk. The hiking trails are excellent, and a day spent among the mountains is a fine counterpoint to the coastal ride.
Route 132 runs along the shore, with sea views, small villages and white lighthouses, and it is one of the great coastal rides in eastern Canada. The surface is generally good, with long curves and some steeper sections where the mountains meet the sea. The traffic is light outside summer, and the wind off the Gulf can be strong and cold. Nearby Cap-Chat has a giant wind turbine, called Éole, which was the tallest vertical-axis turbine in the world, shaped like an egg-whisk and rising over a hundred metres.
Sainte-Anne-des-Monts has fuel stations, supermarkets, restaurants and places to stay, and it is a sensible stop on the long run around the peninsula. Seafood is the local speciality, with shrimp, crab and fresh fish served at harbour-side restaurants. The weather can be cool and foggy, even in summer, and nights are cold, so carry warm clothing. In the evening, with the sun setting over the water and the mountains turning pink, the place is quietly magnificent.