Page 298 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Canada

23 Caribou herds, polar bears, and musk oxen
James Bay roam the taiga and frozen Arctic tundra
that covers this region. Beluga whales and
n Tourisme Quebec; (877) seals can be seen swimming its icy waters.
266 5687
The thinly populated
municipality of James Bay is series of reservoirs, especially mine had its very own small
roughly the size of Germany –
LG­2, which is just east of
town site with a hospital and
EXPERIENCE Quebec Province makes it much larger than 24 executives. Much of the Village
accommodations for all
about 135,000 sq miles
town, are visible from above.
workers as well as visiting
(350,000 sq km) – which
Minier de Bourlamaque is still
most other municipalities in
intact and was declared a
the region. Its landscape
Val d’Or
Historic Site in 1979. Visitors
changes from forest to taiga
can tour the village, the old
to tundra, becoming gradually
@ n 1070 3rd Ave E; (819)
more inaccessible in the
analysis office and laboratories,
824 9646 or 1 877 582 5367
frozen northern parts.
and the minehead. For an
However, what James Bay
lacks in infrastructure it amply
are available down the 295­ft
town and is a major center in
makes up for in power capacity. the north western part of
(90­m) mine shaft.
Quebec. The town sights here
Its six major rivers, which all Val d’Or is principally a mining extra fee, fascinating tours
flow into the bay, can produce are not architectural but vivid La Cité de l’Or
enough electricity to light up living­history attractions of " ' ⌂ 90 Ave Perrault
the whole of North America. mines and historic villages # Late Jun–early Sep: 9am–
So far, the Quebec government from the area’s heritage of 6pm daily ∑ citedelor.com
has spent over Can $20 billion lumber trade and mining.
in building a third of the dams Miners have been dig ging gold,
for what is already one of the silver, and copper out of the 25
biggest hydroelectric projects ground around Val d’Or since
in the world. Five power plants the 1920s. A climb to the top Réserve Faunique
produce nearly 16,000 mega­ of the 60­ft (18­m) Tour Rotary La Vérendrye
watts of electricity to power on the edge of town reveals § (819) 736 7431
much of Quebec and parts of many still­active mineheads. @ Maniwaki # Summer
the northeastern US. Le Grand La Cité de l’Or is built
2 (known as LG­2) is the big­ around the abandoned This wildlife preserve is
gest dam and underground Lamaque gold mine, formerly situated approximately 292
generating station in the world. one of the richest sources of miles (471 km) to the north­
The main town in the area gold in the area. In its heyday west of Montreal on Highway
is the small tourist center of of the early 20th century, the 117. It is celebrated for long,
Radisson, which offers good meander ing waterways and,
views of the surrounding with hundreds of miles of
country. Not all of the bay’s canoe trails, is popular among
dams and dikes can be seen, canoeists. Its rivers are usually
but the massive dams and gentle, and the 5,020 sq miles
(13,000 sq km) of wilderness
are home to large numbers of
moose, bear, deer, and beaver.
The land is almost untouched,
but there are several camp­
grounds here for those who
seek a truly peaceful break.
Hwy 117 traverses the park,
providing access to many
of its lakes and rivers, and
is the starting point of
hiking trails.
An isolated cabin in James
Bay, entirely surrounded
by snowdrifts and forest
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