Summer in Montreal is all about parks, microbrews, grilling in the backyards, ice-cold matcha in the scorching streets, moving quickly from the shade of one tree to the shade of the next. It’s also festivals, music – all the time – and staying out all night.
And, sometimes, summer in the city becomes heavy, suffocating (like when there’s the tropical climate of heatwaves, or when the air turns orange and pungent from the smoke of forest fires in the West).
As they say, sometimes you have to touch grass for a few days-aweek if you can, or just a weekend or a day. And, a 2h30 drive from Montreal, we found a sandy beach on an island in the middle of a lake, in the middle of a nature park (a total change of scenery).
Parc Régional du lac Taureau
Lac Taureau is the largest lake near Montreal; it’s a 95km2 reservoir (about the size of the Plateau and Mile End combined, so there’s plenty of room for sunbathing without sitting on the knees of the family next door).
There are 45 islands in the lake, and you can swim on the sandy shores of most of them – as well as canoe, paddleboard or kayak between the islands. You can rent a canoe or kayak from $21, and the rates are here!
The Parc Régional also has a network of easy walking trails (with passages through the region’s sublime wetlands, so don’t forget your anti-maringouin spray) where you can hike or bike.
For those who want to spend a few days on the lake, or in the park, you can camp (from $50/night) or rent a mini-chalet (from $300/night) in the Lac Taureau Regional Park.
Pointe-Fine beach
There are four large beaches on Lac Taureau-the kind of beach that, with our boreal climate, becomes a little tropical in summer-where you can spend the day. These are the beaches where we bring the cooler, the towels or the foutahs we bought on the Amalfi Coast last summer, the umbrellas and about a liter of sunscreen.
- Plage de la Baie du Milieu (unattended) | 8000, chemin Manawan
- Plage municipale (unattended) | 351 chemin du lac Taureau
- Plage Pointe-Fine (unattended) | 2000 chemin Pointe-fine
- Plage Baie-Dominique (unattended) | 330 ch. Ferland
Our favorite is the Pointe-Fine beach, because it’s at the end of a peninsula, and when you’re there, you feel like you’re in the middle of the lake. There’s a picnic area, a boat ramp and toilets – the essentials, to keep the beach as natural and wild as possible. After a summer spent in the city, this is paradise!
Practical info
Where? Pointe-Fine beach is at 8000, chemin Manawan
Saint-Michel-des-Saints, QC J0K 3B0
When? Lac Taureau regional park is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., 7 days a week.
How? Access is $8.70/day for adults and $3.48/day for children / and for family access, it’s $21.74/day.
For full rates, click here!
Have a nice day on the beach!