We paddled Lac du Cordon on a beautiful, sunny day in May this year. We had rented a “Mont Tremblant Treehouse” through Les Refuges Perchés, inside of the Parc Eco Touristique de la MRC des Laurentides, and we spent our days exploring the trails and the lakes surrounding us.
Lac du Cordon is a stunning little lake, surrounded by an uninterrupted waterfront. Because of its small size, there are no boat launches for powerboats, so it’s also very peaceful.
There’s also the option of portaging a short distance to Lac Renversi, northwest of Lac du Cordon. Or, there’s the option of paddling through to Lac à la Truite. We opted not to, because when we were there paddling, there was a ton of debris underneath the bridge between Cordon and Truite, and we didn’t feel like hauling our kayaks out of the water.
There are canoes, kayaks, and RABASKAS-how cool!- for rent at the Parc Eco Touristique de la MRC des Laurentides.
Getting There
The Parc Eco Touristique de la MRC des Laurentides is very close to Mont Tremblant, so it took us just under two hours to drive there. I thought the drive up the 50 was really quite nice, and it only got more beautiful as we approached our exit.
We punched the address for Les Refuges Perchés into our GPS to get there, because it’s inside the park. The address we used was 5000 Chemin du Lac Caribou, Saint-Faustin-Lac-Carré, QC J0T 1J2. But you can also use these coordinates to get there: 46.037036, -74.476441.
We found that our GPS signal dropped often as we were driving. Printing out directions ahead of time would have been a great idea, but it was one we hadn’t thought of.
When we arrived at the entrance to the park, there was a very cool, abstract statue of a fish. The sign there announced that we were arriving at the park, but also at Les Refuges Perchés. We drove further into the park and stopped at the first little building that we saw. There was a sign there asking us to do so, and a little parking lot.
We went inside to pay the park fees, and get better acquainted with the area. We paid ten dollars per person to access the park, and had the option of paying by debit, credit, or cash. There was a washroom there, and they also had snacks available, as well as ice cream and beer for after. The staff gave us a map of the trails in the area, and we were off!
Lac du Cordon is truly stunning.
The Main Dock
When we arrived at the parking lot, there was space for a bunch of cars, and we had no trouble finding a spot. Directly in front of us was the main pavilion, where we went to get a “rental ticket,” and a paddle for the kayak we needed to rent.
The paddle was actually pretty great- it was nice and light, with a good, curved shape to the blades.
Leaving the main pavilion, we turned to our right and walked down a wide dirt path to the main dock, where the canoes and kayaks were stored.
If you were renting a Mont Tremblant Treehouse and chose to paddle in, this is where you would load up your canoe and head out!
It’s really easy to find the main dock. Just follow this sign, in the parking lot.
The Boats Available
All the canoes looked like they were in really good shape. The kayaks were in good shape too, except they were all tandem kayaks. Fortunately for us, there was one single kayak, so we grabbed that one. All the kayaks, whether single or tandem, were sit on top kayaks. At first, we weren’t too pumped about that. After paddling the lake though, my friend said it was pretty stable, and easy to move through the water.
Canoes for rent. Our post on staying in a Mont Tremblant Treehouse has tons of info on the kayaks available, and how to rent them.
Putting In
There were two ways to put in at the main dock that were pretty easy. Right beside the dock, there was the option to walk into the water. It started out fairly sandy and shallow, so this was a really good way to get into our kayaks. Of course, there was also the option to put in right off the dock. I always find that a bit more awkward though.
Lac du Cordon
Lac du Cordon is a small lake. It’s great for beginners because it’s relatively small size doesn’t allow for the water to get too choppy. We paddled away from the dock, and hugged the shoreline to our right, in order to paddle the lake in a counter-clockwise direction.
Not long after paddling away from the main dock, we came to the first of three docks for the Mont Tremblant Treehouses. We had only been paddling for half a kilometre at this point. The other two docks were about 100 feet beyond the first, so by the time we reached the last dock, we had only paddled 0.7 kilometres. That makes for a really easy canoe trip if you had rented one of the Treehouses!
Canoe Camping
The Parc Eco Touristique de la MRC des Laurentides has camp sites all through the park. On Lac du Cordon, there’s one campsite, only accessible by Canoe. The site on Lac du Cordon is called “Cap de Roche,” which translates to (I think!) Rock Cape. The name totally makes sense, since we paddled past a small dock, with a sign announcing that there was a campsite and privee there, and noticed a beautiful rock face rising up out of the water right beside the dock.
We had paddled only 1.1 kilometres to arrive at the Rock Cape. What a brilliant opportunity for trying out your first time Canoe or kayak camping! With such a short distance to travel, this would be the perfect trip for beginners. Plus, the beauty of the area and the feeling of seclusion that I’m sure you would get being in this relatively remote spot would make for a really peaceful first time.
The only canoe camping spot on Lac du Cordon- what a perfect spot for beginners.
To Portage, or Not To Portage?
At the most northern point on the lake, there is another rock face that rises up out of the lake. At this spot, you can tie up your kayak and hop out. Climbing up the gently sloping rock face, we reached a great lunch spot at the top. There’s a little covered cabin with benches, and the view of Lac du Cordon here is stunning.
Also in this spot there is the option to portage over to Lac Renversi. The portage is very short (only 115 metres) and follows an established hiking trail in the park.
Where you would put in at Lac Renversi is not as nice. Stepping off the trail, the area is a bit rocky, with debris washed up against the shore (like sticks, grass, and leaves, nothing too crazy).
Lac Renversi is even smaller than Lac du Cordon, and for this reason we chose not to put in the effort of portaging over to it. Don’t let that stop you though!
The shoreline on Lac du Cordon is virtually uninterrupted- so you won’t miss the rock face that signals the portage.
The Western Shoreline
The trip back was just as beautiful as paddling out. We paddled behind a small island around the 3 kilometre mark. Then, we found ourselves approaching the main dock again having paddled only a total of 4 kilometres.
Approaching from this direction, we kept an eye out for the new bridge that had been built to the right of the main dock. We decided to paddle under this bridge and see where we could get to. We knew that on the map, Lac du Cordon seemed to be connected to Lac à la Truite.
The “new bridge” on Lac du Cordon.
Boardwalks and Bridges
We followed a smaller channel under the new bridge, and not long after, paddled to our left under a MUCH older bridge. It had clearly been designed to allow paddlers through, so we were hopeful that we were headed in the right direction.
We paddled past a boardwalk that makes up part of a hiking trail in the park, which was cool because we had hiked it just the day before.
Paddling by the boardwalk on our way to Lac à la Truite.
Beyond the boardwalk, the banks of the stream began to have a LOT of fallen trees on display. We learned later from park staff that a tornado had come through the area within the past year and had done a lot of damage. It was evident.
We reached another low bridge after we had been paddling for a total of 4.5 kilometres. Although there should have been space to paddle under this bridge, there wasn’t. The bridge had acted as a sort of dam, and there was enough tree limbs and other debris trapped under it that we couldn’t paddle through.
We probably (definitely) could have pulled our kayaks up onto the shore by the side of the bridge and put in on the other side, but we were feeling a bit lazy and decided to head back.
We stopped here, but if there hadn’t been debris caught under the bridge, we could have paddled underneath it.
Thoughts on Paddling Lac du Cordon
By the time we arrived back at the main dock, we had been paddling for a total of 5 kilometres, and had covered that distance in an hour and a half. We had someone with us who was completely new to kayaking, and we were really taking our time. This distance could have been covered much more quickly.
Lac du Cordon was stunning, and made for a nice, easy paddle on a beautiful day. It’s a great place for beginners to start feeling comfortable on the water. It would be an even better place to try kayak or canoe camping for the first time.
If you’re heading to the Parc Eco Touristique de la MRC des Laurentides, definitely think about bringing your own boat, or renting one there!
I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!
Map
Our GPS tracked route on Lac du Cordon.
Gear We Brought
- Kayaks
- Bailing Buckets (with rope and whistle)
- Life Jackets
- Paddles
- Kayak Locks (to lock kayak to roof rack)
- Nalgene 32 Ounce Bottles
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Hats
- Cell phones
- Coghlans Waterproof Pouches
(for cell phones)
- Olympus TG-4 Waterproof Digital Camera
