YAMASKA NATIONAL PARK

Fun at the reservoir

Yamaska National Park is a natural area around a man-made reservoir northeast of the city of Granby. The forest surrounding the reservoir hosts sugar and red maples, balsam firs, hemlocks, birches and elms. The park offers numerous outdoors activities: picnic areas, a sandy beach, beach volley fields, showers, bike, canoe, paddle board and pedal boat rentals.

No matter if you’re looking for a peaceful day on the beach or if you’re up for a sporty day: Yamaska has it all for a day of fun.

At the beach

The Yamaska beach is a very well maintained and organized space. You can chill in the shade of the trees or decide to suntan in the sand. We started out our day at the beach, chilling on our wind inflatable bags.

Sailing on a pedal boat

However, we are not beach animals, so we eventually decided to explore the reservoir from the water side. Sailing on a pedal boat is a fantastic way to do just that. Rentals are cheap and you can enjoy yourself while also doing exercise.

At the dam

If you’re up for a walk, follow the signs from the beach: you will get into a path into the woods that leads to a dam. This acts as a means of containing water overflows from the reservoir. It’s also an observation point for the birds populating the area. The overflow area is so huge it’s impressive. However, that day didn’t feel like walking the long trail around the reservoir. We did go back one year later with our bikes, and completed the tour of the lake. It’s a challenging bike ride going up and down the hills, but we enjoyed that a lot.

Finally, when you pass by Granby, watch out for cool cars: the town hosts a racing track. You could, for instance, spot General Lee on the highway…