The best camping near Forillon National Park

Forillon National Park sits where steep cliffs plunge toward the Gulf of St. Lawrence and hiking trails overlook the Baie de Gaspé. An excellent destination for an eastern Canada road trip, Forillon is about 6.5 hours’ drive from Edmundston, New Brunswick, and eight hours from Quebec City. Popular hiking routes include Les Graves, which leads to Land’s End at the Gaspé’s tip; the short La Chute (waterfall) trail; and the climb up Mont-Saint-Alban with views across La Gaspésie. If you’re lucky, you might spot whales from shore, or book a whale-watching tour from the park’s Grande-Grave wharf.

• Best for tent campers: Cap-Bon-Ami Campground
• Best for swimmers and hikers: Petit-Gaspé Campground
• Best for walks above the cliffs: Des-Rosiers Campground

1. The Parks Canada online camping reservations site for Forillon National Park opens in mid-January. You can reserve sites in advance in any of the three front-country campgrounds, which have a total of 352 campsites, plus restrooms and showers. Book early, particularly for July and August.
2. Both Des-Rosiers and Petit-Gaspé offer oTENTiks (platform tents), too, and at Des-Rosiers, you can rent a micrOcube tiny house or a two-level structure dubbed the Oasis. Cap-Bon-Ami campground is set up for tent camping only. Forillon also has backcountry tent sites and lean-to shelters along Les Crêtes and Les Lacs hiking trails.

The campgrounds in Forillon National Park of Canada normally open for the season in late May or early June and close in mid-October. Check the park website for specific opening and closing dates. July and August are peak months for visitors, and summer long weekends, including Jean Baptiste Day (Fête Nationale) in late June, Canada Day (July 1), and Labour Day (early September) are especially busy.

• Highway 132 circles the Gaspésie, running through Forillon. You can reach the park from the south, travelling via Carleton, Percé, and Gaspé, or the north via Matane and Sainte-Anne-des-Monts.
• Of the park’s three campgrounds, forested and family-friendly Petit-Gaspé is in the south area. Des-Rosiers and Cap-Bon-Ami are in the north.
• You can buy groceries and other supplies in Gaspé, which also has a craft brewery and a small gourmet market. Inside the park, the Petit-Gaspé recreation center has a convenience store, snack bar, and swimming pool.