Iles-de-Boucherville National Park
Quebec, Canada
The Iles-de-Boucherville are a cluster of five low, green islands in the middle of the St Lawrence river, a few kilometres downstream from the centre of Montreal, and they form a park which the people of that city use as their nearest piece of countryside, for an afternoon's cycling, paddling or, in winter, skiing, within sight of the skyscrapers and the container port. It is one of the national parks of Quebec, which is to say a provincial park, managed by the province's outdoor agency, and an entrance fee per adult is charged, bought online or at the gate, children entering free. By car it is reached in ten to twenty minutes from downtown by the motorway that passes under the river in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel, taking the exit that surfaces on Ile Charron, at the park's entrance; the tunnel has been undergoing major repairs for several years, with lanes closed and long delays at busy hours, which is worth checking.
