The Lighthouses Trail

Photo: Marc Loiselle

The Gaspésie has fourteen proud witnesses to history, five of which have been given a second life thanks to the judicious interventions of enthusiasts. Thus, these true sentinels of the sea or their outbuildings have been transformed into museums or tourist information offices.

Discover the Matane and La Martre lighthouses, whose beacons have been lighting the way since 1906. The first lighthouse towers above the area and offers a splendid view of the maritime activities, the windmill park and the Chic-Chocs Mountains, and the lightkeeper's house is a museum as well as a tourist information office. The second lighthouse, which remains operational, still has its original clock components, and the building next to it houses the lighthouse museum and its permanent exhibit.

From the top of the 44 stairs of the Cap de la Madeleine lighthouse, the village, the mountains, the barachois, and the mouth of one of the most beautiful salmon rivers reveal themselves before your eyes. The site also offers several services, and has a shop, and a museum. The Pointe-à-la-Renommée lighthouse, renowned for having traveled a lot, stands in a panoramic setting that is quite breathtaking which is also its original home. This historical site was, thanks to Marconi, a strategic communications centre. The beacons of these lighthouses were lit in 1907.

The Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse, which stands at 34 meters, is the highest lighthouse in Canada, and navigators can always count on its beacon, which was lit in 1858, to find their way. Firmly planted at the entrance of the Forillon National Park of Canada, this fabulous structure was declared a historic monument.

All these witnesses to maritime heritage know how to make their respective history known through various ways. Now it is up to you to take the trail that will lead you to them…