The problem with provincial parks

Re: “Montreal alone can’t save nature” (Letters, Nov. 15) It is not only on the island of Montreal that green spaces are threatened by developers. Off-island, SEPAQ (Société des établissements de plein air du Québec) is building unnecessary infrastructure and turning our provincial parks into playgrounds for the wellheeled.

Recently, I decided to hike to Chutes-aux-Rats, which is advertised as a major attraction in the Pimbina sector of Parc du Mont-Tremblant. I arrived to find the visitors’ centre closed, but fortunately I had brought my own maps. The 4.6-km hiking trail to the waterfalls was in fact a graded, gravel road, replete with stop signs and crisscrossed by other roads serving well-appointed chalets and Huttopia tents. It was hardly pristine wilderness and I was lucky that, it being a cool day with a dusting of snow, I did not have to share the so-called trail with cyclists or, worse still, cars.

SEPAQ clearly does not understand that multi-user trails please no one. Hikers do not wish to share a trail with cyclists, and vice-versa. Similarly with snowshoers and skiers. Furthermore, hikers and snowshoers do not need a trail that is more than four feet wide.

While the waterfalls were impressive, the area was marred by wooden stairs, car parks and other infrastructure that detracted from the beauty of the site. All that was missing was some granite tree stumps.

It costs $8.50 per adult just to enter SEPAQ parks, and to rent a chalet or Huttopia tent costs as much as a Montreal hotel room, which must discourage many from using the parks.

Quebecers are not being well-served by SEPAQ’s management of our provincial parks. Regional municipalities, for example MRC Matawinie, seem to be doing a better job of protecting the wilderness and making it affordable to all. Derek Wisdom, Anjou