La Petite-Nation from Montréal, in one big day or with a night

Let's be straight with you. From Montréal, La Petite-Nation in a single day is doable, but it's a big day: about two hours to get here and close to three to get home from Lac Simon. That's five hours in the car. So here are two versions. The same-day round trip, for people with good coffee and patience, and the version with a night, which is honestly more fun.

The good news is that coming from Montréal you arrive at the east end of the region, right where Parc Oméga is. So you start with the main event while everyone's still fresh.

Drive times are calculated, then rounded. They're approximate, especially on the lake roads.

7:30 a.m. · Leave Old Montréal

Drive: ~2 hrs (about 134 km), Highway 15 and 40, then Highway 50 west to the Montebello exit, and a kilometre or two up Route 323.

9:30 a.m. · Parc Oméga

Time here: 3 hrs, picnic included

Parc Oméga is a drive-through safari: 12 km of road through about twenty North American species, including elk, bison, wolves and bears. The classic move is window down, carrot in hand, for the deer. After the drive there are walking trails and an old-time farm to stretch your legs.

For lunch, the park has picnic areas. Pack lunch the night before or stop at a grocery store on the way. The park is open year-round; check hours and prices on its website before you go.

Drive: ~20 min (16 km), north on Route 323.

12:50 p.m. · Gelato in Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix

Time here: 30 min

Crèmerie Café Notre-Dame is a family business making Italian gelato on site, with sorbets that change with the season and homemade brownies. Dessert, sorted.

Drive: ~15 min (13 km), still on the 323.

1:35 p.m. · Namur, to stretch your legs

Time here: 30 min

The village park in Namur holds the Jardin de la relève, a set of cabin sculptures made by artists in 2013 on the theme "Ma cabane au Canada." Kids run from one to the next. For the grown-ups, Kokocafé on Route 315 does organic fair-trade coffee to go, every day.

Drive: ~15 min (12 km), west on Route 315.

2:20 p.m. · Chénéville, for dinner supplies

Time here: 45 min

Two stops on rue Principale in Chénéville, and full disclosure, we're regulars at both. Boucherie Les Produits David makes tourtières, pâtés, cipaille and sugar pie, so tonight's or tomorrow's dinner is handled. Boulangerie Nouvelle-France, in the grey wooden house with the porch, reopened in April 2026 under new owners: croissants, chocolatines, fougasse and bread.

If you're driving home tonight, bring a cooler.

Drive: ~45 min along chemin du Tour-du-Lac. It's only 13 km, but it isn't quick.

3:50 p.m. · Belvédère Denis-Papin

Time here: 30 min

The Belvédère Denis-Papin, near 2000 chemin du Tour-du-Lac, looks over the whole of Lac Simon from above Baie Creuse. It's free, and late afternoon is the right time.

Option 1 · Home tonight

Drive: ~3 hrs (about 178 km), via Tour-du-Lac, Route 321, Route 323 and Highway 50.

You're back in Montréal around 7:30 p.m. with a tourtière in the trunk. Doable. Long.

Option 2 · Stay the night

Honestly, this is what we'd do. A few places near the lake:

• Motel du lac Simon on Route 321 in Duhamel, open for more than 50 years. Air-conditioned rooms, pets welcome.
• Auberge Montagne Noire, right in Ripon village: eight renovated rooms, a bar, a pool table and a terrace.
• Manoir du lac Simon, on the lake, with a heated indoor pool and hot tub. Built with groups in mind.

Next morning, head up the Montagnes Noires in Ripon. Mont Grand-Pic is 426 metres, with a 12-metre tower on top. Allow about two hours with stops. There's a covered shelter with tables at the lookout, which makes a fine last lunch. On a Saturday, the Place du Marché market runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., from Patriots' Day weekend to Thanksgiving.

From the park, it's about 2 hrs 30 min back to Montréal (162 km).

Another way to do it: arrive the night before, eat at Omegabon on Lac des Oiseaux (no park ticket needed for dinner), and sleep in Parc Oméga's unusual lodgings: tipis, prospector cabins, a house on stilts, cabins where you can see the wolves. You do the park at opening and the rest of the day without rushing.

The drive time that hurts is chemin du Tour-du-Lac. On the map it's nothing. In real life, plan on double.

What to know

• Distance: about 340 km round trip for the one-day version, roughly 5 hours of driving.
• Times are approximate: calculated, then rounded up. Lake roads are slower than your phone thinks.
• Hours and prices: check Parc Oméga's on its website. For shops, call ahead, especially off-season.
• Gas: the Ultramar on rue Principale in Chénéville, before the drive home.
• More reading: our Parc Oméga tips and where to stay in La Petite-Nation.

Notre-Dame-de-BonsecoursNotre-Dame-de-la-PaixNamurChénévilleLac-SimonRiponDuhamel

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