Hotels near Route 381 to Parc national des Grands-Jardins

Route 381 climbs out of Baie-Saint-Paul into the Laurentian highlands and delivers something none of the other four can: taiga and boreal transition, black spruce and lichen against birch and maple, at altitude. Because it is high and cold, it turns earlier than the Charlevoix shoreline, which makes it the answer for anyone arriving in the last week of September when the coast is still green. Daily access to Parc national des Grands-Jardins costs 10.30 dollars per adult in 2026 with under-18s free, and Sepaq asks you to buy it online before arrival.

The signature walk is the Mont-du-Lac-des-Cygnes trail, which climbs to a summit view back over the Charlevoix crater. Route 381 itself is fully paved, two lanes and well marked, though it was a gravel mountain road as recently as the mid-1990s and still feels remote. Total length to Route 170 in the La Baie sector of Saguenay is roughly 125 km.

Be straight about the trade-offs. This is a genuine wilderness park rather than a drive-through viewpoint, there are almost no services along the highway, October snow is entirely plausible at this altitude, and the corridor is a known moose-collision and winter-storm route. Sepaq currently lists the Thomas-Fortin service centre as closed and publishes no civic address for it, so treat the km 21 reception at Saint-Urbain as your reference point and confirm sector openings before you set off.

Pro Tip: Fill the tank in Baie-Saint-Paul, not in Quebec City, and do this drive in the last week of September or first days of October rather than mid-month. Pair it with Route 362 on consecutive days, since both start from the same junction on Route 138.