Le P'tit Train du Nord

Four days on an old railway line, riding from town to town through the Laurentians. If you have been curious about bike touring, this is where we would tell you to start.

Le P'tit Train du Nord follows the bed of the railway that once ran north from Saint-Jérôme into the Laurentians, a line championed by Curé Antoine Labelle and completed to Mont-Laurier in 1909. Freight service ended in 1989, and the corridor is now a multi-use trail of about 200 km between the two towns. Because it was built for trains, the grades stay gentle, and several of the old stations along the way now house cafes and information stops.

We rode it out and back from Saint-Jérôme over four days. Day one heads north to Mont-Tremblant, and day two carries on to Mont-Laurier at the end of the line. Then we turned around: Mont-Laurier back to Mont-Tremblant on day three, and a final day into Saint-Jérôme with a short gravel and road detour.

You do not have to ride it both ways. If we only had two days, we would ride it one way from Mont-Laurier to Saint-Jérôme, which generally trends downhill in that direction and is a slightly easier ride. Autobus Le Petit Train du Nord, the trail's official shuttle, runs riders and bikes from Saint-Jérôme up to Mont-Laurier and other stops, and can move your bags between places to stay. A one-way trip also splits easily over more days, with natural overnights in Nominingue, Mont-Tremblant and Val-David.

Each day below has its own page with the route, the reel, the stops we used and where we stayed. Find the official map and trail updates at ptittraindunord.com.