Mingan Archipelago National Park

Beyond the 50th parallel, along the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, lies a remarkably beautiful scattering of some thirty limestone islands and more than 1000 granitic islets and reefs. The territory, the "Mingan Archipelago", became a national park reserve in 1984. This necklace of land carved out of the limestone bedrock is the site of spectacular natural monuments which bear witness to the never-ending wear of the sea and of the centuries. And there is an abundance of life in this strange half-world: plants of variegated hues and shapes, seabirds gathered in colonies, seals, dolphins and whales, swarming the blue vastness in which the islands bathe. Famous for the largest concentration of erosion monoliths in Canada, the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve encompasses close to a thousand islands and islets sprinkled along 93 miles from east to west. Although the park is restricted to the islands themselves, the sea shapes everything here—rocks, plants, wildlife, climate . . . even the visitor’s experience itself. The Mingan Archipelago tells a fascinating geological story. Difficult to imagine today, the sedimentary rock formations date back almost 500 million years to a time when a warm, shallow tropical sea covered today’s St. Lawrence Lowlands region. Saturated with calcium carbonate and teeming with a diversity of marine organisms, the bottom of this ancient sea received a steady deposit of fine marine sediments and animal shells. Over tens of millions of years, they accumulated to form a blanket nearly two miles thick that gradually turned to rock under its own weight.  With passing time, continents shifted, the sea receded, and this vast plateau of relatively soft and partly soluble rock found itself under the aggressive attack of erosion. Among other factors, rivers carved up the land, carrying away most of the material, but fortunately left behind several “hard to do” rocky mounds. After several other episodes of sea level fluctuation, these mounds became today’s islands. As if to decorate the islands still further, the sea continued to carve their shores, creating a mesmerizing array of monoliths, festooned cliffs, arches, and grottoes. At the same time, a surprising diversity of plant and animal species managed to establish itself on the islands. Due to the particular combination of geology and climate, many rare plants are found nowhere else in the region. In springtime, marine birds—including puffins, razorbills, guillemots, terns, and kittiwakes—congregate on certain islands to form important nesting colonies, taking advantage of both island safety and a bountiful supply of food in surrounding waters. All of these and much more make the archipelago a unique part of Canada’s natural heritage. The best time to visit is from June to early September. The park is only accessible by boat, so unless you have your own kayak or boat, you will require the services of registered marine transportation companies, most of which operate only from mid-June to early September. It is recommended that you contact them ahead of time to obtain information and make reservations.