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Visiting Mont-Tremblant National Park for photographing the
Chute aux Rats - Waterfall

Canada is famous for its nature and when it comes to ‘National Parks’ most people think of the famous and popular parks like Banff, Jasper and Glacier just to name a few. But also the less known parks offer some great nature to the visitors. One of this less known parks is Mont-Tremblant National Park in Quebec. It caught my attention when I was on a business trip in Montreal and had a weekend to spent. My question was how to find the typical nature and scenery you associate with the name ‘Canada’ within a daytrip distance from Montreal? One answer to this question is Mont-Tremblant National Park and one highlight within the park is the Chute aux Rats Waterfall.

Let me share my information with you and give you a brief overview of the location, togehter with some tips for taking pictures there and a suggestion for an (almost) perfect daytrip from Montreal.

Chute aux Rats
Chute aux Rats, View from parking lot

Overview:
Chute aux Rats is a waterfall nearly 18 meters tall. It is located just within the borders of Mont-Tremblant National Park and close to the Saint-Donat entry of the Park.
It can be reached by a 10km walk (roundtrip) starting at the Saint-Donat reception station. It can also be reached by a 80 meters walk (also roundtrip) starting at the parking lot close to Chute aux Rats.
Independent from how you decide to approach the falls, you will hear it before you can see it and your first view to the falls will be the same like shown on the image to the left (click image to enlarge).

Where to place your camera?
Basically Chute aux Rats offers three different areas to take pictures.

  • At the lower level of the falls
  • On a wooden deck half way up the falls
  • On a wooden deck close to the edge of the falls

The Lower Level:
On the lower end of the falls, a wooden deck is built close to the river, offering views in both directions: Upstream to the falls and downstream along the river. The downstream view is not very stunning. But the upstream view offers the possibility to compose a picture showing the falls and the river framed by trees and plants.
The picture to the right (click image to enlarge) was taken with a zoom lens set to 47 mm. If you just have a 50 mm standard lens, it will also work very well here.

Half Way Up the Falls:
From the lower level a small path leads through the trees beside the river and to some wooden steps climbing up to another wooden deck located half way up the falls. You are now much closer to the falls than you was at the lower level. You are also almost in the mid height of the falls. This is probably not a good position for capturing an overview of the falls, but a short to medium tele photo lens allows you to capture very interesting details. The picture to the right was taken with a 105 mm lens (click image to enlarge).

At the edge of the falls:
Leave the deck on half way up the falls and follow some steps again until you come the topmost deck located approx. 2 meters below the edge of the falls. Here you have a view downwards the falls. Unfortunately you are still not high enough to look over the edge and along the river who feeds the falls. But this is the end of the way and climbing over the fence to see behind the edge can be extremely dangerous. But there is also no need to do so, since the view downwards is quite good. Try to show how steep the falls are by incorporating some trees into the picture. Again a standard to medium tele photo lens will work well. The one to the right was taken with a zoom lens set to 58 mm.(click image to enlarge)
Chute aux Rats, View from Lower Level
Chute aux Rats, View from half way up the falls
Chute aux Rats, View from deck below the edge

How to reach?
La Diable is the main entrance to the Mont-Tremblant National Park, but since Chute aux Rats is very close to the Saint Donat entrance, it is probably a good idea to enter the park at Saint Donat. Coming from the greater Montreal area, the Saint Donat entry is quit easy to find:

  • Follow AUT 15 in northern direction almost to its end.
  • Take EXIT 89 (Saint Donat) and follow RTE 329 until it meets RTE 125.
  • Turn left on RTE 125 and stay on this road until you reach the park entrance.
    (When entering the park, RTE 125 is named as route 3.)
  • Proceed on route 3 for approx. 5 km until you come to an intersection with a log cabin close to a lake.
  • Turn right at the cabin and follow the road for another 500m until you reach the parking lot of Chute aux Rats.

The driving time is approx. 2 hrs when starting from downtown Montreal. In case you decide to enter the park at the main entrance in La Diable, you can add another 1,5 hrs for crossing the park, mostly on paved roads.

Which time is best?
Time is less critical here since shooting waterfalls is good when the sky is overcasted. This makes you nearly independent from the daytime.

What else do you need?
To photograph Chute aux Rats, you should make sure to bring the following things (beside your camera):

  • A solid tripod since the exposure time can get out of the range for doing handheld shots. This is especially if you decide to blur the water in the picture. In this case you should play with exposure times in the range of 0,5 - 2 seconds.
    Hint: When using a tripod, you should also use a cable release and, if possible, make use of the mirror lockup of your camera.
  • A polarizing filter in order to enhance the colors of the trees (like in the example) and to keep control over reflections on wet stones.
  • Lenses within the range of 28 mm to 135 mm. 
     

The Spots on a Map

In order to provide you with a better overview, the spot and important way points are marked on the map below. Simply drag the mouse over a marker to see its indication.

With paying the entrance fee at the park border, you may get a free copy of a more detailed park map.

You can also visit the parks web site in advance where you can download a parkmap (pdf).

Suggestion for day trip

I have visited Mont-Tremblant National Park as a day trip, starting and ending in Montreal. Here is my suggestion for you in case you like to do the same:

  • Leave Montreal in the morning (approx. 7:30 a.m.) and make your way on to AUT 15 North.
  • Leave AUT 15 on Exit 23 an turn right and then turn left again to enter the parking lot of the shopping center.
    • Restaurant Eggsquis is a great place for having a hearty breakfast.
    • Just across the parking lot, an IGA grocery store offers a perfect selection of items for catering. You can buy some food and drink for having a picnic later in the park.
  • Back on AUT 15 North, follow the instruction given above to reach Chute aux Rats.
  • You will reach the Saint Donat entrance at approx. 10:30 a.m. Pay the entrance fee and get a free copy of a park map.
  • Proceed to Chute aux Rats (another 5 minutes way) and spend one or two hours for taking pictures.
  • Drive back until you reach the log cabin again. This is the perfect, because weather independent, place for doing a picnic break.
  • Follow the paved road through the park to the main entrance a La Diable. Doing occasional stops, this takes another 2-3 hours.
  • Leave the park and head back to Montreal where you will be back again at early evening.
  • If you feel hungry on your way back, you may stop again at EXIT 23 to have a great steak at the St. Charles Steakhouse, located just opposite of the road to our breakfast place from this morning.

I hope this location description is helpful to you. I wish you a good time and great pictures when you go out there. Simply let me know, if you miss some information.

Michael