Cycloparc PPJ is a

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

located in the

Pontiac Regional County Municipality Pontiac () is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Campbell's Bay is the county seat. It should not be confused with the municipality of Pontiac, which is located in the neighbouring Les Collines-de-l'Outaoua ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. The PPJ traverses of hills and riverfront and enables hikers and cyclists to tour through points of interest such as Grand Calumet Island, the Vinton Plain and

Coulonge Chutes The Coulonge Chutes (in French: ''Chutes Coulonge'') is a non-profit recreation park and historical exhibition area operating in Mansfield-et-Pontefract, in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality of western Quebec, Canada. Its main attraction ...

near

Fort-Coulonge Fort Coulonge () is a village in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality in western Quebec, Canada, at the mouth of the Coulonge River. It is the francophone centre of the otherwise largely (57%) anglophone Pontiac MRC, with 79.6% listing Frenc ...

. Slopes on the trail do not exceed 4%. The surface of the trail is made from a combination of stone and dust. No motor vehicles or hunting is permitted on the PPJ. The trail is ideally suited for hikers and cyclists during the summer between May and October. There are numerous places to swim along the trail, including the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

and nearby off-trail Fort William. There are 14 rest areas along the route. The trail originates at Kilometre 0 in Wyman and ends at

Allumette Island Julienne, , or French cut, is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks. Common items to be julienned are carrots for , celery for , potatoes for julienne fries, or cucumbers for . Trimm ...

(L'Îles-aux-Allumettes). Many rest areas, picnic spots and observation points are found along the length of the PPJ. The trail crosses the

Félix-Gabriel-Marchand Bridge Félix-Gabriel-Marchand Bridge is a covered bridge in the Township of Mansfield-et-Pontefract, Quebec, Canada, that crosses the Coulonge River near Fort-Coulonge. Constructed in 1898, this 148.66-metre-long bridge is the longest covered bridg ...

, the second longest operational

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

in Canada. The trail is named after the

Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway Cycloparc PPJ is a rail trail located in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Pontiac Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada. The PPJ traverses of hills and riverfront and enables hikers and cyclists to tour through points of ...

(PPJ) because it occupies the rail bed of this defunct railway company.

Wildlife and nature

The trail is populated with numerous animals and those travelling along the route will find

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

and

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

commonplace. Motor vehicles are not permitted anywhere along the trail, providing a serene setting to spot local wildlife. Different fruits available for picking along the PPJ include

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

, wild apples and

raspberries The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

Trail highlights

* of pastoral bicycle ride, * of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

and

valleys A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...

sceneries, * of

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable condition ...

and

forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

, * along the

shores, * on

History

The Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway Company (PPJR) is a historic

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

that operated in the upper

valley in western

and northeastern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The railway ran from

Aylmer Aylmer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Edward Aylmer, Welsh MP * Edward Aylmer (cricketer), first-class cricketer and Royal Navy officer * Felix Aylmer, English stage actor * Sir Fenton Aylmer, 13th Baronet, British Arm ...

through

Quyon Quyon is a village that is part of Pontiac, Quebec, in the Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality (MRC des Collines). History Already the site of the Sainte-Marie Mission, the village was founded in 1848 by John Egan, a lu ...

, Shawville,

Fort Coulonge Fort Coulonge () is a village in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality in western Quebec, Canada, at the mouth of the Coulonge River. It is the francophone centre of the otherwise largely (57%) anglophone Pontiac MRC, with 79.6% listing Frenc ...

, and Waltham to

Pembroke, Ontario Pembroke ( ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario at the confluence of the Muskrat River (Ontario), Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley, northwest of Ottawa. Though containing the administrative headquarters of Renfre ...

. The PPJR was incorporated in 1880 and merged with the Ottawa Northern and Western Railway in 1903. It was the first Canadian railway to

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

cars using

acetylene Acetylene (Chemical nomenclature, systematic name: ethyne) is a chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is u ...

. Its infamous nickname was Push, Pull and Jerk. Taken over by Canadian Pacific in 1902, passenger service on the line was discontinued in 1959.http://outaouais.quebecheritageweb.com/attraction/pontiac-pacific-junction-railway-shawville-station-and-pontiac-museum Freight service followed suit in the 1980s, after which the rails were permanently dismantled in 1984 and later turned into a linear park or bicycle trail: the Cycloparc PPJ rail trail.

References

External links

Cycloparc PPJ official websiteEnglish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cycloparc Ppj Transport in Outaouais Rail trails in Quebec Protected areas of Outaouais

Wildlife and nature

Trail highlights

History

See also

References

External links