The linear park of the Saint-Charles and Berger rivers (''French: Parc linéaire des rivières Saint-Charles et du Berger'') is a public

linear park A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and Esplanade, shorelines. Examples o ...

of the

Quebec city Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. It runs along the rivers Saint-Charles and du Berger between

Saint-Charles Lake Lake Saint-Charles (, ) is a lake located in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. It is located partially within the Quebec City borough of La Haute-Saint-Charles (section West) and partially within the United township municipality ( ...

and port of Québec. It has a 32 km footpath and a 8 km cycle path on Rivière-Saint-Charles Corridor.''Saint-Charles River Linear Park - 30 km of nature walk in the heart of downtown'', special section of the municipal bulletin "Ma ville", Ville de Québec, September 2008, vol. 2 no. 5.''Parc linear de la rivière Saint-Charles - Direction Plein Air - Partie 3'', Quebec City on Youtube
consulted online
March 18, 2012

Portrait

Development

The park was inaugurated on September 17, 2008, under the name ''Parc linear de la rivière Saint-Charles''.Diotte, Simon, ''Official opening of Parc linear de la rivière Saint-Charles'', La Presse, September 17, 2008
consulted online
March 17, 2012. Its development is linked to the cleanup and redevelopment of the river banks which, in total, required investments of $160 million by the

government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

, that of Quebec, the City of Quebec, as well as the

Quebec Wildlife Foundation 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, ...

which provided a contribution of 300 000 dollars. These works consisted of the removal of 8 km of concrete shoreline, the creation of of wildlife habitat including the planting of 600 hardwood and coniferous trees, 1500 shrubs and 20000 herbaceous plants, construction of 14

retention basin A retention basin, sometimes called a retention pond, wet detention basin, or storm water management pond (SWMP), is an artificial pond with vegetation around the perimeter and a permanent pool of water in its design. It is used to manage ...

s to prevent excess wastewater from ending up in the river during heavy rains. The objective of this work undertaken in 1996 was to renaturalize the banks in order to allow the return of aquatic avian fauna and to withdraw from the Saint-Charles River its title of the most polluted river in Canada. The development of the walking path itself will have cost nine million dollars and the renaturalization of the shores will be carried out at a cost of 25 million. These successful works allow the reappearance of various species that were no longer found there such as the cormorant or the great blue heron. The inauguration day, despite the rain, 280 walkers participated in the activities, offering different routes on the trails and a traditional Wendat show in

Wendake Wendake () is the current name for two urban reserves, Wendake 7 () and Wendake 7A, () of the Huron-Wendat Nation in the Canadian province of Quebec. They are enclaves entirely surrounded by the La Haute-Saint-Charles borough of Quebec City, w ...

. Starting in 2010, the Société de la rivière Saint-Charles will add to their traditional canoeing of the river hiking activities on the linear park trail for the 14th edition of the ''Fête de la Rivière Saint-Charles''.Gagnon, Marc-André, ''La fête à la Rivière Saint-Charles'', Journal de Québec, May 22, 2010
consulted online
March 18, 2012.Martel, Thaïs, ''La rivière Saint-Charles prise d'assaut'', Le Québec Express, May 22, 2010
accessed online
March 18, 2012.

Course

The linear park covers the entire length of the river, from its mouth at Lake Saint-Charles to its mouth at

Port de Québec A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchest ...

. The first part covers 11 km in the part near Lake Saint-Charles is a more wild area allowing the observation of fauna and flora, in part thanks to an observation bridge. The trail has several wooden bridges using wetlands and forest. This section in the borough of

La Haute-Saint-Charles La Haute-Saint-Charles () is a borough of Quebec City. Population (2006): 74,070. It comprises Lac-Saint-Charles, Saint-Émile, Neufchâtel, Loretteville and Val-Bélair. It also entirely surrounds the urban Indian reserve of Wendake, which ...

ends at Château-d'Eau park, housing as its name suggests a "Chateau" style building supplying water to the Quebec water treatment plant. The following sector becomes more urbanized and covers five kilometers in the boroughs of La Haute-Saint-Charles and that of des Rivières; it starts at Jean-Roger-Durand park in the

Loretteville Loretteville () is a List of former municipalities in Quebec, former city in central Quebec, Canada. It was amalgamated into Quebec City on January 1, 2002. It is located within the borough of La Haute-Saint-Charles, and also contains the upmark ...

district, crosses Falaise and Kabir Kouba waterfall park and a few other smaller ones (Parc de l'Orme, Gaby-Pleau Park, Pincourt Park) and culminated in the city's largest park,

Chauveau Park Chauveau is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alexandre Chauveau (1847–1916), lawyer, judge and educator *Auguste Chauveau (1827–1917), professor and veterinarian *Claude François Chauveau-Lagarde (1756–1841), lawye ...

. This section is characterized by the rapids and the falls that the river crosses, as well as by the accessible activities (Interpretation center of the park of Kabir Kouba waterfall, sports activities in Chauveau park). Parc linéaire-Québec.JPG, The linear park in

. Chutes kabir kouba septembre 2011.JPG,

Kabir Kouba fall Kabir ( 15th century) was a well-known Indian devotional mystic poet and sant. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Gar ...

Rivière Saint-Charles parc Chauveau jul 2009.JPG,

Five kilometers separate Chauveau Park and Parc Les Saules. This houses the

Maison O'Neill Maison (French for "house") may refer to: People * Edna Maison (1892–1946), American silent-film actress * Jérémy Maison (born 1993), French cyclist * Leonard Maison, New York state senator 1834–1837 * Nicolas Joseph Maison (1771–1840), M ...

, an ancestral house which has become a center for exhibitions and shows, and surrounded by gardens open to visitors. The following five kilometers make it possible to reach the borough of

La Cité-Limoilou La Cité-Limoilou () is the central borough of Quebec City, the oldest (in terms of architecture), and the most populous, comprising 19.73% of the city's total population. As an administrative division, it is very new, having only been formed ...

and Saint-Charles cemetery, by crossing the mouth of the Berger river, within Duberger park also comprising a part of the linear park on its banks. The park then covers the two banks of the Saint-Charles river through several parks, including Victoria Park, Pointe-aux-Lièvres Park and

Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site is a National Historic Sites of Canada, National Historic Site of Canada and so designated by the Historic Sites and Monuments board of Canada in 1958 under the recommendation of John Diefenbaker, the Pri ...

. The natural sand islands of the Place du marais are ideal for bird watching. The trail ends at the port of Quebec, at the mouth of the Saint-Charles river on the

Saint-Laurent river The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

. The last section of 4 km on each bank is designed to accommodate cyclists and users of

inline skates Inline skates are boots with wheels arranged in a single line from front to back, allowing one to move in an ice skate-like fashion. Inline skates are technically a type of roller skates, roller skate, but most people associate the term rolle ...

PisteRivièreStCharles.JPG, Winter hiking Parc Cartier-Brébeuf.jpg, Parc Cartier-Brébeuf Three sites allow the descent of canoes or kayaks on the river from the linear park.Leduc, Véronique, ''Québec tourne au vert'', Canoë, August 17, 2011, accessed online March 18, 2012. Audio guides offer a guided hike between Maison O'Neill and Maison Dorion-Coulombe.Tremblay, François, ''Parc linear de la rivière Saint-Charles - giving the river back to citizens'', Hello Hello Week -End, TVA, October 28, 2010, March 18, 2012 In winter, 27 kilometers (2011) of trails are groomed by the Société de la rivière Saint-Charles to allow walking on snow.''Near seven km of new groomed trails in Les Saules and Loretteville'', L'Actuel, November 7, 2011
consulted online
March 17, 2012.

Public art

The section between Samson bridge and Scott bridge presents ten works of art by the Quebec artist of origin

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese Truong Chanh Trung representing species of birds frequenting the river:

ring-billed gull The ring-billed gull (''Larus delawarensis'') is a medium-sized gull native to North America, breeding in Canada and the northern Contiguous United States, and wintering mainly in the United States and northern Mexico. The genus name is from Lat ...

double-crested cormorant The double-crested cormorant (''Nannopterum auritum'') is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes and in coastal areas and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska ...

white pigeon White Pigeon is a village in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,718 at the 2020 census. The village is located within White Pigeon Township. Its also located along Michigan's border with Indiana. Geography A ...

, blackbird, two-colored swallow,

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbea ...

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

, kildir plover, black duck and

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

. These bronze sculptures are erected on top of old lamppost casks to light them up at night.''Truong Chanh Trung'' in ''Le Quartier Virtual Chinese of Quebec'', lechinois.ca, October 19, 2010
consulted online
March 17, 2012 They recall the return of fauna and flora on the banks of the river with its renaturalization. Six public benches / works of art have also been set up in the sector.''The linear park on the Saint-Charles river: beautiful, everywhere! - Attractions and services'', Ville de Québec
consulted online
March 20, 2012 The bench ''Being river'', a welded aluminum work by the artist

Luce Pelletier Luce may refer to: People * Luce (name), as a given name and a surname * Luce (singer) Places * Luče, a town in Slovenia * Luce, Minnesota, an unincorporated community * Luce Bay, a large Bay in Wigtownshire in southern Scotland * Luce Co ...

, represents two intertwined fishes.Pelletier, Luce, ''Being river, 2008. Parc linear de la rivière Saint- Charles.''
consulted online
March 18, 2012.

Notes and references

External links and sources