The Sugar Shack

The Érablière le Chemin du Roy takes its name from the ancestral road built during the French regime from 1715, a path traced by Pierre Robineau de Bécancour, linking the Cap-Rouge river to Neuville. The work to connect Quebec to Montreal was completed in 1734. It took 4 days by horse-drawn carriage to cover the 267 km traced along the St. Lawrence River or inland. Nearly three centuries have passed, and today we still find a piece of the ancestral road on the current site of the maple grove.

Érablière le Chemin du roy, en automne
Photo credit: François O. Valenti
Entailler les érables

Our history

Our sugar factory, that is to say the place where we transform maple sap into syrup, was built around 1925. In 1989, the cabin was acquired by the famous hockey player Guy Lafleur. In 1991, Mr. Réal Boissonneault and Mr. Ghislain Vadnais became the new owners and gave the cabin a new vocation, a recreational and tourist maple grove. Since 1999, Mr. Boissonneault has been the sole owner.

More than 30 years at your service

Proud of its last 30 years of experience in the recreational tourism sector, the Érablière le Chemin du Roy relies on the quality of its service and its products in order to offer its visitors from here and elsewhere the opportunity to live a traditional experience, inherited from a cultural sharing between the Amerindians and the first colonies settled in New France (Quebec).

The sugar shack Érablière le Chemin du Roy takes its name from the ancestral road (King’s road) that crosses it. This road, which the construction began in 1715 under the French Regime, was drawn up by Mr Pierre Robineau and connected Cap Rouge River to Neuville.

In 1734, the link between Quebec and Montreal was completed. It took four days by horse-drawn carriage to cover 267 kilometres on the edge of the St. Lawrence River or in the hinterland. After more than three centuries, we still find a part of this ancestral road on the site of our maple grove.

Today, we are proud to bring our authentic Quebecois tradition to life, to more than 35,000 visitors a year!

Thanks for trusting us !

Maple History

For over 300 years, the maple tree has been an integral part of our culture. There was a time when, as soon as the first spring sunbeam showed up, Quebecers would ask the parish priest to bless the maple grove in order to keep Mother Nature on their side.

Maple syrup was first classified into five categories in the 1920s. In the second half of the 20th Century, it gradually replaced maple sugar as the consumer’s favourite and could be found on supermarket shelves in the new size more suited to an increasingly urban lifestyle.

The gather of maple water

Long before the first colonies settled, Native Americans had discovered how to collect water by tapping the maple tree with a tomahawk. Thus the water flowed along a wood chip to end up in a container made of birch bark; this was deposited at the base of the tree and was called mokuk.

Over the centuries, the methods to gather the maple water have changed. Now, there are two different ways to collect this water:

  • One is the bucket method: the installation of this traditional technique are less expensive but require somebody to bring back the maple water to the sugar shack.
  • Tubing system : consists in drawing off the maple water from the maple trees to the sugar shack with the help of a pump system. This method requires complex and expensive installations but it increases the quantity of maple water gathered.

Want to know more?​

To learn more about the history of maple, visit the “Érable du Québec” WEB site, by clicking on the following link.

Our packages

Tire sur la neige à l'année

Sugar Time

In a festive atmosphere, Érablière le Chemin du Roy welcomes you along March and April to continue the tradition of maple sugaring season with friends or family. Traditional Quebecois music will transport you in time!

Holiday Season

The festive atmosphere of the sugar shack makes your Christmas party a guaranteed success. The friendly hospitality and the special menus of the holiday season will delight all of your colleagues and employees. A 4 course meal is served in an all-you-can-eat manner with live music and dancing night to make a memorable evening. At only 10 minutes from Quebec City, you will find yourself in a magical setting in the forest.

Bûche de Noël
Salle à manger

Year-round

With us, you will find a warm atmosphere in the middle of the forest to celebrate any kind of occasion. Whether it’s for a business meeting, a traditional meal with family or friends, a country table or just for a gathering, we are ready to welcome you.

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