The Eastern Townships in Late September
A slow week in the small towns south of Sherbrooke, when the maples are turning.
The Cantons-de-l'Est, the Eastern Townships, sit south of Sherbrooke on the Vermont border. They were settled by Loyalists from New England in the 1780s, and the small towns still show it: white clapboard churches with tall spires, covered bridges, general stores that have been in the same family for four generations. Most people who visit Quebec in autumn go to Mont-Tremblant or the Charlevoix; the Townships are quieter, the colors are just as good, and the drive is a hundred and thirty kilometers of small back roads rather than a highway.
North Hatley and the shore of Lake Massawippi
North Hatley, on the north shore of Lake Massawippi, is the natural first stop. The village is small enough to walk in half an hour and includes the Auberge Ripplecove, a nineteenth-century lakeside inn with a long dining room and its own dock. Book a room facing the lake; on a still late-September morning, the water sits like glass and the far shore is red and gold from oak and sugar maple.
For lunch, drive ten minutes to the Boulangerie Owl's Bread in Mansonville. The bakery makes its own croissants, tarts and country breads, and the small dining room at the back serves quiche and salads with produce from the surrounding farms. Order the tarte aux tomates in September; the tomatoes are the last of the season.
Frelighsburg and the apple valley
The apple country of the Townships concentrates around Frelighsburg and Dunham, on the border. The two villages are twenty minutes apart, and between them lie roughly fifteen orchards, most of them offering u-pick from mid-September to mid-October. Even if you do not pick, the drive along Route 237 in the last week of September, when the trees are heavy and the sky is often clear, is one of the great short scenic drives in eastern Canada.
Stop at Domaine Pinnacle in Frelighsburg for ice cider, a specialty of the Townships developed in the 1990s. The apples are pressed after they have frozen on the tree, and the resulting cider is intensely sweet and balanced by natural acid. A small bottle keeps for months and travels well.
For a longer stop, Union Libre Cidre & Vin in Dunham makes a fire cider, a fermented cider aged in oak. The tasting room sits above the orchards, and the view south into Vermont from the deck is worth timing lunch around.
The Abbey, and the Sunday market
Above Lake Memphremagog, the Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac is a working Benedictine monastery famous for its cheeses and its afternoon vespers. The abbey sells its own cheddar and blue directly from a small shop by the entrance; the vespers, at five in the afternoon, are open to the public and include Gregorian chant sung by the monastic community. The chapel is quiet, cool, and does not require any prior religious grounding to sit through.
On Sundays, drive to the small covered market at Coaticook, a farm town twenty minutes east. Local producers, cheese makers, honey, root vegetables, and one stall that sells small woolen blankets from a farm the family has run for six generations. The market runs from ten to two and is the best introduction to what the Townships actually grow.
Practical notes
- Peak color is usually the last week of September and the first week of October. Book rooms weeks ahead.
- The Route des Vins in Dunham has almost twenty small wineries within a fifteen-kilometer loop.
- Bring layers. Daytime highs are pleasant; evenings drop close to freezing.
- The border with Vermont is nearby. Bring your passport if you might cross over for a day.
The Eastern Townships in late September are the version of a New England autumn that Quebec quietly kept. Rent a car, take a slow week, and stop at every general store.
