Discover Eastman: Trails, Nature and Literature

Eastman combines trails through wooded and open landscapes with literary discoveries and a local history spanning more than 125 years. Whether you prefer spending time outdoors or seeking cultural experiences, the town’s many facets can give your trip different focuses. When choosing a vacation rental, consider whether cycling and hiking trails, nature, or literature and history should be priorities for your travel group.

Cycling and trails of varying lengths

Eastman has more than 17 kilometres of cycling trails along Route Verte and the Sentier Transcanadien. Of these, 11 kilometres are on car-free paths. If you’d like to include a longer route in your trip, La Montagnarde is a section of Route Verte No. 1 and the Sentier Transcanadien. This nearly 50-kilometre cycling, walking and cross-country skiing trail connects Waterloo, Eastman, Orford, Magog and Deauville. Its range of activities and length make La Montagnarde a distinct way to add exercise to your trip planning.

The Circuit de l’Abbaye also passes through Eastman. This 149-kilometre long-distance hiking and pilgrimage trail forms a loop and starts at the Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey. It offers a different scale from the cycling routes and shorter trails in town. If you’re interested in a hiking trip or pilgrimage route, you can consider this tour as a focus in its own right, rather than treating it as a short local walk.

Discover the forest, river and nature

The 50-hectare Parc Missisquoi-Nord has several trails through wooded and open areas. Its diverse animal and plant life characterizes the natural environment you can explore along the trails. If you’d like to include another route through the river landscape in addition to the park, the rustic Sentier Riverain starts in Parc Missisquoi-Nord, in the Eastman area, and ends three kilometres downstream at Pont Durocher.

The Michel-Fréchette footbridge crosses the Missisquoi-Nord River. You can launch a boat here. Together with the trails in Parc Missisquoi-Nord, this offers another perspective on the river and its surroundings. The trails mentioned differ in character: the park offers several trails through open and wooded areas, while the Sentier Riverain starts in the park area and ends downstream.

Literature, theatre and local history

In Eastman, you can encounter literature beyond events. At Lac d’Argent, a literary walk passes panels featuring texts by local authors. The Portage des mots trail is near Théâtre La Marjolaine and leads through a wooded landscape. Installations, sculptures and tapestries showcase novels, comics, poems and children’s picture books. This lets you include literary texts and different art forms in your explorations.

Théâtre La Marjolaine was founded in 1960 by actress Marjolaine Hébert and is Québec’s oldest summer theatre still in operation. Saint-Édouard d’Eastman Church was built in 1960 for the parish of Saint-Édouard; it is the village’s only surviving church. If you’re interested in the town’s history, you can also follow the historical walking tour. Through old buildings, stories and archival images, it conveys more than 125 years of history.

Another cultural event is Correspondances d’Eastman. Since 2002, it has held a literature festival every September, bringing together thousands of people interested in literature, writing and culture. If you’d like to give your trip a cultural focus, you can consider this festival alongside the walking tours and theatre described above as a focus in its own right.

Which kind of trip suits Eastman?

When choosing a vacation rental in Eastman, one simple question can help: should a longer tour shape your stay, or would you prefer to spend your time exploring the town?

If you’d like to include other destinations in your selection: North Hatley, Sainte-Catherine-De-Hatley, Saint-Étienne-de-Bolton, Stanstead, Ayer's Cliff, Orford, Magog, Austin.

For the broader travel overview: Memphrémagog.