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Home > Quebec's Trans-Canada Highway > Quebec City to Riviere du Loup Itinerary
Quebec Trans-Canada Highway Route: along Highway #20 between Quebec City-Levis and Riviere du Loup
Here is the itinerary for the 201 km along Highway #20 between Quebec City-Levis and Riviere du Loup:
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Just east of Levis is a series of overhead hydro lines connecting Northern Quebec power dams with Quebec City, Montreal and the US, with a span of 1.5 km over the river. From Quebec City eastwards, the St Lawrence River widens significantly. The river here is a tidal estuary, where freshwater mixes with Atlantic tidal saltwater. This is a major stopping-off point on the East Coast migratory route for birds. Montmagny is renowned for its snow geese which visit in October on their way south from Baffin Island.
The North Shore is characterized by forest and rugged mountains overlooking the river, the South Shore is characterized by gentle farmland plains. The St Lawrence Lowlands provide diverse range of hardwood trees including maple and birch, mixed in with white spruce, balsam fir in higher areas and black spruce and eastern white cedar in wetter areas. This attracts many species of song birds, and the area is rich in hawks (who feed on small rodents). Along the highway you may notice some orchards.
The next crossing of the river is by ferry connecting Riviere du Loup on the South Shore with St Simeon on the North Shore. The ferry takes 1:15. During the winter, the Trans-Canada is subject to Nor'Easter wind conditions, and there are gates to block this stretch of the highway at Levis and Riviere du Loup.
At La Pocatiere (Exit 439) you can get off the highway and observe the opposite shore, now 20 km away. You can observe two valleys with a hill in the middle, which marks the 40 km wide Charlevoix Crater caused by the impact of a 2 km meteor over 350 million years ago. The southern half of the crater, was eroded away by the creation of the St Lawrence River valley.
To discover the river by car, take one of the panoramic Route 132 that winds along the South Shore, and discover stunning scenery and a host of charming ancestral villages (many dating back to the 1600s and 1680s) await you! These villages were laid out on the French seigneural system, under the Anciens Regime (ie before the British) and have long narrow plots rising up from the river, used to provided transportation and the water supply. Roads connected farms to the seigneur's flour mill and the church. We have information on a number of the villages along this route:
The Trans-Canada Highway was built away from the St Lawrence to keep these historical villages in their pristine state. There is an industry association for these villages, Most Beautiful Villages of Quebec, though the good parts of their website are French-only.
Riviere du Loup is a seaside town of 15,000, roughly the opposite bank from where the massive Saguenay pours its nutrients into the St Lawrence. There are several variations on why the town was named, though the French word for seals, "Loup," seems the most plausible. There are some parks along the shoreline where you can observe the birds and sea mammals along the river. If you head about 10-15 km east of Riviere du Loup, to where the Saguenay River mouth is opposite, you can observe lots of whales, especially beluga whales. They prefer this area as a rich feeding ground, fed by two rivers.
Quebec Government road condition reports for this segment.
KM from Start | Highway Point Description | Municipality | GPS and
Map Zoom |
EB | WB |
0 | 201 | Exit #312, major interchange with Autoroute #73 (webcam 8) North to Ste Foy and Quebec City Airport, south to town of Charny, east to Levis | Charny (Levis) | Map Zoom |
0 | 201 | Railway overpass | Charny (Levis) | Map Zoom |
1 | 200 | Emergency U-turn | Charny (Levis) | Map Zoom |
2 | 199 | Exit #314 Truck weight station, WB exit for Chemin De Sault & Highway 73 (thru traffic stay in left lanes) | | Map Zoom |
3 | 198 | passing through forested park both sides (webcam 14) | | Map Zoom |
4 | 197 | Emergency cross-over lanes in median | Levis | Map Zoom |
6 | 195 | Exit #318 half-cloverleaf interchange, services both sides, 4E Avenue (N) to community of Saint-Romuald (2 km), and Rue Commerciale (S) to Saint-Hen Chrysostome (3 km) | Levis | Map Zoom |
7 | 194 | crossing Riviere Etchernin, small rapids may be visible to south | Levis | Map Zoom |
8 | 193 | Chemin Des Iles, with St-Romuald refinery, Golf De L'Auberivière to north, water purification plant to south | Levis | Map Zoom |
9 | 192 | Emergency cross-over lanes in median | Levis | Map Zoom |
13 | 188 | Exit #325, 3/4 cloverleaf interchange, Route President Kennedy #173, N to Levis, all services & accommodation, golfing, and passenger ferry to Quebec City (5 km), south to community of Pintendre (3 km) | Levis | Map Zoom |
14 | 187 | Emergency cross-over lanes in median | | Map Zoom |
14 | 187 | WB Exit #325 Boulevard Alphonse-Desjardins, N to Levis, all services & accommodation, golfing, and passenger ferry to Quebec City (5 km) | Levis | Map Zoom |
15 | 186 | Exit #327 half cloverleaf interchange, Route MRG-Bourget | Levis | Map Zoom |
16 | 185 | Emergency cross-over lanes in median | | Map Zoom |
18 | 183 | Exit #330 Chemin St Roch (S) access to Camping Transit (4 km), and Route Lallemand (N) access to services, accommodation, camping | | Map Zoom |
20 | 181 | Emergency cross-over lanes in median | | Map Zoom |
24 | 177 | Emergency U-turn | | Map Zoom |
25 | 176 | Exit #337 Rue de l'Anse S (N) and #279 S to town of St Charles (10 km)to accommodation, services and camping along #132 along St Lawrence River | | Map Zoom |
26 | 175 | Emergency cross-over lanes in median | | Map Zoom |
29 | 172 | Exit #341 Route de Beaumont, S to town of Saint-Charles 97 km), N to Route 132, town of Beaumont (2 km), services and Camping Carol campground (2 km) | | Map Zoom |
34 | 167 | EB Rest areas with bathrooms | | Map Zoom |
34 | 167 | WB Rest area with restaurant with bathrooms | | Map Zoom |
34 | 167 | Emergency U-turn | | Map Zoom |
36 | 165 | Exit #348 to Route 281 N to St-Michel de Bellechasse (1 km) | St-Michel de Bellechasse | Map Zoom |
40 | 162 | Underpass 3E Range (no access) and Emergency U-turn | | Map Zoom |
44 | 157 | Exit #356 Montee de la Station, N to Route 132 and town of Saint-Vallier | | Map Zoom |
51 | 150 | Emergency U-turn | | Map Zoom |
52 | 149 | Exit #364 Route de St-Francois N to Route 132 and town of Berthier-sur-Mer | | Map Zoom |
56 | 145 | Emergency U-turn | | Map Zoom |
57 | 144 | Exit #369, Route de St-Pierre N to route 132, Rue Principale S to Saint-Pierre Montagny (4 km) | | Map Zoom |
60 | 141 | Exit #376, route 228 Chemin du Coteau N to Montmagny, all services & accommodation | Montmagny | Map Zoom |
62 | 139 | bridge over Riviere du Sud | Montmagny | Map Zoom |
62 | 139 | Exit #378, route #283 S to Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire. NW to community of Montmagny, all services, Point-Aux Campground (4 km) | Montmagny | Map Zoom |
78 | 123 | Overpass, Route Ballavance (no access) | | Map Zoom |
81 | 120 | Exit #388 Route Petit-Cap to Route 132, N to community of Cap-Saint-Ignace, all services & accommodation | | Map Zoom |
83 | 118 | Overpass Route Des Quatre-Chemins ("Four Ways") | | Map Zoom |
84 | 117 | Crossing Riviere de Perdrix ("Partridge" River) | | Map Zoom |
87 | 115 | WB Rest Area, North side of highway, Information, picnic tables, toilets telephone. | | Map Zoom |
87 | 114 | EB Rest Area South side of highway, Information, picnic tables, toilets, telephone. | | Map Zoom |
85 | 116 | Overpass Route Cendree-Lafeuille (no access) | | Map Zoom |
88 | 113 | Exit #400 route #285 / Route De L'eglise, S to community of Saint-Eugene (2 km). North to community of L'Islet (1 km),services, and L'Islet sur Mer (3 km), services & accommodation | L'Islet | Map Zoom |
90 | 111 | overpass Chemin Morin (no access) east to L'Iletville | | Map Zoom |
95 | 106 | overpass Chemin du Moulin (no access) | | Map Zoom |
99 | 102 | Crossing the River Port-Joli | | Map Zoom |
101 | 100 | Exit #414, route # 204 S to community of Saint-Aubert, Saint-Damase-de-L'islet, La-Dene-Lieve campground. N to community of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, all services & accommodation, camping | | Map Zoom |
108 | 93 | underpass Route Elgin (no access) campground 3km N | | Map Zoom |
114 | 87 | Route De L'eglise (no access), Ste Louise 1 km N of hwy | | Map Zoom |
128 | 73 | Exit #430, junction with route #132 Scenic route along south shore of St Lawrence. W to Village des Aulnaies (1km), Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies (4 km) | La Pocatiere | Map Zoom |
133 | 68 | Exit 436, 2E Rue Guimond, connecting to route #132, #230 SE to community of La Pocatiere (1 km) services | La Pocatiere | Map Zoom |
137 | 64 | Exit #439 SE to community of La Pointiere. Information Centre, North side of highway. | | Map Zoom |
139 | 62 | Overpass: Toute Verbois (no access) | | Map Zoom |
146 | 55 | Crossing Riviere Quelle | | Map Zoom |
147 | 54 | Exit #450 Chemin du Haute-SR-la Riviere, NW to Riviere Quelle airport, services, SE to community of Saint-Pacome | | Map Zoom |
151 | 50 | Wetlands and peat bogs to NE of highway | | Map Zoom |
154 | 47 | Exit #456, route #287 S to Saint-Phillippe-de-Mer, N to Saint-Denis (5 km) | | Map Zoom |
157 | 44 | Roadside Highway Turnout Rest Area Both sides of highway, picnic tables, toilets, telephone. | | Map Zoom |
163 | 38 | Overpass Route du Pain de Sucre (no access) | | Map Zoom |
165 | 36 | crossing small river with extensive waterfalls accessible from Saint Pascal | Saint-Pascal | Map Zoom |
166 | 35 | Exit #465 Route de Kamouraska (N) to Kamouraska (5 km) and Route Rochette (S) to community of Saint-Pascal (1 km), services | Saint-Pascal | Map Zoom |
167 | 35 | Climbing escarpment | | Map Zoom |
170 | 32 | overpass: 2E Range / Route de St-Germain | | Map Zoom |
172 | 29 | overpass: Route de St-Germain | | Map Zoom |
172 | 29 | Exit #474 Route Mississipp N to community of Saint-Andre. Rue de l'Eglise S to community of Sainte-Helene (1 km) | Sainte-Helene | Map Zoom |
179 | 22 | Exit #480 Route de la Station, N to community of Saint-Andre (3 km). South to community of Saint-Joseph-de-Kamouraska (8 km) | | Map Zoom |
183 | 18 | Exit #488 junction with route #289 South to community of Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska (3 km) | | Map Zoom |
194 | 7 | Exit #496 North to Notre-Dame-du-Portage (1 km). Accommodation & services, S to access the Riviere-du-Loup airport (2 km) | | Map Zoom |
196 | 5 | EB Rest area on south side of highway, picnic tables, toilets, telephone | | Map Zoom |
197 | 4 | Exit #499 Highway #20 junction with Highway #185 (Trans Canada Highway) East to community of Riviere-du-Loup, all services. South east to Quebec / New Brunswick, border. South east city of Edmundston. West to Town of Levis & Quebec City (188 km) | Riviere-du-Loup | Map Zoom |
201 | 0 | Exit #96 Rue Fraserville NE to community of Riviere-du-Loup | Riviere-du-Loup | Map Zoom |
KM from Start | Highway Point Description | Municipality | GPS and
Map Zoom |
EB | WB |
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