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The Gaspé Peninsula Surrounded on three sides by the sea, the Gaspé Peninsula, "la Gaspésie", has an area of over 7,500 square miles. Its interior is rugged, containing the highest hills of the Appalachians, the Shickshock Range with summits over 4,000 feet. The original settlers, who were fishermen, clustered along the shore. The occupied area today is still an encircling belt comprising less than oneseventh of the total area. Actually there are no towns, and only a few large villages. Most of the population lives along the shore of Chaleur Bay which is lower, more indented and more hospitable than that of the St. Lawrence Estuary. Settlement is practically continuous from Matapedia to Percé and Gaspé, the highway being somewhat like a string on which the villages are strung as beads. Chandler is a pulp mill town; Grande Rivière, is a fishing port and the site of a marine biological laboratory; Percé has a large summer population; its cuestaform hills and "pierced" rock appeal to both geographers and tourists. Gaspé with a deep natural harbour, at the end of the rails, is the regional capital and educational centre. It has a government salmon hatchery. On the North Shore, Rivière au Renard has a modern sea products factory; Ste. Anne des Monts and Cap Chat both have large sawmills. Visitors like Gaspé; there are awe-inspiring vistas along the north coast and isolated little villages tucked into sheltered coves. They like to see primitive ways of doing things: the fish flake, the ox-cart and the outdoor oven. The coastal belt is equipped for tourists with its fine road, cabins and hotels, but the interior with its great forest has not yet come into its own. Gaspé Provincial Park which includes some of the highest of the Shickshocks, when properly outfitted, will be accessible from the south along the Cascapedia Valley and from the north via Ste. Anne des Monts. Another proposed route follows the York Valley from Gaspé. The highest summit, Mt. Jacques Cartier may be reached from Mont Louis by a road built for war purposes. Magdalen Islands The Magdalen Islands are a small group in the Gulf of St. Lawrence about 150 miles from Gaspé and about 60 miles from Prince Edward Island. The total land area is less than 50 square miles. The islands have boat connections with Gaspé and with Souris and Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island. Home