Dog sledding in Quebec: where to go near Montreal, Quebec City and Tremblant

Where can you go dog sledding in Quebec?

None of our tours start on the island of Montreal or in central Quebec City: sledding needs wide snowy spaces. So it all comes down to the distance from where you are staying.

Road distances from the city centre (OpenStreetMap). Prices: our tours in October 2026, excluding kennel visits and hikes with a dog.

Near Montreal: Saint-Hippolyte and Saint-Liguori

The two closest bases to Montreal are 80 km to the north: Saint-Hippolyte, in the Laurentians, and Saint-Liguori, in Lanaudière. At Aventures Plein Air in Saint-Hippolyte, the €45 entry price buys a 30-minute introduction that includes a 10-minute ride. That is a first taste for a child, not a real outing. The one-hour immersion and the half day cost more.

In Saint-Liguori, Les Aventures Liguoriennes put two people on each sled for €127, taking turns at driving. Their night ride, at €186, includes 1 hr 30 min on the sled and is limited to over-17s.

Without a car, Bonjour Nature runs a day trip from Radisson metro station, by minibus to the area around Rawdon: €224 to €256, with a hike and the sled ride on the same day. Compare the options before booking: they range from 30 minutes as a passenger to 1 hr 30 min or 2 hours on the sled as a driver.

Choose this area if you are staying in Montreal and want a half day out without an overnight stay. The tours are listed on our page for dog sledding near Montreal.

Mont-Tremblant and the Laurentians: the widest choice

Nearly one tour in two in Quebec starts in the Laurentians, between Val-des-Lacs, Mont-Tremblant, Arundel and Rivière-Rouge. Most cost €157 to €185 for one hour to 1 hr 15 min on the sled, with a welcome, a briefing, harnessing and often a hot chocolate. Two exceptions cost less. At Kanatha-Aki in Val-des-Lacs, the one-hour discovery ride is €110. At Aventure Quatre Saisons in Rivière-Rouge, €123 is enough to drive your own team for an hour, over 13 km on average.

This is the area to pick if you are staying in Tremblant or are set on driving: most tours here have driver and passenger swap places halfway. All the tours are on our page for dog sledding in the Laurentians.

Near Quebec City: Stoneham and Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne

43 km from the centre of Quebec City, Aventures Nord-Bec leaves from Stoneham for an hour on the sled in Jacques-Cartier National Park, from €110. On the option where you drive, the price is per sled: it stays the same whether there are one or two of you. 70 km away, Au Chalet en Bois Rond offers 45 minutes to an hour on a 5 to 6 km loop at Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, from €81.

This is the easiest outing to fit into a stay in Quebec City, over half a day. See dog sledding near Quebec City.

Saguenay and Tadoussac: sledding near the fjord

La Baie and Sacré-Cœur, near Tadoussac, are 230 to 240 km from Quebec City. In La Baie, Alaskan du Nord has the lowest entry price of our tours, €67. Near the Saguenay Fjord, Ferme 5 Étoiles offers a discovery ride from €165. Its two-hour tour, at €140, has you drive a team of 4 to 5 dogs on your own, from age 14.

These tours make sense if your trip already takes you to the fjord: nobody drives 480 km from Montreal for an hour on a sled. See dog sledding in Saguenay and in Tadoussac.

Outaouais and Gaspésie: for a stay in the area

In the Outaouais, Thurso is 164 km from Montreal: Chiens de traîneau Gatineau offers an hour on the sled in the Saint-Sixte river valley, from €140. Further out, at Otter Lake, Huskimo runs teams of about 7 huskies, from €128. You can drive there from age 13. These two bases mainly suit people staying in the Outaouais or in Ottawa.

Further east, Pourvoirie Fournier Plein Air leaves from Saint-Vianney, in Gaspésie, in the Matapédia valley, 420 km from Quebec City. From €111 for a 12 km introduction in one hour, then 24 km in two hours, up to 40 to 60 km in six hours. It is the only one of our tours with six hours on the sled, worth booking if you are staying in the area.

How much does dog sledding cost in Quebec?

Half of our dog sledding tours in Quebec cost between €110 and €180 per person. Prices checked in October 2026 on the tours listed on our pages, excluding kennel visits and hikes with a dog. Most listings include Quebec taxes. The gap between prices comes mainly from what you get: time on the sled, driving and transport.

Real time on the sled

The advertised duration covers the whole visit. Near Mont-Tremblant, a tour that asks for "2 hr 30 min on site" includes 1 hr 15 min on the sled: the rest goes on the welcome, the briefing, harnessing, a break in a cabin, a kennel visit and a soup. On most of our tours lasting 1 hr 30 min to 3 hours, the sled ride itself takes about an hour.

When the distance is given, it helps you compare: 5 to 6 km in 45 minutes to an hour at Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, 13 km on average at Rivière-Rouge, at 10 to 15 km/h.

Price per person or per sled

Almost all tours are priced per person, two to a sled. Two exceptions are worth spotting: in Jacques-Cartier National Park, the option where you drive is priced per sled, whether there are one or two of you. At Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, the "Driver" rate gives you a sled to yourself, while the "Adult" rate means sharing. If you want to drive from start to finish, these are the two options to go for.

Entry prices to read carefully

Three kinds of listings pull the lowest price down without offering a real outing:

• The 10-minute introduction at Saint-Hippolyte, at €45.
• Kennel visits, from €7 to €17, in Gaspésie, La Baie and near Tadoussac: you meet the dogs, with no sled.
• Hikes with a dog, from €19 to €82: you walk through the forest with a dog clipped to your waist belt. One of them, near Mont-Tremblant, is sold under a title that mentions a sled.

Extra costs

• The guide's tip is not included, as the Rivière-Rouge listings point out.
• Cold-weather clothing can be hired for about €3 in Saint-Liguori and around €20 at Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne. In Thurso, nothing is available to hire: come equipped.
• Photos cost extra with some operators, €50 on a USB stick in Rivière-Rouge.

For a first outing of about an hour, taking turns at driving, budget €110 to €180 per person. Below that, check the time spent on the sled. Above it, you are paying for a night ride, transport from Montreal or a full day.

Drive your own dog sled or ride as a passenger?

On most tours, you drive. There are two of you per sled, one standing at the back and the other sitting down, and you swap places at the break. The driver follows the guide's team: 3 to 6 dogs at Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, 5 to 6 in Saint-Liguori, about 7 at Otter Lake. Some listings ask for good balance, quick reflexes and, to drive, good physical fitness.

There is no common rule on the age to drive: each company sets its own.

With young children, choose a tour where the child rides in the guide's sled, as in Arundel (from age 2) or Rivière-Rouge (from age 3): you drive, they enjoy the ride. A 13-year-old will be able to drive in Stoneham or at Otter Lake, not in Tremblant.

When is the best time to go dog sledding in Quebec?

The season runs from mid-December to mid-March, according to Quebec's tourism office¹. Quebec City's tourism office extends it "until around the end of March, or when the snow is no longer deep enough"². So the snow and the trails open the season, not a date.

January and February are the safest months. In December, the snow is a gamble: a customer explains, in a review posted on one of our tours, that they did "canicar", a wheeled dog cart, instead of the sled, for lack of snow.

Before paying, check two things:

• The weather: all our Manawa tours offer a free reschedule or refund if the company cancels because of bad weather. At Otter Lake, you can also cancel at no cost if the temperature drops below −25 °C.
• Your own cancellation: terms range from "flexible" to "super strict" depending on the tour. Our tours booked through GetYourGuide are fully refundable up to 24 hours before.

If you also want to try snowmobiling, keep it for another day: in January it gets dark by late afternoon and each outing is tiring. The tours are on our page for snowmobiling in Canada.

Sled dog welfare in Quebec: how to choose a company?

In Quebec, no rules apply specifically to sled dogs. Kennels fall under the general regulation on dog welfare, which allows a dog to be kept chained 23 hours a day, whereas British Columbia has standards specific to sled dogs³. A kennel with 15 dogs or more must hold a permit from Quebec's agriculture ministry (MAPAQ), issued after an inspection and followed by regular checks⁴. Aventure Écotourisme Québec asks its members to follow a code of practice, but no company is required to join⁵.

Four questions to ask before booking:

1. Do you hold a MAPAQ permit?
2. Are you a member of Aventure Écotourisme Québec?
3. Where do the dogs live between outings: on a chain or in an enclosure?
4. What happens to the dogs when they retire?

Many tours include a kennel visit: use it to see where the dogs live. A serious company answers these questions without hesitation.