Snowmobiling in Quebec: guided tours, multi-day trips or rentals, prices and rules

Guided tour, multi-day trip or rental: which one?

A guided tour is the way in: you learn to ride behind a guide who knows the trails. A multi-day trip strings together days of 110 to 200 km, from inn to inn, and takes stamina. A rental leaves you free to pick your route, but you handle the map, the fuel and the return on your own.

If you are torn between a trip and a tour, start with two hours on a snowmobile: you will know whether a week in the saddle appeals.

Where to go snowmobiling in Quebec?

None of our tours start in central Montreal or Quebec City: snowmobiles ride on marked trails, away from the cities. For a tour of a few hours, 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.

Near Quebec City: Île d'Orléans and Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne

31 km from the centre of Quebec City, Quebec Ski-doo Adventures leaves from Saint-Jean-de-l'Île-d'Orléans for 1 hr 30 min on a snowmobile, at €133 per person. There are two of you per machine and you swap driving along the way. To have a snowmobile to yourself, you pay for both seats. You need to be 18 with your home licence to drive, and 9 to ride.

70 km away, Au Chalet en Bois Rond takes you on a 50 to 55 km loop through fields, forest and hills around Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, for 2 hr 30 min to 3 hours of riding. The €259 is per snowmobile: €130 each if there are two of you. You need to be 21 to drive, a deposit of about €1,885 and a balaclava under your helmet, sold for about €5 on site if you forget yours.

This is the easiest area during a stay in Quebec City. Île d'Orléans suits a first taste, Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne riders who really want to cover ground. The tours are on our page for snowmobiling near Quebec City.

Near Montreal: Lac Morency

78 km north of Montreal, Aventures Plein Air leaves from Saint-Hippolyte for a ride on Lac Morency and the Laurentian trails, from €113 for an hour. The options go up to 2 and 3 hours, then 5 and 8 hours with a meal. Children can ride from age 7.

Without a car, North Adventures picks you up downtown and drives you about 1 hr 30 min out, for a 7-hour day at €621. Transport, cold-weather gear and fuel are included, the deposit of about €1,255 to €1,885 is not. The listing does not say whether the price is per person or per snowmobile: check before you compare.

Pick the one-hour ride in Saint-Hippolyte for a first taste from Montreal, and the minibus day only if you have no car. See snowmobiling near Montreal.

Mont-Tremblant and the Upper Laurentians

From Mont-Tremblant village, Le Centre d'Activités Mont-Tremblant takes you by shuttle to the trails, an hour's drive away, for two hours of snowmobiling in the Upper Laurentians. The €430 is per snowmobile, trail pass included: €215 each for two. You need to be 21 to drive, or 17 with a parent. A machine carries 249 kg at most, passenger included. The deposit can be paid in two ways: about €1,885 pre-authorised, or about €315 plus a non-refundable €30.

Outdoor Logistik meets you directly in L'Ascension, for 2, 4 or 6 hours, from €182. Despite its title, "near Mont-Tremblant", the start is 200 km from Montreal, well north of the resort.

Without a car in Tremblant, take the shuttle. With a car and a taste for long rides, head to L'Ascension for 4 or 6 hours. All the tours are on our page for snowmobiling in the Laurentians.

Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean: longer tours and electric snowmobiles

In the Saguenay, 230 to 255 km from Quebec City, tours last longer and most list a price per snowmobile:

• On Lac Saint-Jean, Equinox Aventure leaves from Saint-Gédéon for about 2 hr 30 min and 50 to 70 km, on the frozen lake if the weather allows: €193 per snowmobile, on 998 cm³ machines with heated grips for both driver and passenger.
• In the Monts-Valin, Imago Tours offers 2 hr 30 min on an electric snowmobile from €219, at the entrance to the national park. It also sells a 7-hour day at €317 per snowmobile, with a lunch stop in Sainte-Rose-du-Nord, meal not included.
• In La Baie, Saguenay Aventures offers two hours on an electric snowmobile at €237 per snowmobile, trail pass included. From L'Anse-Saint-Jean, the same company sells 3 or 7 hours from €328.

The electric snowmobile runs "without any noise", the Monts-Valin listing promises, and is easy to handle, according to the reviews left in La Baie. It is a good choice for a first try, or if engine roar would spoil the forest for you.

These tours make sense if your trip already takes you to the Saguenay: nobody drives 480 km from Montreal for two hours on a snowmobile. See snowmobiling in the Saguenay.

Near Tadoussac: the Saguenay Fjord

In Sacré-Cœur, 15 minutes from Tadoussac, Ferme 5 Étoiles offers an hour on a scenic loop or two hours exploring the banks of the fjord, from €71. Children can ride from age 4, and the cancellation policy is strict. This is the tour to fit into a stay in Tadoussac. See snowmobiling in Tadoussac.

The main regions for riding several days

Quebec has 33,300 km of marked, interconnected and groomed trails¹. The busiest regions are the Laurentians, Lanaudière, the Quebec City region, Charlevoix, Tadoussac, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and Gaspésie².

Gaspésie alone has 3,000 km of trails around the Trans-Québec 5: Percé Rock, the St Lawrence coast through Mont-Saint-Pierre, the Chic-Choc Mountains up to Mont Nicol-Albert (890 m) and the Murdochville wind farm, which the trails pass close by³. It is a destination for a multi-day trip or rental, not a two-hour tour. In Charlevoix, Top Location Charlevoix rents snowmobiles in La Malbaie with or without a guide, from 2 hours to several days⁴.

Choose Gaspésie for sea and mountains over a week, the Laurentians and Lanaudière to ride an hour or two from Montreal.

Multi-day snowmobile trips in Quebec: length, distances and budget

A multi-day trip means 7 to 9 days with 3 to 5 of them on the snowmobile, from inn to inn, behind a guide. The trips we read with three tour operators in October 2026:

The Aventures Motoneige prices are reduced prices shown in October (€3,490 instead of €3,690 for the 1,200 km trip).

Distances per day

Authentik Canada recommends 150 to 200 km a day for beginners, 200 to 250 km for intermediate riders and more than 250 km for experienced ones⁵. Its own trip, open to beginners, covers 110 to 200 km a day. If you have never ridden several days in a row, stay under 200 km.

Choosing your trip

• The group: on a standard trip, you may ride with dozens of strangers, up to 50 people according to Authentik Canada, with one guide for 12 snowmobiles. Ask about the daily distance and the level expected, so you do not end up in a group that is too fast or too slow.
• Solo or two per machine: sharing costs less, but the passenger suffers on long stages. "The one at the back… it's a slog if you do long distances", as one traveller puts it on the Routard forum. For a trip of more than 800 km, a machine each is worth the extra.
• What is included: flights, accommodation, meals, cold-weather gear, fuel, trail pass. Budget for the guides' tips too.
• Age: with Authentik Canada, you need to be 21 to drive and 18 to ride as a passenger.

Can you cross Quebec by snowmobile? The trails link one region to the next, and the longest trips go beyond 1,000 km. Operators also sell expeditions to the Far North, for experienced riders only.

Two- and three-day packages

Between a tour and a full trip, a 2- or 3-day package with accommodation, machine, gear and a guide costs about €410 to €1,100, and a week about €1,410 to €4,395, according to a price survey published by Le Quotidien in March 2026⁶. It is the option for a long weekend, without crossing the province.

Renting a snowmobile without a guide in Quebec

Yes, visitors can rent a snowmobile and ride on their own: rental shops offer it by the day, such as Top Location Charlevoix in La Malbaie or Location Sports Motoneige in Sainte-Adèle, in the Laurentians.

The 2026-2027 rates of Location Sports Motoneige give an idea⁷:

Taxes extra, higher rates at weekends and on public holidays. Elsewhere in Quebec, a day's rental costs about €155 to €250.

This rental includes the helmet, gloves, boots, gear, third-party insurance and the trail pass. You return the machine with a full tank. A second rider costs €20 to €30 a day.

The conditions are stricter than on a guided tour: 21 and a valid licence to drive, a deposit of about €2,165 (or €1,100 with a €30 daily fee), and child passengers at least 1.35 m tall. To find your way, the Quebec federation of snowmobile clubs publishes the official trail map in its iMotoneige app, which works without a signal: open or closed trails, date of last grooming, relays and accommodation⁸.

For a first time, a guide is still simpler: they know the trails and teach you to ride. Rent on your own if you have ridden before and want to choose your route. For a few days a winter, renting also beats buying: a new entry-level trail snowmobile starts at about €8,160, and a top-of-the-range model costs €16,005 to €17,575, according to Le Quotidien.

How much does snowmobiling cost in Quebec?

Depending on the option, the budget ranges from under €100 to several thousand euros:

Guided tours and rentals: Quebec price ranges surveyed by Le Quotidien in March 2026. Trips: tour operators' offers in October 2026.

On our pages, a guided tour of 1 to 3 hours costs €113 to €259, and a full day €317 to €621. Before comparing two offers, two questions change everything: is the price per person or per snowmobile, and what does it include?

Per person or per snowmobile

Five of our tours list a price per snowmobile, for one or two people. With two on the same machine, swapping the driving, the price per person is halved.

On Île d'Orléans, by contrast, the €133 is per person, two to a machine. For the other tours, the listing does not say: check before you book.

Included and not included

The guide, the snowmobile, fuel, a helmet and cold-weather gear (jacket, trousers, boots) are almost always included on a guided tour. The trail pass is included in La Baie, in Mont-Tremblant and with Outdoor Logistik.

Still to budget for:

• The deposit, about €1,820 to €1,885 per snowmobile, pre-authorised on a credit card (no cash) and released when you return the machine.
• A balaclava, compulsory under the helmet: about €5 in Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, €10 with Outdoor Logistik if you do not have one.
• Meals on the longer tours.

With two on a snowmobile, a guided tour of 2 to 3 hours works out at €97 to €130 per person on our tours. That is the right scale for a first time.

Licence, age and trail pass: what you need to drive a snowmobile in Quebec

You need a licence. The law requires you to be 16 and to hold a valid driving licence of any class. At 16 or 17, Quebec residents also need a training certificate, but visitors of that age are exempt if they hold a licence from home⁹. A 14-year-old cannot drive.

Companies are stricter than the law:

• They require you to be 18 on Île d'Orléans, in Saint-Gédéon, in La Baie and for the full day in the Monts-Valin, and 21 in Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, in Mont-Tremblant, with Outdoor Logistik, for rentals in Sainte-Adèle and on the Authentik Canada trip.
• You must have the original licence with you: "copy or photo not accepted", Mont-Tremblant specifies. On Île d'Orléans, a licence from your home country is fine.
• A credit card covers the deposit, cash is not accepted.

Without a licence or under the age limit, you ride as a passenger. On most tours, the driver and passenger swap places halfway, if the passenger meets the conditions to drive.

Children as passengers

With a young child, height is often what matters: they must keep their feet on the footrests and hold the grips. For a child under 8, go for Tadoussac (from age 4), Mont-Tremblant (from age 5) or Saint-Hippolyte (from age 7).

Quebec snowmobile trail pass

To ride on the federated trails, every snowmobile needs a trail pass. On a guided tour or a rental, the company takes care of it when the listing says so. With your own machine, you buy it yourself: for the 2026-2027 season, the Quebec federation of snowmobile clubs sells it for about €55 for a day, €95 to €190 for 2 to 7 days, and €275 to €360 for the year depending on when you buy¹⁰.

Rules on the trails

On the trails, the speed limit is 70 km/h, driver and passenger wear a helmet with a visor, headlights stay on, and riding is banned between midnight and 6 am. Driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs is prohibited¹¹. On a guided tour, the guide sets the pace and the route.

When to go snowmobiling in Quebec?

"We ride mostly from mid-December to mid-March", sums up Quebec's tourism office. Snow and the opening of the trails start the season, not a date: January and February are the safest months. The iMotoneige app shows, trail by trail, what is open.

Snow also shapes the tour itself: in Mont-Tremblant, the two hours advertised range from 1 hr 40 min to 2 hr 10 min depending on trail conditions.

Before you pay, check two things:

• The weather: all our Manawa tours offer a free rebooking or refund if the company cancels because of bad weather.
• Your own cancellation: terms range from "flexible" on Lac Saint-Jean to "strict" near Tadoussac.