Auberge-Pourvoirie de la Rivière Matapédia

Perched on the mountainside in the small historic village of Routhierville, in the heart of the Matapédia valley in Gaspésie, Auberge-Pourvoirie de la Rivière Matapédia overlooks the head of the rapid at the covered-bridge pool and the Appalachian mountains. Built in 2011 entirely from local wood and rated four stars, it has five rustically decorated rooms — Papillon, Baron Rouge, Routhierville, Gaspésienne and Salmo — three full bathrooms, a panoramic terrace and a gazebo, and serves fine home cooking in three courses with fresh or smoked salmon as the specialty. The Matapédia River, considered Quebec's most productive Atlantic salmon river, is fished here by wading or from a canoe in sector 3, five minutes from the Glen Emma guides' camp: guided three-, four- or five-day fishing packages on the American plan, full-day and half-day guiding services, a four-day fly-fishing school and a one-day initiation, spring fishing for black salmon and sea trout on the Restigouche and Matapédia, striped bass in the Baie-des-Chaleurs, and winter ice fishing for brook trout, yellow perch and smelt. A fly shop and full equipment rental are on site. In the fall, moose hunting is run on the American plan on a private territory exclusive to the lodge, right next door in zone 2 East, with blinds, platforms and salt licks already set up. Come summer, kayaks and canoes are rented for runs down the Matapédia and the Causapscal, with all-inclusive packages bundling the activity, lodging and meals; a handful of campsites line the river, and the lodge is reached directly from the valley's snowmobile and ATV trails as well as from the Route verte for cyclists.