Until the arrival of The Whale Route(Route 138)[7][8] in 1996, the only regular means of access to the area was the boat service maintained during the navigation season by Clarke Steamship Company, Ltd.[9] The regularity of the service becomes more and more uncertain from the month of September, depending on the date of the arrival of winter with its snow, ice, storms and fog. However, it is possible to reach the area by chartering seaplanes that can easily land under favourable atmospheric conditions in many deep bays and on windward waters sheltered by islands.[10]
Route & trails
Highways and numbered routes that run through the RCM, including external routes that start or finish on its borders.[11]
In 2024, the Côte-Nord region is part of the network of the 33 000 km of trails of The Federation of Snowmobile Clubs of Quebec and La Minganie Snowmobile Club, based in Les Escoumins,[12] offer detailed interactive maps on the different circuits and their points of services.
River basins
There are a number of large rivers that flow in a generally north–south direction through Minganie to enter the Gulf. Near the coast the river basins tend to narrow in towards the river mouth, and between their mouths are areas that drain into the Gulf through smaller streams. From west to east, the larger river basins, which may cover parts of Labrador, Sept-Rivières or Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent, are:[13]
^"Whales of the St. Lawrence river". Whales Online. 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024. The estuary is home to belugas all year round. In summer, the estuary also hosts rorquals and other species of toothed whales that benefit from the abundance of krill, capelin and other small fish.
^"The Clarke Steamship Co Ltd"(PDF). 7 June 2014. pp. 41 of 74. Retrieved 17 May 2024. The North Shore service now sailed from Quebec every Tuesday at 9 am, serving no fewer than thirty locales, consisting of pulpwood ports, native villages, trading posts and fishing settlements,
^Jacques Claveau (1950). "The North Shore of the St. Lawrence, from Aguanish to Washicoutai Bay, Saguenay County"(PDF) (in French). Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources naturelles - Gouvernement du Québec. pp. 8 of 78. Retrieved 18 May 2024. Aguanish is about 515 miles downstream from the city of Quebec and about 90 miles due east of the village of Mingan.
^"La Minganie Snowmobile Club". Côte-Nord entre nature et démesure. 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024. In order to preserve our magnificent North Shore in its wild state, we invite you to adopt the principles of the Leave No Trace code of ethics.
Minganie Regional County Municipality Minganie—Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Tonnerre River (Minganie) Duck River (Minganie) Rivière à l'Ours (Minganie) Sheldrake River (Minganie) Saint-Jean River (Minganie)