The Gaspé Peninsula (Gaspésie region of Québec) is home to some exceptionally photogenic and historically interesting lighthouses. With over 700 km of coastline, it is not surprising that this area is home to 14 lighthouses (with several others lying just outside the region’s boundaries). Below we present our Travel Guide of Gaspésie’s Most Beautiful Lighthouses to help you get the most out of your time in the Gaspé Peninsula.
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Map of Gaspésie’s Most Beautiful Lighthouses
This map indicates the locations of the lighthouses that will be highlighted below. While five of them are in Gaspésie proper, the most western lighthouse lies just outside of its limits, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Québec. We included it here as it’s definitely worth including in any lighthouse tour of the area.
Cap des Rosiers Lighthouse
At 34 metres (112 feet) high, the Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse is the tallest in Canada. It was declared a national historic site in 1974 and the tower itself was designated a Classified Federal Heritage Building in 1994 — the lighthouse is one of just seven in Canada to hold this double classification.
Cap des Rosiers has witnessed more shipwrecks than any other location in the Gaspésie region. From May 1840 to September 1848, there were eight major wrecks in the vicinity leading to the lighthouse finally being completed in 1858.
The lighthouse site opens on June 24 and closes at the beginning of September, and guided tours are available.
Pointe-à-la-Renommée Lighthouse
The first lighthouse built here, which was made entirely of wood, was put into service in 1880. It was replaced by the current incarnation of the lighthouse in 1907, which continued to operate until 1975.
It has since become known as “the world’s most travelled lighthouse”. In 1977, after being abandoned for two years, it was dismantled and transported to the Old Port in Quebec City (650 km away), where it was reassembled in 1981 and stayed there as a pier-side tourist attraction until 1997, when it was finally returned to its original location, here, in l’Anse-à-Valleau, Gaspesie.
This historic site was home to North America’s first maritime radio station, installed by Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Company in 1904, which was declared a national historic event in 2011.
Access to the lighthouse site costs 3$ per person (2023), and guided tours are available at an additional cost. There are several short and long hiking trails that pass by the lighthouse site.
La Martre Lighthouse
The original lighthouse here was built in 1876 — the current incarnation was established in 1906. Le Martre is definitely one of Quebec’s most photogenic lighthouses painted in bright red colours.
Although La Martre Lighthouse is today fully automated, it is the only lighthouse in Quebec that operates in a non-automated manner during the day, so that tourists can see the Fresnel lens rotating in its mercury bath, using the original system of weights and cables.
Even if you are not that much into lighthouses, the coastal scenery as viewed from the lighthouse site is quite spectacular and beautiful. The lighthouse can be visited from July to September, guided tours are available on-site.
Cap Gaspé Lighthouse
Unlike the other lighthouses on this list, you can’t actually drive up to the lighthouse, as it is located on the tip of Forillon National Park’s peninsula. The closest available parking is the Forillon south parking lot, from which you will need to hike a mostly flat (but with a short steep finish) 3.5 km trail to reach the lighthouse. But the views along the trail are gorgeous – and you might see marine wildlife such as whales and seals.
Although the first lighthouse was built here in 1873, the current incarnation was built in 1950 and has been automated since the 1970s to run on solar power.
Cap de la Madeleine Lighthouse
Long before there was a lighthouse, ship captains used the cape to establish their position on the river. The first lighthouse was built here in 1871, with the current tower (pictured above) completed around 1907.
A coffee shop, craft shop, museum, and picnic area are located adjacent to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is open daily from June 1st through the end of September. Guided tours are also available.
Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse
Technically not part of the Gaspe Peninsula, we chose to include it on our list both because of how impressive the lighthouse is and also because of the historic importance of the site.
It was here in 1914 that the lighthouse keeper received a chilling S.O.S. telegraph from Captain Henry Kendall of the passenger ship Empress of Ireland, which had recently departed Quebec City on its way to Liverpool in England. During a foggy night, the Norwegian collier SS Storstad accidentally collided with the midsection of the Empress. It was the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history: 1,012 people died.
Fortunately, there were 465 survivors – upon receiving the S.O.S., the lighthouse station staff at Pointe-au-Père contacted rescuers in the surrounding area to help evacuate the sinking ship.
The current tower, completed in 1909, stands 108 feet (33 metres) tall, with 128 steps to the top.
Now an automated lighthouse, the keeper’s house has been converted into a museum, the Museum of the Sea, which houses exhibits on navigation on the St. Lawrence River. You’ll also find next to the lighthouse the Empress of Ireland Pavilion, which opened in 2000 and presents the unfortunate history of the famous passenger ship, in addition to a café-restaurant on site.
Finally, what you might not expect to see here is the 90m-long Okanada submarine, Canada’s first publicly accessible submarine.
Tickets to visit the museum, submarine, or climb the lighthouse tower can be purchased on-site.
Bonus: Kamouraska’s Petit Phare
Okay, now this miniature lighthouse isn’t even close to Gaspésie, but the odds are that if you are driving up to the coast to get there, you will pass by this cute photogenic stop near Kamouraska.
This picturesque little lighthouse is actually a faux lighthouse and serves as an observation tower for the adjacent marshland by the Saint Lawrence River in the Bas-Saint-Laurent area of Quebec, by the village of Saint-Andre.
The lighthouse is actually an homage to a former lighthouse located on a nearby island, which has since been demolished in favour of a forty-six-foot skeletal metal tower that both looks nothing like a lighthouse but functions as an automated one.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our Travel Guide of Gaspesie’s Most Beautiful Lighthouses and that it will prove useful for planning your trip to the Gaspe Peninsula!
Want to know more about Gaspésie’s and Quebec’s lighthouses? Check out this website highlighting Quebec’s Lighthouse trail and this map showcasing all of Quebec’s lighthouses.
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Preparing a trip to the Gaspe Peninsula (Gaspésie)?
We highly recommend these guidebooks:
- Gaspé the Romantique ‘Revisited’: A Road Trip Guide to the History, Legends and Attractions
- Lonely Planet Best Road Trips Ontario & Quebec
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