The Chézine is another river recently added to the St-Raymond area Quiver of classic class 5 runs in Quebec. The first descent of this one date from a while ago, but the very first part of the river is nasty and has no good rapid. It’s only last year that David Laroche saw the potential of hiking in for the last part of the river would worth it.

It’s not every day that you do a new section of whitewater in your backyard, so we were pretty excited about giving it a try. The Chézine is a « earn your turn» kind of river. The hike took us 1 hour ½ and the paddling took us the same amount of time. So in 3 hours, we got in good shape and paddled a new river. Once you get to know this section, you could easily combine any other rivers of Saint-Raymond and have a really good day of kayaking.

The hike starts at the bridge. You will have to walk most of the hike in an atv trail. It is pretty much straight forward until the first « Y». You take on the left and that’s where the climb really starts. To be honest, the climb is bad, but it is not super long. Once you reach the top, the hardest part is done. There will be another «Y». You go Left again and start the downclimb. At the bottom of the mountain, the river is not super far on your right. If you go there for your first time by yourself, I really suggest you to download the Canada map APP and load the map of the area. The trail is super well indicated so you will avoid to get lost.

Once on the river, there’s no portage. However, you will find some bigger rapids that will need a good scout. Have Fun!