Ile d'Anticosti Travel Guide

Welcome to Ile d'Anticosti, QC, Quebec

The first written account of Canada's 20th largest island, Ile d'Anticosti, can be traced back to 1534. Legendary French explorer Jacques Cartier caught sight of the island during his travels. Previously, the island had been used as a hunting ground by the First Nations people. By the 1600s the French had made the island part of their colonial empire. In 1763, the island changed hands to the British under the Treaty of Paris. The Ile d' Anticosti went through many changes when French chocolate maker Henri Menier bought the island in 1895. Menier built the village of Port-Menier, tried to develop the island's natural resources and introduced deer to the island to create a hunting paradise. Today, the white-tailed deer population on the Ile d'Anticosti exceeds 100,000. In 1974, the government of Quebec purchased the island and half of Ile d' Anticosti became a national conservation park. The Parc national d'Anticosti consists of many hiking paths and the photogenic Vaureal Falls, which Menier named after a town in France. Travellers can visit Port-Menier for dining opportunities and comfortable accommodations.