Val-Jalbert Historic Village

Duration : about 1/2 day
Schedule : 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (June 17 to Aug 20 : 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
Season : May 20 to Oct 9
Departing from : Chambord

Discover a village where time has stood still since the 1920s! Val-Jalbert is a classified historic and heritage site and an open-air museum. Founded in 1901, Val-Jalbert Historic Village is not a reconstruction, but a genuine 1920s company town.

Your visit begins at the Welcome Centre, where a projection presents the birth and rapid decline of Val-Jalbert.

Explore the site on foot or by trolleybus with an audio-video guide, and immerse yourself in another era.

The site offers a unique window into this fascinating period in history. In high season, enjoy numerous theatre sketches depicting the daily lives of typical village characters. You can visit a family home, attend class with the sisters at the convent school, chat with the Mayor, etc.

An immersive multimedia presentation allows you to experience the sound of the mill machines that were the heart and soul of Val-Jalbert. Learn about the difficult conditions of the workers, and the joys and dramas that marked the lives of families living and working in the town.

The highlight of your visit is sure to be the powerful and beautiful Ouiatchouan Falls along the tumultuous Ouiatchouan River. Nobody can fail to be impressed by these majestic falls (whose name means "river of clear waters" in Innu).

The great torrent of water seems to gush out of the forest before plummeting 72m (236') next to the old pulp mill below. Lac Saint-Jean locals like to boast that Ouiatchouan Falls are higher than Niagara Falls!

A cable car transports visitors to the top of Ouiatchouan Falls, offering a panoramic view of Lac Saint-Jean, as immense as an inland sea, whose far shore can be seen on a clear day.