La Mauricie National Park () is a national park located near Shawinigan in the Laurentian mountains, in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. It covers in the southern Canadian Shield region bordering the Saint Lawrence lowlands. The park contains 150 lakes and many ponds.
The park lies within the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion. The forests in this region were logged from the middle of the 19th century to the early 20th century. The park's forests have regrown and contain a mixture of conifers and mixed deciduous trees.
Wildlife in the park includes moose, black bears, beavers and otters. It supports a small number of wood turtles, rare in Canada. The park is a popular location for camping, canoeing and kayaking.
The park is named after the nearby Saint-Maurice River to the east of the park. The Matawin River flows along the west and north borders of the park.
Toponymy
The name "Mauricie" was first used in 1933 by Bishop Albert Tessier to designate an administrative region of Government of Québec, for which the Valley of Saint-Maurice is the main feature. The watershed of Saint-Maurice River is also administered in part by the administrative regions of Lanaudière (West), James Bay (North) and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (East). Moreover, the administrative region of Mauricie covers other watersheds including the Champlain River and half the territory of the Batiscanie, Quebec.
As in Saint-Maurice River, it was named in honour of the Lordship of Maurice Poulin La Fontaine. The land was a stronghold granted to his wife in 1676 near the mouth of the river. This "fief" (harvested area) was recognized in 1723 as the Saint-Maurice and the river, which previously denominated "River Three Rivers", was replaced by the current toponym for most of the 18th century. The river is also known Attikamekw under the name of Tapiskwan Sipi ("River of the threaded needle"). The Wyandot people know it under the name of Oquintondili and Abenaki under the name of Madôbalodenitekw.
Geography
The Mauricie National Park is located in the province of Quebec, Canada about north of Shawinigan and about north of the city of Trois-Rivières. It is bordered by the Saint-Maurice River to the east and the Matawin River to the north. It is accessible from the villages of Saint-Jean-des-Piles and Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc. Secondary access is also possible by Saint-Gérard-des-Laurentides. The park extends only three municipalities: Shawinigan, Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc and Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac.
It is bordered to the west by the Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve and north by the Zec du Chapeau-de-Paille and the Saint-Maurice Wildlife Reserve.
Geology
The park is located in Quebec, south of Canadian Shield. The park is part of the Grenville Province, the most recent of seven geological provinces that make up the entire Canadian Shield age Precambrian. The park is itself part of a plateau gently sloping east to west, from near Saint-Maurice River to near inland. This plateau of older metamorphic rocks (955 mya) is strewn with valleys and faults. The lower valleys are flooded by recent deposits dating from the retreating glaciers of the Wisconsin glaciation.
Hydrography
There are approximately 150 lakes in the national park. Lake size varies from small bogs at higher elevations containing acidic water to the largest valley lakes that have clear water. All lakes and streams flow into the Saint-Maurice by rivers "À la pêche" River (Shawinigan), Matawin and Shawinigan.
Natural heritage
The Mauricie National Park is located in the green area Level I established by Commission for Environmental Cooperation of Northern Forests. It is also entirely within the ecoregion level II of the mixed forest shield and ecological level III region of Southern Laurentians.
At the national level, the National Park is located in the ecoregion southern Laurentians, itself located in Ecoprovince Southern Boreal Shield and the Boreal Boreal Shield.
Flora
The park contains more than 440 species of vascular plants 68 species of lichens and more than 85 species of mosses. The park also has 27 species of rare plants or special interest.
Forest covers 93% of the territory. It is located at the northern treeline leafyes Quebec. There are 30 species of different trees. The park is part of habitat ranges from maple to yellow birch (Acer saccharum and Betula papyrifera), which occupies the illuminated slopes and well-drained soils. The Balsam firs (Abies balsamea) and the pine (Pinus sp) and spruces (Picea sp) occupy the rocky cliffs and wetlands. It includes an endangered species, the butternut (Juglans cinerea).