From Quebec City to the cabins

From Québec City the cabins are about 247 road miles away, roughly 400 kilometers, by Autoroutes 20, 30 and 15 to the 24-hour crossing at Lacolle and Champlain, then US 11 west to Malone. Count on four and a half to five hours with a fuel stop, plus the wait at the booth, which makes this a day's trip rather than an evening's. This page covers the road stretch by stretch, where to break it, the shorter daytime crossings, the seasons, the train and the coach, and how to time a Friday arrival.

The route from Québec City

The trip goes around Montreal, not through it. Autoroute 20 runs southwest along the south shore of the St. Lawrence, Autoroute 30 crosses the suburbs south of Montreal, and Autoroute 15 runs south to the border. The table measures each stretch from Old Québec on OpenStreetMap's road network, in miles with kilometers for the Quebec part, and its times are for steady driving on a clear road, leaving out stops and the booth.

The booth is a little under 190 road miles (300 km) from Old Québec, about three hours out, and the cabins are about 57 road miles beyond it. The driving alone comes to a little over four hours; a stop for fuel and coffee and an ordinary line at the border make it four and a half to five.

Autoroute 20 and where to break the drive

Most of the trip is Autoroute 20, about 133 road miles of it between Lévis and the Autoroute 30 junction at Boucherville. The city end crosses the river on Autoroute 73 and the Pierre-Laporte Bridge, in service since 1970 and at 1,040 meters the longest suspension bridge in Canada. It carries about 126,000 vehicles a day, and the province is replacing all 160 of its suspender cables, with work done on 77 of them so far and the rest due by the end of 2029.

Drummondville is the natural first stop, about 94 road miles and an hour and a half from Old Québec and roughly halfway to the border. For a longer break, the Gault Nature Reserve at Mont-Saint-Hilaire, McGill University's land since 1958, has 25 kilometers of trails and four summits above Lac Hertel. Its trails are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and its welcome pavilion from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., every day of the year, with tickets for entry; pets are not allowed, apart from guide and assistance dogs. The reserve, at 422 chemin des Moulins, adds about 5.7 road miles to the trip, and it suits a Saturday-morning start, when the 4 p.m. check-in leaves hours to fill.

Weekend road work is the other thing to plan for on Autoroute 20. For the Labour Day weekend of 2026, for example, the ministry scheduled both directions of traffic on one side of the autoroute between Beloeil and Mont-Saint-Hilaire, one lane each way, from Friday at 10 p.m. to Monday at 5 a.m., with several eastbound ramps closed. Closures like that are posted on Québec 511, and the ministry asks drivers to check it before setting out.

Around Montreal on Autoroute 30

Autoroute 30 is why this trip never touches the island of Montreal or its bridges. Its last section opened in December 2012, completing the autoroute from Vaudreuil-Dorion to Sorel-Tracy, and the federal minister at the opening said it would ease congestion in and around Montreal and improve access to markets in the United States. For this trip, it leaves Autoroute 20 at Boucherville and runs southwest past Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville and through Longueuil and La Prairie to Candiac, where a short link joins Autoroute 15 south. None of the bridges onto the island is on this route, so the 2026 weekend work on the Mercier Bridge, for one, does not touch it.

The province keeps a list of stretches where blowing snow is a known winter hazard. One is Autoroute 15 at La Prairie, close to where this route joins Autoroute 15; it is signed for the risk, gets extra plowing and closer watching by road crews, and is due for a real-time weather alert system, so slow down there on a windy day after fresh snow. Another is Route 138 between Mercier and Sainte-Martine, on the Chateaugay alternative described below.

Lacolle and Champlain

This is Quebec's busiest border crossing, and it is open around the clock in both directions. CBP's Champlain port handles passenger traffic at every hour of every day and publishes its current wait on CBP's wait-times site. Check that wait before Candiac, where you can still stay on Autoroute 30 for the Chateaugay route in daytime hours. The papers for the booth and the rules on what you may bring across are in crossing the border. The Trout River crossing on NY 30, closed to U.S.-bound traffic until about May 2028, is not on this route.

On the way home, the Canadian office at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle stays open 24 hours, but its NEXUS lane into Canada is closed for now, and rebuilding at the port is scheduled to run until summer 2028. On Autoroute 15 northbound, near the border, the Jardins-de-Napierville rest area reopened in November 2024 after a rebuild of a little over $18 million and is open day and night, with washrooms, a family washroom, electric-car chargers, free Wi-Fi and picnic tables.

US 11 from Champlain to Malone

The interstate lasts about a mile and a quarter south of the booth, to the US 11 exit, and US 11 carries the rest of the trip west through Champlain, Mooers, Altona, Ellenburg, Chateaugay and Burke, about 49 road miles to Malone. Shop early: Champlain's Price Chopper, on Route 11 less than three miles from the port, keeps 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. hours every day and sells beer. Fuel comes next, at the Stewart's on East Main Street in Chateaugay village, which has gas, non-ethanol premium, restrooms and an ATM. In daylight, High Falls just outside Chateaugay makes a longer break; see Chateaugay and High Falls.

Phone maps take US 11 around the center of Malone on Andrus Street and River Road to County Route 25. If you need the village's shops, the Price Chopper on Finney Boulevard adds under two miles. For the last stretch, County Route 25 and the town roads beyond it, follow the host's directions; getting to the cabins says why.

The routes through Chateaugay and Fort Covington

Two other crossings can work from Québec City. Through Chateaugay it is about 231 road miles, some 16 fewer. Stay on Autoroute 30 past Autoroute 15 to the Route 138 exit at Mercier, follow Route 138 southwest through Sainte-Martine and Ormstown, and finish on country roads to the port, which is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The catch, besides the hours, is winter: Route 138's rural stretch between Mercier and Sainte-Martine is another designated blowing-snow sector, posted at 80 km/h for 4.2 kilometers.

Through Fort Covington it is about 250 road miles: Autoroute 30 all the way west to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, then Route 132 along the St. Lawrence to Dundee. That crossing is open 24 hours on both sides, so it is the fallback if the line at Lacolle is long, though it adds three miles and finishes on Route 132 and NY 37 instead of US 11. The Montreal drive page sets out both routes from the city in detail.

The drive through the year

From December 1 to March 15, every car registered in Quebec, rentals included, must be fitted for winter, so a car from Québec City arrives ready; one rented in New York may not be. Québec 511 posts conditions for each autoroute, and 511NY covers US 11 on the New York side. December is the month to watch the clock: the sun sets at the cabins at 4:16 p.m. on Friday, December 4, so a winter arrival in daylight means leaving Québec by about 11 a.m. The winter driving guide has the rest of the winter checklist.

Fall brings the color and a shared holiday. Canadian Thanksgiving and Columbus Day share Monday, October 12, in 2026, the week New York's foliage report put Malone close to peak; in 2027 the long weekend runs from October 9 to 11. The fall foliage guide has the usual timing.

Summer has the construction holiday, the two weeks when Quebec's building trades take their vacation together; in 2027 it runs from July 25 to August 7. On any long weekend, the Monday is usually the busiest day at the border going north, and early morning the best time to cross. The events calendar shows what is on near the cabins each month.

Train, coach or plane from Québec City

Trains and buses stop well short of the cabins, which the listings say need a car or SUV, but Plattsburgh can be reached without driving, and a rental car covers the rest. VIA Rail runs about 35 trains a week from Québec to Montreal, averaging about 3 hours 20 minutes, and Orléans Express coaches link the two cities every day of the year. From Montreal, Amtrak's Adirondack leaves Gare Centrale at 11:10 a.m. and reaches Plattsburgh at 2:45 p.m., after a border stop at Rouses Point, and Greyhound runs five buses a day to Plattsburgh, the last at 5:15 p.m. The Avis counter at Plattsburgh's airport is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and from there it is 61 road miles to the cabins. It makes a full day, easier with a night in Montreal on the way.

No flight helps from Québec City. The airline airports near the cabins serve U.S. cities only: Cape Air flies from Lake Clear to Boston and New York's JFK, and Allegiant and Contour fly from Plattsburgh to Florida, Myrtle Beach and Washington Dulles. Airports near the cabins covers them, and Montréal–Trudeau for anyone flying in from farther away.

A Friday arrival from Québec City

Check-in at the cabins is after 4 p.m., and the drive takes most of a working day, so a Friday trip means leaving around midday. A noon departure, with a coffee stop and an ordinary line at the booth, runs like this:

1. Noon. Autoroute 73 over the Pierre-Laporte Bridge, then Autoroute 20 west.
2. About 1:35 p.m. Drummondville, for fuel and coffee.
3. About 3:20 p.m. Lacolle and Champlain, after Autoroute 30 and Autoroute 15.
4. About 3:45 p.m. Groceries at Champlain's Price Chopper on Route 11.
5. About 5:20 p.m. The cabins, by US 11, Malone and County Route 25.

From November through January that plan finishes in the dark, since the sun sets at the cabins between about 4:15 and 5 p.m. in those months; leave Québec by about 11 a.m. to drive the last miles in daylight. Leaving after work instead, at 5 p.m., puts you at the cabins at about 10 p.m. Lacolle and Champlain are open all night, and the Price Chopper in Champlain stays open until 11 p.m. Message the host your arrival time from Malone or Champlain.

What brings Quebec guests south

No review on the listings comes from a Québec City guest yet, but French-speaking guests have written about the cabins. One who stayed at The Modern Pine in May 2023 called it a very quiet, private spot and picked out two things:

Le spa et le bbq sont de précieux atouts.

In that review the spa is the cabin's hot tub, and the bbq its grill. Quebec turns up in The Modern Pine's après-ski decor too, in a vintage poster that reads "Ski-fun, La Province de Quebec". For a ski weekend, Titus Mountain is 3.5 road miles from the cabins, and the Titus Mountain guide has the details. All three cabins take four guests and come with a private hot tub, fire pit, grill and full kitchen, and none is suitable for children under 10.

Questions

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. Hours, fees and schedules change; confirm before you go.

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