Sheenboro: Hiking, River Scenery and Heritage

Sheenboro brings together river scenery, hiking destinations and a protected historic complex. The municipality has beaches and small islands in the Ottawa River; Sheenboro is also home to the Lac-aux-Allumettes trading post. Brennan's Bluff and the Oiseau-Rock Trail are the main hiking destinations. If you are looking for a hotel in Sheenboro, these different themes can help you decide what to focus on during your stay: outdoor activity, scenery or heritage.

Hiking to viewpoints

At Brennan's Recreational Farms, you can hike to Brennan's Bluff. The viewpoint is 810 feet above the floor of the Ottawa Valley. The Oiseau-Rock Trail's distance and time commitment can be considered together: the trail is 9 km long, and the round trip takes 3 to 4 hours on foot. The elevation gain is 150 m above the Ottawa River. These details offer different points of reference when choosing a hike: the elevation of the destination at Brennan's Bluff, and the distance and walking time for the Oiseau-Rock Trail.

River scenery and archaeological significance

Sheenboro's landscape includes beaches and small islands in the Ottawa River. Rocher-à-l’Oiseau is a cliff that rises 150 m above the Ottawa River. Information panels along the trail highlight the site's significance; archaeologically, it is considered especially important. Rocher-à-l’Oiseau thus brings together a striking landform and an important archaeological site.

The themes are distinct: archaeological significance is the focus at Rocher-à-l’Oiseau, while the Lac-aux-Allumettes trading post is a protected complex with several uses and buildings. This can help you decide how to balance natural and local history during your stay.

The Lac-aux-Allumettes trading post

The heritage-protected trading post is located in Sheenboro on a sandy beach at Lac-aux-Allumettes. Beginning in 1828, it was developed as a fur-trading post, general store and resort. These different functions are part of its history of use and shape the site's historic character.

The complex includes, among other buildings, a wooden manor house dating from 1845, a wooden chapel from 1857, a masonry general store dating from around 1880, and the former wooden Hôtel Pontiac, also dating from around 1880. It also includes outbuildings, the ruins of a blacksmith's shop, and an Indigenous cemetery that opened around 1845. The dates range from around 1845 to around 1880, revealing several phases of construction within the complex. The masonry store contrasts architecturally with the complex's wooden buildings.

In the last quarter of the 19th century, the former trading post was converted into a resort. At the time, summer visitors could reach the site by steamboat. This story of travel adds the summer holiday experience of that period to the complex's history of construction and use.

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