Parc Siskin
400, route 105, Low, QC J0X2C0
Phone : 819 422-3528
Courriel : reception@lowquebec.com
Website : Accéder à la page Ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre
Description
For more than two centuries, the Ottawa and Gatineau rivers were used to transport massive quantities of timber to markets in the United States and Europe. In the final decades of the log‑driving industry, tugboats replaced the men who once risked their lives daily to guide the timber downstream. Among these tugboats was the Siskin, built in 1955 by Russel Brothers Limited. Powered by a six‑cylinder diesel engine and weighing 11 tonnes, it could haul up to 3,000 cords of wood and operated on the Gatineau River until 1993.
Its role was to form log booms in order to move the timber toward the Paugan and Chelsea dams and then to sawmills located further downstream, such as CIP in Gatineau and E.B. Eddy in Hull. The Siskin worked alongside several other tugboats and transported mainly cypress, fir, spruce, and pine. Its crew—one captain and two deckhands—worked in challenging conditions, often without flotation devices or radio communication before the 1960s.
Today, the Siskin tugboat is displayed in the park that bears its name, along Route 105. It stands as a reminder of the region’s forestry heritage and the era of log driving. The park is also the southern starting point of the Véloroute des Draveurs, allowing visitors to reach it by bicycle or on foot.
Galerie Photo
