Fjord Museum: 3346 Grande Ba Boul, La Baie, QC

Often when people think of a fjord, they think of Norway, but the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec Province is the only navigable fjord in North America.  Fjords were created by glaciers and are often in a U shape with steep walls of rock on either side of a narrow body of water.  To learn more about the Saguenay Fjord, we took a trip to the Fjord Museum for a hands on adventure with some local families.

We opted for an outdoor excursion led by a guide to explore the fjord, which is a short walk from the museum building.  We started by putting on boots, gathering supplies including buckets and shovels, and then heading down to dig in the fjord.  Our guide started the tour by explaining how the fjord formed and then set us off to find different creatures that live in the fjord.  Since the tide was out, we ventured into the fjord and used our shovels to dig into the sand and find worms of various sizes, seeing who could find the longest worm.  It was fun!  Then we went further out and turned over rocks to find even more creatures hiding underneath.  We collected some specimen and brought them back into the museum to look at them under microscopes, which was a cool way to include some science exploration.

Once inside, we enjoyed the fjord aquarium and touch pool area.  We wish we had had more time to check out the multimedia show about the fjord, but we experienced the real thing so that was OK with us!  If you have the chance to check out the Youth Zone on the museum’s website, you will find links to games and coloring pages to get the kids excited for the visit.  We really encourage families to try the outdoor excursion.  It really made our trip extra special.  By the way, the museum offers family rates and kids 5 & under are FREE!