Le Trou du Diable

The Devil's Hole Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Saint-Casimir de Portneuf. From Saint-Casimir take Rue Notre Dame 354 northeast along Sainte-Anne River for 3.8 km. Opposite the turnoff Riviere Noir, Ile Grandbois, signposted. (46.676075, -72.094960)
Open:	Mid-MAY to mid-SEP daily after appointment. [2022]
Fee:	Parcours touristique: Adults CAD 23.48, Children (6-12) CAD 17.39. Parcours Aventure: Adults CAD 40.88, Children (6-12) CAD 32.18. [2022]
Classification:	Karst cave Reef Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	L=980 m.
Guided tours:	Parcours touristique: D=1.5 h, MinAge=6. Parcours Aventure: D=3 h, MinAge=6.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Le Trou du Diable, The Devil's Hole Cave, 682 Rue Notre Dame, Saint-Casimir, Quebec G0A 3L0, Tel: +1-418-268-6681. Parc naturel régional de Portneuf, 423, rue Principale, Saint-Alban, Québec, G0A 3B0, Tel: 1-855-284-4232. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

Le Trou du Diable (The Devil's Hole Cave) is an active river cave which is regularly guided by the société québécoise de spéléologie (SQS), the local caving club. The cave is actually located on land owned by the club. It is located in the boundaries of the Parc naturel régional de Portneuf. The 980 m long cave contains a tributary of the Sainte-Anne River, and is the second longest cave in Québec. They offer two different tours called Parcours touristique (tourist route) and Parcours Aventure (adventure route). If you got the impression the first is a show cave tour you are wrong, both are cave trekking and require walking through the knee deep cold water of the cave river. The first tour is just less strenuous.

The tours are offered during summer after reservation only, you can call the caving club or the park. All necessary equipment, which includes helmet, water tight headlamp, and gum boots, are provided by the caving club. You may bring your own if you have (except for WNS restrictions). You should also bring suitable fleece underwear, clothes which will get dirty and wet, if you have a caving overall, clothes to change, towel and plastic bags for the dirty and wet clothes. The guides are bilingual ( Français - French English ).

The Parcours touristique is offered for everyone, families, corporate groups, or youth groups. It is not very difficult, walking down the main gallery with the cave river, where you can walk upright. Nevertheless, the water is up to your knees and pretty cold.

The Parcours Aventure has three parts. The first is a long corridor of impressive size, the main gallery with the cave river, where you can walk upright. The Léo Brassard gallery requires crawling through cave clay. The third section is a wide and low passage where you have to crawl through the water with only space for your head between water surface and ceiling. This tour is physically and mentally demanding and requires swimming.