Church of Saint-Ours seen from the river

Saint-Ours is a picturesque municipality with a riverside and rural landscape on the St. Lawrence plain, in the regional county municipality (MRC) of Pierre-De Saurel, in Montérégie, in Quebec.

Saint-Ours is a recreational tourism and agricultural destination facing Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu, on the opposite bank of the Richelieu River. The main attractions of Saint-Ours are, in particular:

• its recreational tourism infrastructure and services, in particular its municipal parks, campgrounds, marinas and other traveler services;
• its built heritage which displays a rustic and well-renovated character (including agricultural buildings), in particular the resort buildings along the Richelieu River or the country houses;
• its rural and riverside landscape, which bears witness to the activities of citizens in this part of the St. Lawrence plain;
• its canal and historic lock which attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year;
• pleasure boating on the Richelieu River (14.6 km (9.1 mi) segment of river).

Understand

The town of Saint-Ours was founded in 1866.

Apart from the village of Saint-Ours, the riparian strip along Route 133 (Chemin des Patriotes) and a strip of forest on the edge of Saint-Bernard-de-Michaudville, the territory of Saint-Ours is primarily agricultural.

Get in

By car

• From Montréal (75 km, time: 1 hr 6 min). Take the Jacques-Cartier bridge (east); take route 132 (eastbound); take Autoroute 20 (eastbound) and cross the bridge over the Richelieu River; take route 133 (northbound) to the village of Saint-Ours.
• From Quebec (220 km, time: 2 hr 33 min). Take Autoroute 40 (westbound) to Trois-Rivières; take Autoroute 55 (south) and cross the Laviolette bridge; take Route 132 (west) to Sorel-Tracy; take the Rang Sud - Chemin Sainte-Victoire (towards the South); take Rang de la Basse (to the south-west); take Chemin du Ruisseau (west); take route 133 (south), to the village of Saint-Ours.

Get around

The Richelieu River crossing service allows you to avoid a long detour to go south to the Autoroute 20 bridge or north to the Autoroute 30 bridge in Sorel.

• 1 Crossing Saint-Ours and Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu (Traverse Saint-Ours et Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu) (in the villages of Saint-Ours and Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu). Service offered from April to December, depending on weather conditions. Traverse with a capacity of 30 passengers and six vehicles. Distance: 0.3km. Every winter, an ice bridge is built there for automobile traffic. (updated May 2022)

See

Saint-Ours City Hall

Dike of Saint-Ours

Saint-Ours canal and lock on the Richelieu River

• 1 Saint-Ours Canal (Canal de Saint-Ours), 2930, chemin des Patriotes, ☏ +1 450-785-2212. The Saint-Ours lock was inaugurated in 1849. It is nicknamed the 10th lock of the Richelieu River. This lock is a historic point of interest. This channel has been essential to cross-border, regional and local trade for more than a century. Nowadays, the vocation of the canal is mainly aimed at boaters who visit the banks of the Richelieu River from their pleasure craft and participate in recreational tourism activities. Many visitors and families come to watch the passage of pleasure boats through the lock. (updated Jun 2022)
• 2 Immaculée-Conception Church (Église Immaculée-Conception), 2538, rue Immaculée-Conception (along the Richelieu River), ☏ +1 450-785-2223. Picturesque Catholic church. (updated Jun 2022)

Do

• 1 Club de Golf les Patriotes, 1889, chemin des Patriotes, ☏ +1 450-785-2715. Public golf course offering an 18-hole course (par 72) and a 9-hole course (par 27). Land with mature pines. It offers a driving range (for 25 people on mats and more on grass), a golf shop. In addition, the golf course offers a restaurant for lunch and dinner, a snack bar, a restaurant-bar and a terrace. This golf course was designed in 1956 and taken over by Réjean Poissant in 1990. (updated Jun 2022)
• Walking trails (Sentiers pédestres). (updated Jun 2022)

Buy

• 1 Shop in the heart of the village (Boutique au coeur du village), 2561, rue Immaculée-Conception, ☏ +1 450-561-7679. Antique store. (updated Jun 2022)

Eat

Several restaurants or dining rooms in the Montérégie have transformed the mode of meals at the tables into take-out or delivery service. In general, restaurateurs have demonstrated great resilience by updating their website, integrating interactive and automated applications for remote orders, as well as the display of the menu, opening hours, their mode of operation (e.g. by reservation, drive-through), sanitary measures required, other services (e.g. catering, shops, accommodation, access for the disabled, wi-fi, take-out food, delivery), contact details and often the history of the restaurant or site.

• 1 Restaurant L'Ours Qui Bouffe, 2273, chemin des Patriotes (in front of the Richelieu River), ☏ +1 450-785-2311. (updated Jun 2022)

Sleep

Gîtes, chalets

• 1 Motel Saint-Ours, 2308, chemin des Patriotes, ☏ +1 450-785-2403, motelsaint-ours@outlook.com. Motel in operation since 1960 offering: dock, swimming pool, Internet, kitchenette, waterfront and air conditioning. (updated Jun 2022)

Camping

• 2 Campsite Domaine de la Paix (Camping Domaine de la Paix), 2426, chemin des Patriotes (along the Richelieu River), ☏ +1 450-785-2421. The site offers camping, lodge and marina. This campground is for traveler campers and seasonal campers. It is equipped with a community and library and a swimming pool. (updated Jun 2022)
• 3 Camping and Marina - Bellerive Park (Camping et Marina - Parc Bellerive), 1992, chemin des Patriotes, ☏ +1 450-785-2272. Marina and campground inaugurated in 1964 (3rd generation of owners). The marina offers, among other things, a gas station, an evisceration station, a fishing wharf, a boat launch; in addition, it offers 100 berths for seasonal boaters or travelers, not to mention the storage space (indoor and outdoor). The campsite offers 300 sites. A restaurant is in operation along the Richelieu River. Travelers also have access to a store for boat and recreational vehicle merchandise. The site also offers boat sales and repair services. (updated Jun 2022)

Cope

• 2 Library of Saint-Ours (Bibliothèque de Saint-Ours), 2540, rue de l'Immaculée-Conception, ☏ +1 450-785-2779, biblio@saintours.qc.ca. The library offers a collection of more than 7,000 documents, an interlibrary loan service across Quebec, and online access to the Réseau BIBLIO de la Montérégie. (updated Jun 2022)
• 3 Andrée-Mélançon House of Culture (Maison de la culture Andrée-Mélançon), 2540, rue Immaculée-Conception, ☏ +1 450-785-2203. Centennial building. (updated Jun 2022)
• 4 Alphonse-Desjardins Multigenerational Park (Parc multigénérationnel Alphonse-Desjardins) (park connecting the elementary school and the Richard-Gosselin recreation centre). Park with mature trees and located in the heart of the city. (updated Jun 2022)

Go next

• 1 Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu Municipality on the west bank of the Richelieu River renowned for its ferry (which is replaced in winter by an ice road) linking Saint-Ours, its Deschaillons island, its picturesque built heritage and its offer of recreational and tourist activities (e.g., boating yachting, agritourism, campgrounds).
• 2 Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu On the west bank of the Richelieu River, Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu has a picturesque village, a municipal wharf, a ferry, municipal parks for sports and recreation and the Maison de la Eulalie-Durocher culture. Visitors can take a heritage tour, a bike tour, take part in the Chants de Veille festival, and follow the arts and flavours route. The influx of tourists in the summer season is generated by pleasure boating on the Richelieu River and visitors taking Route 223 which runs along the west bank of the river.
• 3 Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu has a great story to tell visitors, especially in terms of: agriculture, river navigation, shops, public events (in particular: Fête du Vieux Marché, commemoration of the Patriot Battles of 1837), etc. This locality offers distinctive getaways and stays for visitors by involving them in leisure and community life: events, restaurants, agrotourism, accommodation and picnic areas, museum, heritage circuit, summer getaways, arts and culture.
• 4 Saint-Bernard-de-Michaudville Locality landlocked in the lands and agricultural vocation. This locality is known for its traditional music festival. Cycling is popular there to appreciate these rural landscapes.
• 5 Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel Municipality bordering the Richelieu River. Its offer of recreational tourism services is focused on pleasure boating, agrotourism, camping and golf.

Routes through Saint-Ours

Sorel-Tracy ← Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel ←

N  S

→ Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu → Mont-Saint-Hilaire