Grandes-Piles, Quebec
| Grandes-Piles | |
|---|---|
| Village municipality | |
 |
|
 Location within Mékinac RCM. |
|
 Grandes-Piles
|
|
| Coordinates: 46°41′N 72°44′W / 46.683°N 72.733°WCoordinates: 46°41′N 72°44′W / 46.683°N 72.733°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
|
| Province |
 Quebec
|
| Region | Mauricie |
| RCM | Mékinac |
| Settled | c. 1850 |
| Constituted | August 10, 1885 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jean-Pierre Ratelle |
| • Federal riding | Saint-Maurice—Champlain |
| • Prov. riding | Laviolette |
| Area | |
| • Total | 124.80 km2 (48.19 sq mi) |
| • Land | 120.66 km2 (46.59 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 361 |
| • Density | 3.0/km2 (8/sq mi) |
| • Pop 2006-2011 |
 3.1% |
| • Dwellings | 234 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC−5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) |
| Postal code(s) | G0X 1H0 |
| Area code(s) | 819 |
| Highways |
 Route 155 Route 159
|
| Census profile | 2435040 |
| MAMROT info | 35040 |
| Toponymie info | 228457 |
| Website | www |
Grandes-Piles is a village municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada.
Located in Radnor Township, this small village is located on a cliff at north of Grand-Mère, overlooking the Saint-Maurice River on the east bank. The village faces the village of Saint-Jean-des-Piles. Once annually ice bridge connecting the two villages were built from December to March. The northwestern part of the municipality faces the La Mauricie National Park, located on the west bank of the Saint-Maurice River.
This town was the birthplace of the floating timber in Mauricie, which stopped in 1996 after 150 years. Grandes-Piles proved to be a historic landmark in the forestry industry. Since 1996, the reopening of the waterway free of foating logs, the Saint-Maurice River offers to boaters a large choice for water sports and a paradise for sailing. In winter, the frozen river and snowy cliffs and forest become a huge area for winter sports. Boating is generally done well between the dam of Grand-Mère and the dam of La Tuque, especially when the water is high.
The lakes of the municipal flow into one of the three following rivers:
The name of Grandes-Piles (literally "large piles") has uncertain origin. One of the best-known but false explanations is that it referred to a stack of logs entanglement on the rocks of the Saint-Maurice that inspired the early settlers. Another explanation claims that it referred to the large rocks used by the indigenous Americans to grind grain. It may also refer to the stack of stratums, horizontal sedimentary layers that are exposed in this part of the Mauricie.
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