September 10, 2026
The town beach, with a toddler in arms
The verdict
Yes, from birth through kindergarten. The beach slopes gently and parking sits thirty metres from the sand.
- 0–2verified
- 3–5verified
- 6 and upassessed
Cost on arrival
Free
Free parking, no entry fee, no booking required.
The approach
- Drive
- 6 minutes from downtown Chibougamau
- Road surface
- Chemin de la Plage, paved to the parking lot
- Last gas
- Service station on boulevard Hamel, 4 km back
- Last bathroom
- Pit toilets on site, open June through September
- Coverage
- No reliable cell service once you're on the sand
The friction
- Terrain
- Fine sand, giving way to pebbles in the last few metres before the water
- Duration
- Budget 90 minutes, car-nap on the way home included
- Carrier
- A carrier earns its keep for the last thirty metres — the stroller sinks in
- Conditions
- Lac Gilman rarely climbs above 18°C, even in August
What it hooked on
She spent forty minutes moving stones from one pile to another and never touched the water.
You get there by Chemin de la Plage, which runs along Lac Gilman for about two kilometres before opening onto a gravel lot with room for thirty-odd cars. It rarely fills before midday, even on weekends.
The walk down to the sand is short and stair-free, which matters more than it sounds like when you’re carrying both a child and a beach bag. The sand stays firm enough for an all-terrain stroller about halfway down; after that, it gives.
The water stays cold well into the season. Most families stay at the edge, where the kids keep themselves busy with sand, stones and driftwood rather than swimming anyway. It’s a beach for playing, not necessarily for swimming, and that’s fine.
There’s no natural shade before the treeline at the edge of the lot — bring your own cover if the outing runs past an hour in full July sun.