Before La Tanière, There Was the Haut Bois Normand

On chemin George-Bonnallie, in Eastman, thousands of Eastern Townships families share the same memory.

A sugar shack meal to the sound of a folk singer. A first zipline ride among the maples. A tube run down the hill on a Saturday in February.

That place was the Haut Bois Normand. Today, it is called La Tanière.

A family that arrived in 1917

In 1917, François Normand and Marie-Élise Lavoie settled on a farm in Eastman. He was a former ship captain, born on Île-aux-Grues.

Their family home stands on chemin George-Bonnallie. The couple would have 15 children. In 2017, the family celebrated its centennial in Eastman with more than 130 descendants.

Among the family’s achievements was the Sucrerie des Normand. It would become the Haut Bois Normand, a name the family came up with.

Sugaring season, the Normand way

Every spring, the sugar shack welcomed families into its rustic dining hall.

On the program: the folk singer, maple taffy on snow and sleigh rides through the sugar bush. And on the menu, an omelette made “the Normand way.”

In 2014, an Inode Estrie article described a tradition served for more than three generations.

Sugaring season at the Haut Bois Normand. Photos: Haut Bois Normand archives.

Up in the treetops

By 2004 at the latest, the sugar bush could also be explored from above. The Normands themselves built the Arbre Aventure treetop adventure courses: suspended bridges, nets, ziplines.

In its 2004 season alone, the business reported more than 15,000 admissions.

In 2008, a via ferrata was added on the mountainside. Later, four large ziplines offered more than a kilometre of descent.

Arbre Aventure at the Haut Bois Normand. Photos: Haut Bois Normand archives.

Winter, by tube

When the snow arrived, the mountain changed games. Four 1,500-foot runs, a heated lift and, starting in the winter of 2008-2009, snow made on site.

Schools and businesses held their outings there. Families spent their weekends there.

The tubing runs, and their famous heated bus. Photos: Haut Bois Normand archives.

The sugar shack, the treetop courses, the slides: everything was built by the Normands.

The Blond family, then a pause

In 2012, the Blond family took over the Normand estate, along with everything the Normands had built.

The sugar shack, the courses and the slides continued to welcome young and old.

In July 2020, Le Reflet du Lac was still recommending the sugar bush for its sugar shack meals. Activities stopped shortly before the current owners arrived in 2021. Today, the sugar shack is closed for restoration.

The estate’s log inn. Photos: Haut Bois Normand archives.

The lakeside chalet, in the Haut Bois Normand days. The chalet at 9 chemin Lily-Butters and the neighbouring lake are listed separately (Centris 27362476) and are also available with La Tanière. Photos: Haut Bois Normand archives.

Today: La Tanière

The estate is now called La Tanière. More than 130 acres on the north slope of Mont Orford.

The great hall of wood and stone is still there, with its fireplace. All around, the mature forest that has welcomed thousands of visitors.

Then

Today

A page of Eastern Townships history is waiting for its next family.

Sources, consulted on October 25, 2026: Le Reflet du Lac (Patrick Trudeau, September 22, 2017; Dany Jacques, July 4, 2020); archived Haut Bois Normand and Arbre Aventure websites, 2004 to 2015 (Wayback Machine); Inode Estrie, Université de Sherbrooke (March 21, 2014); Commission de toponymie du Québec. Facts confirmed with the current owners. Archive photos: Haut Bois Normand (former websites of the business and of Arbre Aventure). Current photos: La Tanière, 2026.

La Tanière is listed by Yanick Beaupertuis, residential and commercial real estate broker · BEAU The Real Estate Team · eXp Agence immobilière · Centris No. 17659805